Partnership Programs

Canada–New Brunswick partnership programs are delivered under the Inter-provincial Geoscience Accord signed between the Geological Survey of Canada and New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources.

Exploration Science and Technology Initiative
(EXTECH II, 1994-1999)

A multi-disciplinary geoscience initiative supported by federal funding of $200 000 per year for five years. Studies in New Brunswick focused on the Bathurst Mining Camp.

The results of this program have been published in Economic Geology as Monograph 11 entitled “Massive Sulfide Deposits of the Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick, and Northern Maine” edited by W.D. Goodfellow, S.R. McCutcheon, and J.M. Peter.

Targeted Geoscience Initiative (TGI)

Background

In 2005, the Government of Canada committed $25M over five years to fund the third phase of the Targeted Geoscience Initiative Program (TGI-3). TGI-3 is focused on base metal reserves in established mining districts with the intent of stimulating private-sector resource exploration. The main objective of TGI-3 is to improve the geoscience knowledge in targeted mining districts in order to reduce the risk inherent in mineral exploration. TGI-3 is active in four geological regions of Canada:

• Buchans-Roberts Arm belt in Newfoundland and Bathurst Mining Camp in New Brunswick
• Abitibi Belt in Quebec and Ontario
• Flin Flon Belt in Manitoba and Saskatchewan;
• The copper-gold and lead-zinc belts in southeastern British Columbia

Bathurst Mining Camp

Five main activities are associated with the TGI-3 project in the Bathurst Mining Camp:

• Conducting a high-resolution, ground gravity survey on a 1 km-grid to compliment existing geophysical datasets.
• 3D geophysical modelling that combines geophysical data with rock properties measurements.
• A series of structural cross-sections will be constructed along transects crossing economically significant parts of the Bathurst Mining Camp.
• Development of a 3D GIS model incorporating the geology from the transects with the geophysical modelling to give a 3D structural model of the whole of the Bathurst Mining Camp.
• Application of new deep-search geochemical techniques including MMI, enzyme leach and mercury analysis on soils and till.

National Geoscience Mapping Program (NATMAP)

This five-year program (1999-2004), called “Appalachian Foreland and St. Lawrence Platform Architectures in Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland – Contributions to the Geological Bridges of Eastern Canada,” comprises five transects across the Laurentian continental margin. Two of these extend across the Gaspé Belt into northwestern New Brunswick. Click here to view location map.

The New Brunswick NATMAP program consisted of bedrock and surficial mapping projects that were carried out in conjunction with the Restigouche Project in northwestern New Brunswick. The studies focused on copper, gold and hydrocarbon potential in this area. The total federal contribution to these projects was $310 000.

National Geochemical Reconnaissance Program (NGR)

Under the NGR program a number of stream-sediment and water sampling projects have been carried out in New Brunswick with contractors supplied by the federal government and project supervision and scientific authority provided by the Province.

Canadian Geoscience Knowledge Network Program (CGKN)

The CGKN program is an initiative of the National Geological Surveys Committee (NGSC) to provide an Internet portal to Canadian geoscience information through GeoConnections. GeoConnections is the overall program responsible for the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), with CGKN being the geoscience component.

New Brunswick's participation in CGKN is the creation of a Metadata Catalogue of New Brunswick Geoscience data, and participation in several working groups. The Metadata Catalogue is a comprehensive catalogue describing geoscience data, publications and maps that are available for New Brunswick. This catalogue has been integrated as the geoscience node with the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure. The data, once found, lists reference information, contact person(s) and, depending on the collection being searched, contains a link directly to the live data set, map or publication.