Controls on gold mineralization in high-grade metamorphic rocks, Borden, Chapleau, Ontario

该申请是在最近完成的Engage项目（2012年12月至2013年5月）之后提出的，要求支持萨斯喀彻温大学和Probe Mines Limited之间的合作研究，以进一步调查Borden金矿。博登金矿于2010年11月在苏必里尔省Kapuskasing构造带与Wawa片麻岩域之间的高变质岩中发现。加拿大和其他地方的金矿化通常是在上地壳中形成的未变质或中低变质岩性中，例如附近阿比提比省的Timmins金矿。Borden矿床赋存于中、下地壳的岩性中，代表了加拿大乃至世界的温度、地壳深度和金矿化的可能上限。因此，对独特的Borden矿床的研究将为金矿化提供新的认识，并为加拿大其他高品位变质地体提供新的勘探和采矿活动。这项拟议研究的具体目标包括：1)系统地对波登矿床及其周边地区进行了Kapuskasing构造带和Wawa片麻岩域从区域到露头尺度的地质填图，包括使用Trimble GPS系统；2)系统地收集了露头和钻孔岩心样品，利用野外填图技术、岩石学、电子探针、扫描电镜等建立了金矿化与岩性、蚀变、变质和构造之间的空间关系；3)利用放射性成因同位素年代学分析，建立金矿化、变质和变形的时间关系；5)研究金矿化的流变控制因素；6)建立高变质地型金矿化的新矿床模式。该项目为萨斯喀彻温大学1名博士和3名HBSc学生提供了良好的培训机会。

This application, following on a recently completed Engage project (12/2012 to 05/2013), requests support for a collaborative research between the University of Saskatchewan and Probe Mines Limited to further investigate the Borden gold deposit. The Borden gold deposit, discovered in November 2010, is characterized by its association with high-grade metamorphic rocks between the Kapuskasing Structural Zone and the Wawa Gneiss Domain in the Superior Province. Gold mineralization in Canada and elsewhere is typically hosted in unmetamorphosed or low- to medium-grade metamorphic lithologies that formed in the upper crust, such as the nearby Timmins gold mines in the Abitibi subprovince. The Borden deposit hosted in lithologies that formed in mid-to-lower crust represents the possible upper limits of temperature, crustal depth, and gold mineralization in Canada and the world. Therefore, research on the unique Borden deposit will provide new insights into gold mineralization and facilitate new exploration and mining activities in other high-grade metamorphic terranes in Canada. The specific objectives of this proposed research include: 1) systematic regional to outcrop-scale geological mapping of the Borden deposit and its surrounding area into the Kapuskasing Structural Zone and the Wawa Gneiss Domain, including the use of a Trimble GPS system, 2) systematic collection of samples from both outcrops and drill cores to establish spatial relationships between gold mineralization and lithology, alteration, metamorphism, and structure using field mapping techniques, petrography, electron microprobe, scanning electron microscope, and fabric analyzer, 3) document pressure-temperature-fluid composition of metamorphism, gold mineralization and alteration at the Borden deposit, 4) establish a temporal relationship among gold mineralization, metamorphism, and deformation using radiogenic isotope geochronological analyses, 5) investigate rheological controls on gold mineralization, and 6) establish a new deposit model for gold mineralization in high-grade metamorphic terrains. This project provides excellent training opportunities for one PhD and three HBSc students at the University of Saskatchewan.