Introduction:

A group of over 70 representatives from industry, academia, provincial/territorial geoscience surveys, and the Geological Survey of Canada met in Ottawa on April 29 and 30th, 2004 for a workshop on the nature and metallogeny of the western Churchill Province of the Canadian Shield. The workshop was hosted by the Geological Survey of Canada's western Churchill Metallogeny project team and was aimed at establishing a broad regional tectonostratigraphic synthesis for the western Churchill Province, one that transcends map areas, jurisdictions and specific disciplines. The focus was on building a geoscience data framework in which to explore questions about prospective commodities and deposit types at the tectonic province scale, utilizing the expertise and understanding gained by various jurisdictions in different areas to build a common framework. The strong attendance and positive feedback attest to a strong interest in integration of government, academia, and industry for mutual exchange of ideas and collaboration towards achieving the goals of increased exploration and development in the north and associated benefits to northerners and northern communities.

Background and contents

The western Churchill Metallogeny Project (WCMP) of the Earth Science Sector's Northern Resources Development Program is a 3-year multi-agency, multidisciplinary project that aims to compile and synthesize geoscience knowledge of the western Churchill Province spanning northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, southeastern Northwest Territories and most of mainland Nunavut. This under-explored area is one of Canada's promising mineral potential frontiers. Gold prospects are under development at Meadowbank and Meliadine and the potential for significant diamond and nickel-platinum-group element deposits is very high. The project will develop three new 1:1 million scale map and digital compilations of the central Hearne, northern Rae and southern Rae-Hearne domains of the western Churchill Province, as well as smaller scale bedrock and Quaternary maps, reports and papers, a summary volume for the Athabasca Extech IV Uranium study, and digital compilations of assessment reports for mineral occurrences in Nunavut.

This Open File/web release presents the majority of talks and some posters given at the workshop and a guidebook prepared by Saskatchewan Industry and Resources for a WCMP- and DIAND-sponsored field trip (June 2004) to the Phelps Lake area of southern Hearne. In addition, it presents in poster and database format summaries of Geological Survey of Canada publications on Quaternary and bedrock geology, respectively, presented at the workshop. The bedrock summary includes metadata for the WCMP project area north of 60° and east of 106°. A subsequent release will include data for the remaining project area.

This CD/web-release includes abstracts of oral presentations, and original or edited powerpoint presentations in pdf file-format. The powerpoint pdfs reflect the talks as presented, or as edited versions, to omit unpublished data.

Day 1, Thursday April 29th

Morning session: Project Overview

Afternoon session: Rae-Hearne bedrock geology

Day 2: Friday April 30th

Morning session: Regional Metallogeny and mineral deposits

Morning session 2: Proterozoic stratigraphy and metallogeny

Afternoon session: Quaternary geology

Additional: Phelps Lake Field Trip