Structure, Tectonics, and Mineral Exploration

This 12-day in-person field and lecture-based course addresses the fundamentals of structural field analysis. The course will be held in Sudbury and Kirkland Lake, Ontario. In Sudbury, participants will investigate the development of regional folds, cleavages, and shear zones in the Paleoproterozoic Southern Province and Mesoproterozoic Grenville Province. This will provide the participants with the tools needed to interpret the regional tectonic controls and local structural controls on orogenic gold mineralization in the world-renowned Kirkland Lake gold district. Mapping exercises will be complemented by lectures, allowing the unique opportunity to directly apply classroom learning to the field.
 

• Location: On campus at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify and describe structural features in the field.
2. Perform a geometrical structural analysis of a multiply deformed area.
3. Recognize local and regional structural controls on gold mineralization.
4. Apply stereonet projection techniques to solve 3D problems applied to mineral exploration.
5. Interpret the sense of movement in shear zones.

What to expect:

This course will teach students the basic principles of structural mapping of deformed terranes, how to conduct a geometrical structural analysis of a multiply deformed area, how to describe brittle and ductile tectonic structures in rocks, how to interpret the sense of movement in shear zones, how to use the stereonet to solve 3D problems applied to mineral exploration, and how to recognize local and regional structural controls on gold mineralization. Lectures will focus on folds, lineations, foliations, and sheer zones. Students will partake in mapping exercises and exploration of the Sudbury and Kirkland Lake areas.