Grant: Alliance Grants

The proposed research will focus on the newly discovered Great Bear deposit, owned by Kinross Gold Corp. and is located ca 25km south of the Red Lake mining camp in the Red Lake greenstone belt, northwest Ontario. The Great Bear deposit hosts gold in three different mineralization styles in the direct vicinity of a SE-striking crustal-scale major break, the LP fault zone: (1) LP fault in the footwall of the fault zone, (2) Limb zone, and (3) Hinge zone; the latter two are in the hanging wall of the LP fault. Gold mineralization is hosted in metamorphosed and deformed sedimentary and igneous rocks of either Meso-Archean or Neo-Archean age in all three mineralization styles. To constrain the genesis of the deposit, a multi-faceted approach is used combining fieldwork with cutting edge micro- and nano-analytical techniques and focusing on the mineralogy, geochemistry, structure, metamorphic assemblage, stratigraphy and geochronology of the deposit. These research objectives will be addressed by four highly qualified personnel (1PDF, 1PhD, 2MScs) over a total of 4 years. Results from this research will improve our knowledge of gold mineralization at the Great Bear deposit and the Red Lake greenstone belt, the role of the LP fault regarding gold mineralization and remobilization, provide comparison to gold mineralization in the Red Lake mining camp, re-define current deposit models applied to structurally-controlled gold mineralization, aid in exploration, and potentially lead to new gold discoveries in the area. Results will also advance our understanding of the role of deformation on gold remobilization on the micro- and nano-scale, a fast-emerging field in the geosciences. Results will have impact on on-going exploration in the area and hence also contribute to the economic growth of northern communities in Canada's North.