Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits are critical sources of metals with Canada contributing signficant zinc, lead, copper, gold, and silver to the Canadian and global market from these deposits. This project will focus on understanding the host rocks and mineralization in the Powderhorn Lake area in central Newfoundland, Canada. This area has been a historic mining area (e.g., Buchans mining district), and the Powderhorn Lake area is the focus of exploration for similar deposit types. This work will focus on utilizing field relationships from rocks, their textures, and types, coupled with rock chemistry, mineral chemistry, and isotopic dating methods to understand how the deposits in this area formed and to create field, chemical, and mineral-based tools that can be utilized to find similar deposits in central Newfoundland and globally. In addition to providing fundamental and applied science (and potential economic benefit), the project will support an MSc student who will be trained in field and laboratory methods, and mentored by university, government, and industry partners. At the end of their training these students will have skills that can directly contribute to the Canadian mining and mineral exploration industry or other similar geoscience professions (e.g., environmental, government, NGO, or university sectors).