Sarah Bowie – Ph.D. Student, University of Portsmouth

Biography:

Sarah is a Ph.D. student in the School of Environment, Geography and Geosciences at the University of Portsmouth (UoP), UK, supervised by Drs. Catherine Mottram (UoP) and Dawn Kellett of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). Her research is partly supported through collaboration with the GSC and Core Assets Corp. Previously, Sarah completed a B.Sc. (2019) at Queen’s University and an M.Sc. (2022) at Simon Fraser University. Her master’s project focused on quantifying the pressure-temperature-time constraints on ductile deformation within the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex in British Columbia’s South Central Region. Sarah has worked as a field assistant with the Yukon and Ontario Geological Surveys as part of regional bedrock mapping campaigns. These experiences provided strong motivation for Sarah to pursue Ph.D. research, which integrates both field- and novel laboratory-based techniques.

Project: Directly Dating Fault-controlled Porphyry-epithermal-CRD Mineralization in Northwestern British Columbia, Canada

This project focuses on an ore system in BC’s Northwest Region associated with the Llewellyn fault, a major structural control on epithermal/porphyry Cu-Au deposits in the renowned Atlin mining district. This deposit hosts Mo-Cu porphyry, Cu-Zn-Ag skarn and Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu carbonate replacement mineralization styles related to multiple faulting and fluid flow events with no existing geochronological constraints. In-situ U-Pb carbonate dating combined with higher temperature geochronometers (e.g., U-Th-Pb zircon, apatite, titanite, and garnet, and Re-Os molybdenite), will be used to track mineralizing processes from the magmatic to hydrothermal regime (~200–800oC). Results will link the timing(s), rate, and duration of mineralization to the tectonic and metallogenic framework of northwestern BC. Conclusions will be critical for mineral exploration efforts in this area and elucidate the role of structural controls on mineralization, with applications to economically strategic ore deposits in BC and worldwide.