Enhanced Exploration Tools Help Locate New Mineral Deposits in British Columbia
Vancouver, BC – June 18, 2019 – Four new Geoscience BC minerals research projects will advance the innovative technologies and geoscience knowledge needed to identify new natural resource development opportunities in British Columbia.
The projects will help locate and characterize new deposits of the metals and minerals required for a cleaner and greener future economy in BC. As with all Geoscience BC research, reports and data from the projects will be publicly available from Geoscience BC as well as the provincial government.
Geoscience BC Vice President, Minerals, Christa Pellett said: “These four new Geoscience BC minerals research projects will test and deliver practical, usable tools for mineral explorers. The information will help the minerals sector, governments, community leaders and Indigenous groups understand where buried mineral deposits might be located and make more informed decisions about new mineral development.”
The Mineralogical Data, the Next Generation of BC RGS Database Upgrades project (2018-018) will demonstrate the effectiveness of using indicator mineral information from stream sediment samples as a cost-effective strategy to improve the coverage of the existing BC Regional Geochemical Survey (RGS) database. The project will collect about 100 new bulk stream sediment samples from an area in the east half of the Penticton map sheet map sheet (NTS 082E), which includes the Christian Valley in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.
Indicator minerals recovered from these new samples will help identify geochemical anomalies that may reveal undiscovered mineralized sources and demonstrate a method to assess the geochemistry of a large drainage areas using fewer samples.
Also in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, the Geochronology, Deposit Studies and Geological Mapping, Penticton Map Sheet, East-half (082E1/2), Southern British Columbia project (2018-011) will generate new information about rock types and ages in a prospective area with a rich mining history. Isotopic dating of specific rock types and updated geological mapping over select areas is expected to generate new ore deposit models to guide mineral exploration in an area that is currently experiencing renewed exploration activity.
The Soil-Gas Detection of Bedrock Mineralization and Geological Faults Beneath Thick Glacial Deposits using Economic Electronic Gas Sensors project (2018-028) will investigate the use of small, electronic gas sensors to measure the composition of gases in soil as a tool to rapidly and economically identify bedrock mineralization and concealed geological faults beneath the thick glacial sediment deposits obscuring potential mineralization in the Buckley-Nechako and Caribou Regional Districts in BC’s central interior.
The Halogens in spruce treetops and integration with existing multi-element data - Blackwater/TREK regions (NTS 93C,F) project (2018-031) will analyze the halogen elements (fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine) in spruce tree top samples collected in central BC during Geoscience BC’s 2015 TREK regional biogeochemical survey in 2015. Halogen elements play an important role in the mobilization and transport of metals in ore forming systems and can create detectable anomalies on the surface that may indicate covered mineralization. The project will help focus mineral exploration activity in the area by creating the first database of halogen elements in spruce trees and by applying the halogen analytical and sampling techniques developed in previous Geoscience BC-supported projects at a regional scale.
Accessing Information
View the project pages for more information.
View 2018-018 project page View 2018-011 project page View 2018-028 project page View 2018-031 project page
About Geoscience BC
Geoscience BC generates independent, public geoscience research and data about British Columbia’s minerals, energy and water resources. This advances knowledge, informs responsible development, encourages investment and stimulates innovation.
Our collaboration with the resource sectors, academia, communities, Indigenous groups and government develops and shares unbiased and credible earth science research and data.
Geoscience BC is a not for profit society incorporated under the BC Societies Act.
Visit www.geosciencebc.com or follow us @GeoscienceBC to find out more.
For more information, please contact:
Richard Truman
Geoscience BC
604-662-4147
truman@geosciencebc.com
The projects will help locate and characterize new deposits of the metals and minerals required for a cleaner and greener future economy in BC. As with all Geoscience BC research, reports and data from the projects will be publicly available from Geoscience BC as well as the provincial government.
Geoscience BC Vice President, Minerals, Christa Pellett said: “These four new Geoscience BC minerals research projects will test and deliver practical, usable tools for mineral explorers. The information will help the minerals sector, governments, community leaders and Indigenous groups understand where buried mineral deposits might be located and make more informed decisions about new mineral development.”
The Mineralogical Data, the Next Generation of BC RGS Database Upgrades project (2018-018) will demonstrate the effectiveness of using indicator mineral information from stream sediment samples as a cost-effective strategy to improve the coverage of the existing BC Regional Geochemical Survey (RGS) database. The project will collect about 100 new bulk stream sediment samples from an area in the east half of the Penticton map sheet map sheet (NTS 082E), which includes the Christian Valley in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.
Indicator minerals recovered from these new samples will help identify geochemical anomalies that may reveal undiscovered mineralized sources and demonstrate a method to assess the geochemistry of a large drainage areas using fewer samples.
Also in the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, the Geochronology, Deposit Studies and Geological Mapping, Penticton Map Sheet, East-half (082E1/2), Southern British Columbia project (2018-011) will generate new information about rock types and ages in a prospective area with a rich mining history. Isotopic dating of specific rock types and updated geological mapping over select areas is expected to generate new ore deposit models to guide mineral exploration in an area that is currently experiencing renewed exploration activity.
The Soil-Gas Detection of Bedrock Mineralization and Geological Faults Beneath Thick Glacial Deposits using Economic Electronic Gas Sensors project (2018-028) will investigate the use of small, electronic gas sensors to measure the composition of gases in soil as a tool to rapidly and economically identify bedrock mineralization and concealed geological faults beneath the thick glacial sediment deposits obscuring potential mineralization in the Buckley-Nechako and Caribou Regional Districts in BC’s central interior.
The Halogens in spruce treetops and integration with existing multi-element data - Blackwater/TREK regions (NTS 93C,F) project (2018-031) will analyze the halogen elements (fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine) in spruce tree top samples collected in central BC during Geoscience BC’s 2015 TREK regional biogeochemical survey in 2015. Halogen elements play an important role in the mobilization and transport of metals in ore forming systems and can create detectable anomalies on the surface that may indicate covered mineralization. The project will help focus mineral exploration activity in the area by creating the first database of halogen elements in spruce trees and by applying the halogen analytical and sampling techniques developed in previous Geoscience BC-supported projects at a regional scale.
Accessing Information
View the project pages for more information.
View 2018-018 project page View 2018-011 project page View 2018-028 project page View 2018-031 project page
About Geoscience BC
Geoscience BC generates independent, public geoscience research and data about British Columbia’s minerals, energy and water resources. This advances knowledge, informs responsible development, encourages investment and stimulates innovation.
Our collaboration with the resource sectors, academia, communities, Indigenous groups and government develops and shares unbiased and credible earth science research and data.
Geoscience BC is a not for profit society incorporated under the BC Societies Act.
Visit www.geosciencebc.com or follow us @GeoscienceBC to find out more.
For more information, please contact:
Richard Truman
Geoscience BC
604-662-4147
truman@geosciencebc.com