On-Going Research in Sudbury
The Department of Earth Sciences (DES) and Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC) initiated the first phase of a new long-term research initiative on the Sudbury Structure in 2008. These new research projects complement six ongoing research projects on the Sudbury Structure by DES members. The three new student research projects are funded by CEMI (Centre for Excellence In Mining Innovation), and include a comparative study of mineralized and unmineralized breccias along the Whistle offset dike (supervisors B. Lafrance and A. McDonald), a study of the SIC contact metamorphic aureole and anatexis (supervisors D. Tinkham and M. Lesher), and a study of the structural and metamorphic history of the South Range (supervisors B. Lafrance and D. Tinkham). M.Sc. student Lindsay Bygnes is working on the Whistle offset dike project and a search is in progress for Ph.D. students to work on the other two CEMI-funded projects.
The second phase of this research initiative on the Sudbury Structure is planned for the near future and will include research projects by several DES faculty. These new projects and continuing projects on Sudbury-related geology highlight a long-term research program initiative involving many DES faculty that is designed to take a new and modern look at the Sudbury Structure and the world-class ore deposits that it hosts. This new and modern look at the Sudbury Structure is not only fueled by a concentration of DES faculty whose expertise is being applied to Sudbury geology, but also by state-of-the art laboratory facilities and instrumentation, including the recent addition of the ultra-high precision laser-ablation ICPMS system and clean lab (B. Kamber) that plays a pivotal role in many of the studies, a new micro-raman spectrometer (M. Schindler) that is scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2009, a new experimental petrology laboratory (P. Jugo), a recently upgraded fluid-inclusion facility (D. Kontak) and a recently upgraded SEM facility (A. McDonald) with a new cathodoluminescence detector (D. Kontak). Please visit back soon for updates related to on-going and upcoming research projects.
On-Going DES/MERC Research in Sudbury
Title: A comparative study of mineralized and unmineralized breccias along the Whistle offset dyke in the North Range of the Sudbury impact structure
Coordinators: B. Lafrance and A. McDonald
M.Sc. student: Lindsay Bygnes
Title: Experimental studies of the role of Bi, Te, As in PGE fractionation and remobilization during sulfide liquid fractionation and during metamirphism
Coordinators: Dr. P.J. Jugo and Dr. A.M. McDonald
Ph.D. student: Fabio Cafagna
Title: Evolution of the Sudbury Igneous Complex Contact Metamorphic Aureole and Controls on Anatexis
Coordinators: Dr. D.K. Tinkham and Dr. C.M. Lesher
Ph.D. student: TBA
Title: The role of fluids in the modification and formation of Cu-Ni-PGE systems
Coordinator: Dr. D.J. Kontak
Ph.D. student: TBA
Title: Metamorphic, Structural, and Geochronological Evolution of the South Range of the Sudbury Impact Structure
Coordinators: Dr. D.K. Tinkham and Dr. B. Lafrance
Post-doctoral research fellow: TBA
Title: Deformation and Mobilization of Ni-Cu-PGE Mineralization in the Garson Mine, Sudbury, Ontario
Coordinators: B. Lafrance and C.M. Lesher
Ph.D. student: Joshua Mukwakwami
Title: Mineralogy and Geochemistry of As- Rich Ni-Cu-(PGE) Mineralization at the Garson Mine, Sudbury, Ontario
Supervisors: Dr. C.M. Lesher
M.Sc. student: Rachel Gammell
Past DES/MERC Research in Sudbury
Title: Geology, Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Genesis of Ni-Cu-PGE Mineralization in the McCreedy East 153 Mine, North Range, Sudbury, Ontario
Supervisor: Dr. C.M. Lesher
M.Sc. student: Rianne Stout (M.Sc. based at Utrect)