Gold mineralization at the Engineer Mine, northern British Columbia: Its causes and consequences for local and regional gold exploration

At the Engineer Property in northern British Columbia, gold-bearing epithermal (shallow heat) quartz-carbonate veins feature electrum (gold-silver alloy) and roscoelite (a vanadium mica), an association which has not been well studied in similar gold deposits. The igneous heat source for the veins has not been proven, but is believed to be the Eocene Sloko Group volcanism and the nearest igneous body is thought to be related to this volcanism. However, minimal age dating has been done in the area. Gold is also present in a regional shear zone called Shear Zone “A”, but its relationship to the epithermal veins is uncertain. The main objective of this study is to develop a deposit model for the high-grade gold mineralization. This deposit model should address the following questions: (1) At what temperature and pressure did the veins form? (2) What is the mineralogy and geochemistry of the veins? What does this tell us about the source of the gold? (3) What are the structural and spatial relationships between the geologic features of the area? (4) What is the chronology of the formation or emplacement of the geologic features?

Faculty Supervisor:

Lee Groat

Student:

Partner:

BCGold Corp

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Mining

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: