BC’s northern Interior Plateau south of Vanderhoof and west of Quesnel is covered by a thick layer of glacial sediments and young volcanic rocks. This cover hides the complex geology of the area and potentially untapped mineral wealth and geothermal resources hidden within. Surficial sediment geochemical and mineralogical anomalies can be used to locate buried mineralization.
A solid geological framework is key to driving new conceptual mineral deposit models, mineral exploration targeting opportunities and exploration success.
The TREK Geology and Integration project:
Indigenous groups, communities, the mineral exploration sector and land managers need access to reliable earth science information to make informed decisions in the TREK area where mineral potential is high. An improved understanding of the bedrock geology under cover will support these goals.
The TREK program covered a 24,000 km2 area in BC’s central Interior Plateau from Anahim Lake in the west, Vanderhoof in the north and Williams Lake in the east. The Blackwater Gold Project is located in the centre of the program area, about 160 kilometres southwest of Prince George.
The TREK Geology and Integration project integrated the new TREK aeromagnetic data with other available datasets (gravity, geochronology, historic mapping) and collected new data during targeted regional mapping to generate a new integrated bedrock geology map. The project was based on two seasons of geological mapping during the summers of 2014 and 2015. Magnetic susceptibility was systematically measured at outcrops during mapping in order to correlate map units with aeromagnetic data. The data integration and related interpretations, when supported by field mapping, led to a significant improvement in the nature and resolution of geological contacts in areas of limited exposure and to the identification of major structures that were not previously recognized.
The data integration and related interpretations, when supported by field mapping, led to a significant improvement in the nature and resolution of geological contacts in areas of limited exposure and to the identification of major structures that were not previously recognized. These were published as GBC map 2017-06-02/MDRU Map 13-2017 (aeromagnetic correlation with bedrock) and Geoscience BC Report 2017-14 (Gravity Compilation, Enhancement Filtering & Structure Detection). The new geological map was published in draft form in 2015, and released in its final version as Geoscience BC map 2017-06-01/MDRU Map 12-2017). This project also generated new insight into the petrogenesis and metallogeny of the Interior Plateau, all of which is summarized in Geoscience BC Report 2018-12.
On October 17th, 2017, Geoscience BC and the University of British Columbia’s Mineral Deposit Research Unit hosted a technical workshop highlighting Geoscience BC’s series of TREK projects that included technical presentations, conversation, and posters about TREK projects and exploration successes in the region.
Videos of each presentation can be found on the Geoscience BC YouTube channel.
Presentation by Joel Angen
Presentation by Craig Hart