Fingerprinting glacial processes for diamond exploration on Baffin Island

Canada is the third largest diamond producer by value worldwide (approximately $2.4 billion per year since 1998). Diamond production has increased from zero to 15 million carats from only four mines (three in the Northwest Territories and one in northern Ontario). Over a hundred million dollars can be spent in a single year on diamond exploration, in part due to the remoteness of the north, and in part due to use of expensive geophysical methods to locate outcroppings of diamond ore (kimberlite) that may be as small as a few metres radius. Often the kimberlite is covered by sediment or is eroded and scattered over hundreds of square kilometres by ice sheets over the past two million years. Therefore much of the exploration relies on our ability to interpret the history of glacial dynamics and trace the kimberlite 'bread crumbs' back to their source. Complexities such as changes in ice flow direction, multiple glaciations, and subglacial conditions that control the amount of erosion or transportation of kimberlite make this mineral exploration approach risky. The goal of the proposed research is to develop new and innovative approaches that will improve our knowledge of glacial processes and how they affect mineral exploration in northern Canada, particularly on Baffin Island. We will couple a novel isotope geochemistry method that characterises the subglacial conditions, with a refined field strategy that builds on decades of mineral exploration in glacial sediment. Hall Peninsula, Baffin Island, Nunavut, is an ideal location for the test of this approach because it has significant indications of kimberlite and is known to exhibit the glacial complexities believed to operate elsewhere in Canada. Our NSERC-CRD industry partner Peregrine Diamonds Inc is facilitating the testing of these developments in mineral exploration with in-kind and matching support at the level required to offset high costs of mapping, sampling, and isotope geochemistry for this remote setting.