Origin and timing of critical metal mineralisation at the Gayna River Zn camp, NWT

锌等工业金属是日常生活的基础，长期以来一直是加拿大经济的重要组成部分。随着向“绿色”经济转型的日益迫切需要，以及对日益加剧的国际地缘政治紧张局势的回应，加拿大和其他国家已经准备了“关键矿产”清单，并开始优先考虑将有助于发现地缘政治稳定的关键矿产资源的学术研究。发现大量“绿色”金属的新来源将是一项挑战，因为地球表面大多数容易辨认的矿床已经被发现；现在需要的是一个关于如何寻找“盲”矿床的新视角。了解了已知矿床在哪里的原因，以及它们是如何和何时形成的，就极大地促进了寻找新矿床的工作。重要的金属锌和许多有益的伴生微量元素在沉积岩中形成矿床。研究沉积岩含矿系统中已知矿床的性质和控制因素有助于集中矿产勘探。该项目将在西北地区Gayna河的一个未开发的、鲜为人知的锌矿营地中解决锌矿化的起源，其不寻常的地质环境类似于地球上品位最高的锌矿床，刚果民主共和国的Kipushi。这项工作将极大地有助于理解碳酸盐岩含锌系统是如何、何时以及为何发展的，并为锌区在向未来绿色经济过渡期间的矿产勘探奠定概念基础。

Industrial metals such as zinc are fundamental to everyday life and have long been a significantcomponent of Canada's economy. With the increasingly urgent need to transition to a 'green' economy, and inresponse to heightened international geopolitical tensions, Canada and other countries have prepared 'criticalminerals' lists and have started to prioritise academic research that will facilitate the discovery of geopoliticallystable sources of critical minerals. Discovering new sources of 'green' metals in large quantities sufficient toenable the transition away from hydrocarbons will be challenging, because most of the readily discerned oredeposits at Earth's surface have already been identified; what is now required is a new perspective on how tolook for 'blind' deposits. Searching for new ore deposits is greatly facilitated by understanding why knowndeposits are where they are, and how and when they formed. The critical metal zinc, and many desirableassociated trace elements, forms ore deposits in sedimentary rocks. Studies of the nature of and controls onknown ore deposits in sedimentary-rock-hosted ore systems can help focus mineral exploration. This projectwill address the origin of Zn mineralisation in an undeveloped, poorly known Zn camp in NWT, Gayna River,whose unusual geological setting resembles that of Earth's highest-grade Zn deposit, Kipushi, in DemocraticRepublic of Congo. This work will contribute substantially to the understanding of how, when, and whycarbonate-hosted Zn systems develop, and to the conceptual foundations that will underlie mineral explorationin Zn districts during the transition into the green economy of the future.