1 of 3Two crew members engage in basal till sampling for Geoscience BC's TREK (Targeting Resources through Exploration and Knowledge) project last sum
1 of 3Two crew members engage in basal till sampling for Geoscience BC's TREK (Targeting Resources through Exploration and Knowledge) project last summer. Basal till is the primary target for the TREK Project's geochemical survey to help pinpoint possible mineral deposits. Basal till, a first derivative of bedrock, is transported in the direction of ice flow (in the TREK Project's area, primarily to the northeast), and contains geochemical signatures which can be used to trace it back to a specific bedrock location. — W. Jackaman photo
2 of 3A helicopter takes part in lake sediment sampling for Geoscience BC's TREK (Targeting Resources through Exploration and Knowledge) Project last summer in a 24,000-square-km section of British Columbia's northern Interior Plateau, south and west of Vanderhoof. In all, 282 lake sediment and lake water samples were collected for geochemical testing from 265 lakes. — W. Jackaman photo
3 of 3A sampling crew receives training before taking part in Geoscience BC's TREK (Targeting Resources through Exploration and Knowledge) project last summer. The TREK project includes an airborne geophysical survey, a regional geochemical survey, and local biogeochemical and geothermal sampling programs. Results from the TREK project are expected to aid with mineral exploration in the 24,000-square-km study area by providing better information concerning its geology. The area has seen limited mineral exploration due to complicated and poorly understood bedrock geology and overburden. — W. Jackaman photo
Geoscience BC hopes a major data acquisition initiative it’s conducting in British Columbia’s northern Interior Plateau will stimulate mineral exploration activity there in the near future.
The organization’s Targeting Resources through Exploration and Knowledge (TREK) Project has begun its second year of work in the 24,000-square-kilometre area southwest of Vanderhoof.
Participants are looking for evidence of any mineral that might spark economic interest in a region traditionally underexplored due to poorly understood bedrock geology and overburden.
Workers completed an airborne geophysical survey (airborne magnetic survey) last year and began the second year of a regional geochemical survey June 26. Initial results from both surveys were released earlier this year and 10 basal till potential maps—tools to ultimately help exploration companies track down mineral sources—were released April 8.
The multi-disciplinary, multi-year project could run until March 2017, depending on funding.
Geoscience BC is an industry-led, industry-focused, not-for-profit society, largely funded by the provincial government. Its mandate includes the collection, interpretation and marketing of geoscience data to promote resource exploration, investment and development in British Columbia.
Geoscience BC’s project coordinator and communications manager Andrea Clifford told an audience at Minerals North 2014 in Vanderhoof May 22 that work done already by the TREK Project will benefit mining and exploration companies.
“Together, airborne and geochemical surveys are data sets that are much more powerful (when) combined,” Clifford said. “So again, this is what we want to provide to increase your chances of exploration success.”
In a previous Geoscience BC project, QUEST-West—conducted between 2007 to 2012 just northwest of the TREK study area— data collected and analyzed directly led to the expansion of the Huckleberry copper mine near Houston.
As well, mining and exploration companies have already found gold, silver and molybdenum in the TREK Project area. Interest has also been generated by the discovery of gold at New Gold Inc.’s Blackwater Project, within the TREK Project area, which has revealed a new type of mineral deposit participants want to continue seeking.
To complete Geoscience BC’s goal of providing a new geological understanding of the TREK Project area, collected surface geochemistry, airborne geophysics and geology data are being integrated.
Resulting products will include new geological maps, digital databases and GIS (Geographical Information System) layers. Such layers, to be laid over existing maps, can include features like elevation, TREK sample locations, parks, rivers and mineralization.
TREK’s airborne geophysical survey was completed between August and November 2013. Two fixed-wing aircraft collected nearly 104,000 flight line-kilometres of data over the study area.
Geoscience BC also purchased high-quality airborne magnetic data from three exploration companies with properties in the project area and merged it with the new data to complete the survey.
The TREK geochemistry survey also began in 2013 and is composed of three steps.
The first involved compiling historical basal till, biogeochemical (pine bark), lake sediment and stream sediment samples previously gathered from the study area.
Basal till is bedrock eroded at glaciers’ bases and carried along and deposited underneath them. It’s considered a prime sample source in the search for minerals because samples may contain specific geochemical signatures that may help trace till back to its original bedrock location (along with predetermined ice-flow direction).
The survey’s second step involved the re-analysis of 1,400 to 1,800 archived till samples to bring analyses up to current-day standards.
The third step involved a new sampling and analysis program and included collecting basal till, lake sediment and lake water samples from the TREK study area.
Participants collected 677 new basal till samples and gathered larger samples (10-12 kilograms each) at approximately every second sample site. They also collected 282 lake sediment and/or lake water samples from 265 lakes.
All new 2013 sampling occurred on the project area’s east side, where basal till exposures were limited and lake sediment samples were not previously gathered.
Data files from the 2013 samplings included till survey trace metal data, till survey gold-grain data, and lake survey trace metal data.
Although lake sediment and lake water sampling is now complete, Clifford said the geochemical survey is continuing. This year, workers hope to collect roughly another 600 basal till samples, with larger samples again gathered at approximately every other site.
Participants plan to collect till samples in north and west sections of the study area this year, partly because cover and access issues limit till collection in the southwest.
Researchers may even go back to a few archived sites to collect new data, Clifford said.
“We want to keep the data set as consistent as possible.”
