Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut
ABSTRACT. Exploration in the central Arctic Zn-Pb District took place in five phases: 1) an initial exploration period (1960– 70), during which most surface showings on Cornwallis and Little Cornwallis islands were found; 2) a discovery period (1971– 79), during which the buried Polaris ore body was...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.525.3255 2023-05-15T14:19:36+02:00 Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut Keith Dewing Robert J. Sharp Ted Muraro The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives 2006 application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.525.3255 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic59-4-415.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.525.3255 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic59-4-415.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic59-4-415.pdf Key words Polaris Mine Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island Arctic Islands zinc lead mining Mississippi-Valley type mineral text 2006 ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T10:19:47Z ABSTRACT. Exploration in the central Arctic Zn-Pb District took place in five phases: 1) an initial exploration period (1960– 70), during which most surface showings on Cornwallis and Little Cornwallis islands were found; 2) a discovery period (1971– 79), during which the buried Polaris ore body was discovered and its feasibility and viability established, new showings were found farther afield, and many showings received limited drill testing; 3) the production period (1980–88), dominated by drilling at Polaris Mine; 4) an ore-replacement exploration period (1989 –2001), during which showings close to Polaris were extensively drilled, showings on Cornwallis Island drill tested, and new showings found and drilled farther away; and 5) a reclamation period (2002 –05), during which the infrastructure was removed and the mine site restored. Factors affecting the timing and rate of exploration were generally intrinsic to the region: 1) discovery of showings in 1960, 2) discovery of the Polaris ore body in 1971, 3) declining reserves between 1989 and 2002, 4) closure of the mine in 2002, 5) the short exploration season and difficult logistics, and 6) lack of competition. The external drivers of exploration were 1) oil-related exploration that led to the discovery of the Polaris showings, 2) the onset of regional exploration coinciding with spikes in the price of zinc, and 3) the surge in scientific interest in carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposits in 1967. Probabilistic, discovery-time curve analysis indicates that over 50 showings remain undiscovered. Because logistics controlled the target selection, the standard assumption of a logical discovery process (from largest target to smallest target) is likely invalid. This means that large, untested targets may still exist in the district. Text Arctic Arctic Cornwallis Island Nunavut Polaris Unknown Arctic Cornwallis ENVELOPE(-54.464,-54.464,-61.072,-61.072) Cornwallis Island ENVELOPE(-95.001,-95.001,75.135,75.135) Little Cornwallis Island ENVELOPE(-96.502,-96.502,75.502,75.502) Nunavut |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
topic |
Key words Polaris Mine Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island Arctic Islands zinc lead mining Mississippi-Valley type mineral |
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Key words Polaris Mine Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island Arctic Islands zinc lead mining Mississippi-Valley type mineral Keith Dewing Robert J. Sharp Ted Muraro Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut |
topic_facet |
Key words Polaris Mine Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island Arctic Islands zinc lead mining Mississippi-Valley type mineral |
description |
ABSTRACT. Exploration in the central Arctic Zn-Pb District took place in five phases: 1) an initial exploration period (1960– 70), during which most surface showings on Cornwallis and Little Cornwallis islands were found; 2) a discovery period (1971– 79), during which the buried Polaris ore body was discovered and its feasibility and viability established, new showings were found farther afield, and many showings received limited drill testing; 3) the production period (1980–88), dominated by drilling at Polaris Mine; 4) an ore-replacement exploration period (1989 –2001), during which showings close to Polaris were extensively drilled, showings on Cornwallis Island drill tested, and new showings found and drilled farther away; and 5) a reclamation period (2002 –05), during which the infrastructure was removed and the mine site restored. Factors affecting the timing and rate of exploration were generally intrinsic to the region: 1) discovery of showings in 1960, 2) discovery of the Polaris ore body in 1971, 3) declining reserves between 1989 and 2002, 4) closure of the mine in 2002, 5) the short exploration season and difficult logistics, and 6) lack of competition. The external drivers of exploration were 1) oil-related exploration that led to the discovery of the Polaris showings, 2) the onset of regional exploration coinciding with spikes in the price of zinc, and 3) the surge in scientific interest in carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposits in 1967. Probabilistic, discovery-time curve analysis indicates that over 50 showings remain undiscovered. Because logistics controlled the target selection, the standard assumption of a logical discovery process (from largest target to smallest target) is likely invalid. This means that large, untested targets may still exist in the district. |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Keith Dewing Robert J. Sharp Ted Muraro |
author_facet |
Keith Dewing Robert J. Sharp Ted Muraro |
author_sort |
Keith Dewing |
title |
Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut |
title_short |
Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut |
title_full |
Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut |
title_fullStr |
Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut |
title_full_unstemmed |
Exploration History and Mineral Potential of the Central Arctic Zn-Pb District, Nunavut |
title_sort |
exploration history and mineral potential of the central arctic zn-pb district, nunavut |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.525.3255 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic59-4-415.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-54.464,-54.464,-61.072,-61.072) ENVELOPE(-95.001,-95.001,75.135,75.135) ENVELOPE(-96.502,-96.502,75.502,75.502) |
geographic |
Arctic Cornwallis Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Cornwallis Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island Nunavut |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Cornwallis Island Nunavut Polaris |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Cornwallis Island Nunavut Polaris |
op_source |
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic59-4-415.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.525.3255 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic59-4-415.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
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1766291402141990912 |