This volume describes the use of till geochemical and indicator mineral methods for mineral exploration in the glaciated terrain of Canada. The principles and examples described in this volume will have direct applications for exploration companies looking for diamonds, precious and base metals and uranium in glaciated parts of North America, northern Europe and Asia and mountainous regions of South America.

This report presents findings of a bedrock geological mapping project carried out in 2003 in the Ferguson Lake area, located about 200 kilometres west of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. The project was initiated to provide better understanding of the geology & deformation history of the area and to put a local nickel-copper-platinum group element deposit into a regional context. The main part of the report describes the rock units exposed in the area (metamorphosed supracrustal rocks and intrusive rocks) and the area's structural elements (gneissosity, folds, foliation, shear zones, faulting). An attempt is then made to correlate the deformational features observed in the area with those documented by other researchers. Finally, implications of the findings for the timing of mineralization are briefly discussed.

Given the established nature of geoscientific knowledge of the Kaapvaal craton compared to the Slave craton, and given the exciting new interdisciplinary results coming from the Kaapvaal Project and from Slave craton studies, scientists working on both cratons were brought together in a workshop to compare and contrast the nature of these two cratons. Of the 54 papers presented at the workshop, 24 are included in this volume. There are clearly major similarities and differences between these two Archean cratons. The crust of both was predominantly formed in the Mesoarchean. Both contain crustal sections consisting of terranes of different ages welded together by Archean accretionary events. Both crustal sections are underlain by lithospheric mantle sections consisting of peridotites that experienced extensive partial melt extraction between 2.9 Ga and 3.2 Ga, but this is where the similarities between the cratons end. One of the most striking differences between the Slave and Kaapvaal cartons is the apparent seismic homogeneity of the Kaapvaal craton's SCLM whereas the Slave craton is seismically layered. The seismic layering in the centre of the craton correlates laterally and with depth with electrical layering and geochemical layering. Taken together, these differences suggest that SCLM formation was different for the two cratons, implying that the search for a single causative formation process is bound to fail. Reprinted from the journal Lithos Volume 71, numbers 2-4.

Both airborne & ground hyperspectral surveys have recently been undertaken as potential exploration methods for a variety of mineral deposit types in glaciated regions. This paper reviews a project that aims to summarize the surficial geology & glacial stratigraphy in the Lac de Gras kimberlite field in order to assess hyperspectral ground surveys as a drift prospecting technique for kimberlite in an area with varied overburden thickness. It describes the area's regional geology & glacial history, the reasons for lack of kimberlite indicator minerals above some kimberlite pipes, and the spectral reflectance response of bedrock exposures, kimberlite, and various till samples collected in the area. Limitations of using spectral reflectance data in drift prospecting are also discussed.