Diamonds/Kimberlites (Project Leader: Aleksandar Miskovic)
In support of diamond exploration, a number of compilations have been undertaken using publicly available data including exploration data filed on mineral claims and from the scientific literature. These databases included KIDD - Kimberlite Indicator and Diamond Database, KIMC - Kimberlite Indicator Mineral Chemistry, SMAC - Slave Magnetics Compilation and KANDD - Kimberlite Anomaly Drillhole Database. In addition to the datasets for the Slave Province, compilations of comparable data for the Northern Mackenzie Valley (Northern Interior Platform) and the Churchill Province have now been initiated. We have recently completed a relational database for KIDD and KIMC which is now publically accessible through our NT GoMap and NT GoData web applications. This platform will facilitate the timely release of publicly available data in a far more efficient process than in the past as the relational database will be populated by mineral industry assessment report data as their period of confidentiality expires. We are presently working towards completion of a relational database for SMAC and KANDD and plan to make these available through NT GoMap and NT GoData in the coming years.
In addition to the above, research is being carried out to better understand the distribution and origin of "non-kimberlitic" sources of indicator minerals through the examination of the mineralogy and mineral chemistry of mafic-ultramafic and alkaline rocks of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. These datasets will incorporate indicator mineral chemistry and whole-rock lithogeochemistry for mafic dyke swarms, gabbroic anorthosites, pyroxenites, carbonatites and ultrapotassic lavas and dykes. Compilation of these databases, along with accompanying petrochemical research, will help to further our understanding of the evolution of the sub-continental lithosphere beneath much of the northwestern Canadian Shield.
Suggestions for research partnerships with interested industry and university clients are welcome.
