Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Geology

Supervisor

Banerjee, Neil R.

2nd Supervisor

Van Loon, Lisa L.

Co-Supervisor

Abstract

The Yellowknife City Gold Project (YCGP) currently encompasses 780 sq. km of contiguous land north, south and east of the city of Yellowknife. The project lies in the prolific Archean north-south trending Yellowknife Greenstone Belt, a suite of mafic and felsic volcanics and greywacke turbidites overlying a gneissic basement. Exploration and drilling efforts have been focused along 70 km of strike length on the southern and northern extensions of the mineralized shear zones and quartz veins associated with the past-producing high-grade Con (6.1 Moz @ 16.1 g/t Au) and Giant (8.1 Moz @ 16.0 g/t Au) gold mines.

Synchrotron X-ray diffraction of 71 powdered samples, and X-ray fluorescence maps of 73 slabs and half cores reveal similarities in mineralization styles between the Northbelt Property and the Con-Giant Mines, such as presence of pyrite-arsenopyrite, sphalerite-galena, sericite, chlorite, and quartz-carbonate, hinting that both locations are derived from a single mineralizing system. Our results suggest the timing of mineralization is similar throughout the Yellowknife City Gold Project, with pyrite-arsenopyrite, and sphalerite-galena forming first, followed by sericite-chlorite, and quartz-carbonate veining proliferating last. Three main gold associations are present across the YCGP – gold+sulphide, gold+quartz-carbonate, and gold+sericite-chlorite with the two latter probably due to later remobilization during syn-mineralization metamorphic processes. XANES analyses of select samples with viable Au signals revealed the presence of only metallic Au within sulphides and quartz veins. No refractory gold associated with elevated arsenic levels has been observed, suggesting gold may be easier to recover than previously thought.

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