Petrogenesis of the Kiyuk Lake Gold Deposit, Nunavut

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This research will be a first collaborative effort between the Queen's Facility for Isotope Research (QFIR) and Prosperity Goldfields to evaluate the origin and evolution of the Kiyuk Lake gold deposit. This is an unusual gold deposit because it is hosted in a sedimentary basin and is in an underexplored area of Nunavut. Currently much of Canada's gold is produced from the oldest parts of the Canadian Shield. If economic amounts of gold could be found in younger basins such as at Kiyuk Lake, a new timing for gold deposition will have been identified in the Shield and a potential new host for gold will be revealed. Problems to be addressed include the types of alteration minerals and their order of formation relative the gold, the age and chemistry of the alteration assemblages associated with the gold, the origin and character of the fluids that produced the gold relative to barren areas, and how these can be used to detect gold mineralization in the area. This research will involve an MSc student and a Post-Doctoral Fellow (0.2PDF) and 2 Research Associates (5% of their time as RAs) to produce data and new exploration techniques, the PI who will oversee the research and mentor the HQP, and the staff at Prosperity Goldfields who will provide drill core samples and supplementary data. The data and knowledge generated will be original and focussed on a gold deposit hosted in geology that has seen little assessment for its mineral potential. This knowledge will benefit the industry by providing tools to find additional reserves if they are present, as well as both Canada and Nunavut by increasing awareness of potentially new types and areas of gold mineralization in Nunavut. In addition, it will evaluate the use of geochemistry for effective valuation and exploration in an area with very limited outcrop exposure.