SNOWBIRD LAKE PROJECT, 2004-2005 (Project Leader: Edith Martel)

The Snowbird Lake mapping project was an initiative of the Northwest Territories Geoscience Office (NTGO) in collaboration with the western Churchill Metallogeny Project of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). The Snowbird Lake area (NTS sheet 65D) is located at the southeastern most corner of the Northwest Territories, bordered to the east by Nunavut and to the south by Saskatchewan. This area straddles the boundary between the Rae and Hearne domains of the western Churchill Province, covering most of the “Selwyn lozenge”. The “Selwyn lozenge”, along with the Athabasca and the proposed Three Esker lozenges, were thought to represent a segment of the highly debated Snowbird tectonic zone. Results of this mapping project suggest an alternative interpretation for the Snowbird tectonic zone.

The goals of this study were to provide an improved dataset and understanding of the geology of the area, and therefore contribute to the geological compilation of the western Churchill Metallogeny Project, as well as provide a regional assessment of the mineral potential of the area.

Publications:

NWT Open Report 2005-003: Martel, E., Delgaty, J., and Hardy, F., 2005. Till geochemistry study of the Snowbird Lake Project; Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, NWT Open Report 2005-003, 1 spreadsheet and accompanying text.

NWT Open File 2005-07: Hardy, F., Delgaty, J. and Martel, E., 2005. Drift exploration surveys in the Snowbird Lake area, NWT: Kimberlite indicator minerals - gold - heavy minerals geochemistry - till geochemistry; Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, NWT Open File 2005-07, 89 p.

NWT Open File 2005-08: Martel, E., Harris, J., Currie, M., and Pierce, K., 2005. Snowbird Lake (NTS 65D) Remote Predictive Mapping and Geoscience Data Compilation; Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, NWT Open File 2005-08. Digital files.

NWT Open File 2006-02: Martel, E. and Pierce, K., 2006. An ArcView 3.x digital geological atlas of the Snowbird Lake area, NTS 65D; Northwest Territories Geoscience Office, NWT Open File 2006-02. Digital files.