Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Fault-related (orogenic) gold deposits are important sources of gold for the global marketplace and have been critical for the economic health for many parts of rural Canada for over a century. These deposits form from the movement of gold-bearing fluids along these regional faults with gold deposition associated with changes in the geometry of faults and/or reaction with rocks that have specific chemical signatures. This research will focus on orogenic gold deposits in the Baie Verte Peninsula, Newfoundland and in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. The goals of this project are: 1) to understand the geological setting and the nature and geometry of the geological structures and faults that control the gold mineralization; 2) the importance of the chemistry of the rocks surrounding these geological structures has in the localization of mineralization; 3) and the nature of mineral and chemical changes associated with the rocks near mineralization that have occurred as a result of their interaction with gold-bearing fluids. The results of the research will have implications on how these types of gold deposits form and will create new information and tools for vectoring towards gold mineralization both in Canada and globally.