About Geoscience BC
Geoscience BC generates independent, relevant, public earth science research and data about British Columbia’s minerals, energy and water resources. This advances knowledge, informs responsible development, encourages investment and stimulates innovation.
Its collaboration with the resources sectors, academia, communities, Indigenous groups and government develops and shares unbiased and credible earth science research and data. Geoscience BC is a not for profit society incorporated under the British Columbia Societies Act. Find out more at www.geosciencebc.com.
Geoscience BC’s Central Interior Copper-Gold Research (CICGR) program (http://www.geosciencebc.com/major-projects/central-interior-copper-gold-research/) is a major multi-year Geoscience BC series of collaborative minerals earth science projects in British Columbia between the Mount Polley (Quesnel) and Gibraltar (Williams Lake) mines in the south, and the Mount Milligan (Mackenzie) mine in the north. It is designed to highlight potential mineral deposits buried under glacial deposits in order to focus mineral exploration, attract investment and assist more informed natural resource decisions.
The Quesnel terrane is a distinct package of rocks that runs roughly northwest-southeast across the province and hosts significant copper-gold deposits. In the CICGR area, the Quesnel terrane is buried under thick glacial deposits. With the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine to the north and the Gilbratar and Mount Polley mines to the south, it is believed that similar mineral deposits may be hidden below the glacial deposits between these mines.
CICGR is made up of coordinated projects designed to characterize the nature of these glacial deposits including their genetic variability, depth to bedrock, chemistry, and origin. This is being accomplished through surficial mapping and sampling, geophysical interpretation, drilling and other techniques.
The information generated is contributing to understanding the region’s geology and mineral potential. It will provide data that can be used by the mineral exploration sector, governments, communities and Indigenous groups to more effectively focus attention on economic mineral exploration and development.
Parts of the Quesnel terrane to the north and south of the project area host significant copper and gold deposits, and it is likely that undiscovered mineral deposits exist beneath the glacial deposits in the project area.
Understanding the characteristics and composition of the glacial deposits and the geophysical response of the underlying bedrock will assist in understanding regional mineral potential and will help to focus mineral exploration. Mineral exploration companies, communities, Indigenous groups and governments can use this public earth science information for planning and attracting investment.
The Central Interior Copper-Gold Research: Surficial Exploration Project (http://www.geosciencebc.com/major-projects/central-interior-copper-gold-research/) is generating new surficial geology maps in an area between the Mount Milligan (Mackenzie) and Gibraltar (Williams Lake) and Mount Polley (Quesnel) mines to provide the glacial framework necessary to interpret till geochemical and mineralogical anomalies and trace them back to their bedrock source. The maps will inform a new till sampling survey in underexplored areas and when combined with the reanalysis of archived historical till samples and the glacial framework, will provide the high-quality baseline data necessary to identify areas of mineral exploration interest.
The Identification of New Porphyry Potential Under Cover in Central British Columbia project (http://www.geosciencebc.com/projects/2018-047/) is using existing Geoscience BC and other publicly available geophysical data to identify, map and model prospective copper-gold deposits and related rocks in the region of the Quesnel terrane between the Gibraltar (Williams Lake) and Mount Milligan (Mackenzie) mines that is covered by sediments deposited by glaciers (till).