CorwinTrottier
Congratulations to Master of Science in Applied Science candidate Corwin Trottier, recipient of a prestigious $5000 Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) Foundation Scholarship.
Corwin Trottier is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Science under the supervision of geology professor Dr. Jacob Hanley. He holds not one, but two undergraduate degrees from Saint Mary’s University: a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a BSc in Geology.
Trottier’s MSc thesis builds on his summer research with Dr. Hanley and Dr. Georgia Pe-Piper, where he studied samples from the Great Bear magmatic zone (GBMZ) in the Northwest Territories. These samples contain polymetallic “five-element” (Ni-Co-As-Ag-Bi) mineralization, which occur as structurally controlled veins within lightly metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary host rocks.
“Noteworthy recent research on five-element veins have focused on several European deposits, but GBMZ deposits remain untouched by modern analytical techniques,” writes Trottier in his thesis rationale.
Trottier’s research examines 60 rock samples that had been collected in the 1960s from the Eldorado Mine, which operated from 1933 to 1982, and stored at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) division of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in Ottawa. His objective is to advance the understanding of the ores at Eldorado Mine and similar five-element veins using modern analytical tools.
“Mr. Trottier is laying new ground in our understanding of uranium-silver deposits in Canada and abroad,” said Dr. Hanley. “I have been greatly impressed by his worth ethic and care in conducting this important research.”
Previous studies in the GBMZ have not quantified the metals in ore fluids, nor have they captured trace element and stable isotope chemistry at the scale of individual vein stages. As a result, current models have not been able to explain the source of uranium and other metals at Eldorado from a geochemical perspective.
“Final results will be compared to those of previous studies in the GBMZ and other five-element occurrences around the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, NWT,” writes Trottier. “This comparison will provide insight into the potential genetic relationship between similar deposit styles of variable ore grade at local and regional scales. The expected outcome will bring a better understanding of how ore metals are distributed in similarly complex vein deposits.”
About the Scholarship
The Mineralogical Association of Canada awards two $5000 scholarships yearly, one to a student enrolled in an MSc program and one to a student in a Ph.D. program. The applicable fields of study are: Mineralogy, Crystallography, Geochemistry, Mineral deposits and Petrology.