Location and Characterization of Pegmatites in the Southern Baffin Island Region, Nunavut: Field and Satellite Observations

English Abstract:

A number of granitic pegmatite dykes intrude the country rock on Hall Peninsula, southern Baffin Island, Nunavut. The aim of this project is to study the distribution, composition and petrogenesis of a select number of these pegmatites and evaluate their metallogenic potential. We anticipate that this research will highlight any rare metal, rare-earth element, and/or gem potential in pegmatites on Hall Peninsula, to companies that are interested in those commodities, with an emphasis on Sn, Li, Cs and Ta in particular.

This project will also include an examination of the source of parent melts, relative paragenesis, timing with respect to late orogenic evolution, and absolute ages of emplacement. Lithogeochemical and mineral-chemical analysis of the pegmatites is being done using whole-rock geochemistry and laser-ablation, multiple-collector, inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS). In-situ field analysis of pegmatites for higher-than-background radioactivity also took place using a GR-135 Plus spectrometer in order to prioritize pegmatites for geochronological work.

A broader regional context has been added to this project through the use of pegmatite samples obtained from both the Cumberland and Meta Incognita peninsulas. As pegmatites are not generally large targets, and can be easily overlooked in larger scale mapping projects, an attempt is being made to develop an approach that can identify them using various remote sensing methods.