Distribution and behavior of gold in soils and tills at the Nickel Plate Mine, southern British Columbia, Canada

Sibbick, S.J.; Fletcher, W.K.

doi:10.1016/0375-6742(93)90065-t

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Kerr 10q5). A nunlbcr of till geochemistry case studies around mineral deposits and occurrences :tlso hnve t~ccn published in recent ycars including work in the Tulamcen Pt district (('ook & I:lctchcr 1993), at the Nickel Plate Au Ag deposit (Sibbick & Fletcher 1993), Mount Milligan Cu Au porphyry , Myra Falls Cu Zn Pb Au-Ag mine (Hicock 1995), Grew Creek Au-AB prospect, Yukon (Plouffe & Jackson 1995), the Bell Cu Au porphyry deposit (Stumpf et al 1997), at several properties in the southern Nechako region (Levson el al. 1997c;O'Brien el al.…”

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shilts 1973a, b) but, until recently, exploration companies working in the Cordillera have generally favoured Bhorizon soil sampling partly because of ease of sampling, low costs and, probably, historical precedent. Although C-horizon soil samples can be effectively used to identify glacial dispersal trains (discussed further below), sampling the upper soil horizons also can provide important data, particularly when an understanding of the effects of local pedological and hydromorphic processes on elemental concentrations is required (Bradshaw et al 1974;Gravel & Sibbick 1991;Sibbick & Fletcher 1993).…”

Section: Evaluating Soil Geochemical Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Regional till geochemical surveys in the Canadian Cordillera: sample media, methods and anomaly evaluation

Levson

2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Basal tills have become a widely used regional geochemical sampling medium in recent years in the Canadian Cordillera. They reflect the primary composition of the source bedrock and contrast with B-horizon soil that can be developed on a variety of glacial and non-glacial surficial sediment types. Detailed sedimentological data are critical to collect and they are used to differentiate basal tills from other visually similar sediments including englacial and supraglacial tills, colluvial debris flow deposits, and very poorly sorted, glaciofluvial or glaciolacustrine sediments (e.g. diamictons or gravelly muds). The variable transport and depositional processes that form these different sediments make interpretation of geochemical data difficult. Deep (usually > 0.75m) C-horizon sampling of basal till minimizes the complicating effects of pedogenesis, weathering, surface washing and gravity remobilization of the tills. The latter processes, particularly pronounced in the wet, steep terrain, typical of much of the Canadian Cordillera, lead to depleted concentrations of heavy minerals (notably Au) and hydromorphic dispersion of mobile elements in the near surface sediments. Also, elements that are preferentially concentrated in the fine fraction can be selectively removed by surface waters.Offset sampling lines, oriented perpendicular to the dominant ice-flow direction, are most effective for detecting regional geochemical anomalies which are typically narrow and elongated parallel to ice-flow. Erratics trains and till anomalies are usually a few to several kilometres long and up to one or more kilometres wide. For some metals such as Au, anomalies are generally larger and more readily detected in till than in B-horizon soil. Surface till anomalies reflect up-ice sources and not the immediately underlying bedrock; down-ice displacements of > 500 m often occur in areas of thick till. Basal till anomalies usually can be traced to source along linear transport paths reflecting topographically controlled valley-glacier flow in mountainous areas and unidirectional ice-sheet flow in many plateau areas, chiefly representative of the last glacial event. Interpretations of till geochemical data are enhanced with a clear understanding of the surficial and bedrock geology, Quaternary stratigraphy, ice-flow history and down-ice dispersal characteristics around known mineral deposits.

show abstract

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evaluating Soil Geochemical Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional till geochemical surveys in the Canadian Cordillera: sample media, methods and anomaly evaluation

Levson

2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The method used to process glacial sediments in almost all laboratories, hereafter referred as the "conventional method", is based on a combination of gravity separation techniques (mainly shaking tables and hand panning) and visual identification (typically under binocular stereomicroscopes). Although such method is widely used and lead to numerous successes, e.g., [2, 6 ,7, 20-28], some studies also suggest that the conventional method yields erratic results due to low counts and is not effective in recovering/identifying very small gold grains [3,4,[29][30][31][32][33]. In facts, most laboratories report only an uncertified visual grain count, with grain size estimation and simple shape interpretation [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Gold Grain Counting. Part 1: Why Counts Matter!

Girard¹,

Trembaly²,

Néron³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The quantitative and qualitative assessment of gold grains from samples of glacial till is a well-established method for exploring gold deposits hidden under glaciated cover. This method, widely used by the industry and which produced numerous successes in locating gold deposits in glaciated terrain, is still based on artisanal gravity separation techniques and visual identification. However, being artisanal, it is limited by inconsistent recoveries and the difficulty to visually identify the predominantly occurring small gold grains. These limitations hinder its capability to deceipher subtle or complex signal. To improve detection limits through recovery of small gold grains, a new approach has recently been introduced in the industry (commercially referred as “ARTGold” procedure) using an optimized miniature sluice box coupled with an automated scanning electron microscopy routine. The capabilities of this improved method are highlighted by comparing till surveys conducted around the Borden gold deposit (Ontario, Canada) using the conventional and improved methods at both local and regional scales. Relative to the conventional approach, the improved method recovered almost one order of magnitude more gold grains from samples (regional and down-ice mineralization), dominantly in small size fractions. Increasing the counts in low-abundance regional samples enables better discrimination between background signals and significant dispersions. The method offers an alternative to improve characterization of gold dispersal in glaciated terrain and the related gold deposit footprints.

show abstract

“…From the exploration activities, one can also determine what types as well as the form of minerals reserved and the amount of deposit underneath the area. In some cases, the nickel deposit relates to the distribution of gold in the area, Sibbick and Fletcher [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mathematical Method for Predicting Nickel Deposit Based on Data from Drilling Points

Cahyono¹,

Rahardjo²,

Sani³

2012

jti

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article we discuss several methods for predicting nickel ore content inside the soil under a given area/region. The prediction is the main objective of the exploration activity which is very important for conducting the exploitation activity from economic point of view. The prediction methods are based on the data obtained from the drilling activity at several "points". The data yields information on the nickel density at those points. Nickel density over the region is approximated (with an approximate function) by applying interpolation and/or extrapolation based on the data from those points. The nickel content is predicted by applying integral of the approximate function over the given region.

show abstract

Distribution and behavior of gold in soils and tills at the Nickel Plate Mine, southern British Columbia, Canada

Cited by 16 publications

References 2 publications

Regional till geochemical surveys in the Canadian Cordillera: sample media, methods and anomaly evaluation

Regional till geochemical surveys in the Canadian Cordillera: sample media, methods and anomaly evaluation

Automated Gold Grain Counting. Part 1: Why Counts Matter!

Mathematical Method for Predicting Nickel Deposit Based on Data from Drilling Points

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About