Geochemical Re-analysis of Till Samples from the Strange Lake Area, Labrador (NTS Map Sheets 14D/5 and 24A/8)
M.J. Batterson and D.M. Taylor
St. John’s, Newfoundland, August, 2009
ABSTRACT
This report provides the results of the re-analysis of till samples collected in the Strange Lake area, northern Labrador in 1983 and 1984. The re-analysis provides geochemical data for 57 elements from 570 BC- or C-horizon till samples, and includes analyses by ICP-ES for aluminum, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, calcium, cerium, chromium, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, iron, lanthanum, lead, lithium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, phosphorus, potassium, scandium, sodium, strontium, titanium, vanadium, yttrium, zinc and zirconium; by INAA for antimony, arsenic, barium, bromine, cerium, caesium, chromium, cobalt, europium, gold, iron, hafnium, lanthanum, lutetium, molybdenum, rubidium, scandium, samarium, selenium, sodium, tantalum, terbium, thorium, tungsten, uranium, ytterbium and zirconium. A complete data listing and individual element maps on a bedrock geology base map are also provided.
The source of mineralization is known in this area – the Strange Lake Zr–Nb–Y–Be–REE deposit that was discovered by the Iron Ore Company of Canada in 1979 using boulder-tracing methods, during a follow-up survey to a combined regional fluorine-in-water and uranium-in-lake sediment anomaly. A ribbon-shaped dispersal train, parallel to flow directions from late Wisconsinan, Laurentide ice, extend for at least 40 km. Single-element maps for ore-related geochemical components show that the mineralization is best identified by Be, La, Pb, Nb and Y. The deposit is also defined by Ce, Rb, Th, U and Zr, but not as clearly. Well-defined geochemical anomalies, within the dispersal train, are the result of englacial transport within the ice, and the interception of these debris planes by topographic highs.
Complete Open File Report (25.6 MB)
Appendix A: Strange Lake – Till-Geochemistry Data 
(287 KB)
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