1 June 2018
(Yellowknife, NT – June 1, 2018) For the first time ever, public geoscience data from several mineral exploration locations across Nunavut has been brought together into an interactive format, called the Nunavut Assessment Drill Database (NADD).
With the support of Natural Resources Canada, the Chamber of Mines completed and launched NADD v.1, a compilation of drill hole data from mineral assessment reports filed as representation work with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) in Nunavut. NADD provides geoscientists and other users with data that is readily searchable and can be displayed in a geographic browser such as Google Earth. NADD’s core products include an Excel spreadsheet and an interactive Google Earth file. A total of 1,584 drill holes were extracted from 400 mineral assessment reports filed from 2007 to 2015. The Excel spreadsheet is very simply imported into GIS software and the Google Earth KML file can be easily browsed.
“This elegantly simple and highly effective database will be a valuable resource for mineral explorationists, raising public awareness, community engagement, and land use planning,” said NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines President Gary Vivian. “We’re pleased to see this continued investment in northern geoscience which is key to unlocking our vast mineral resources wealth,” he added.
NADD user files are posted on the Chamber of Mines web site in the Resources section under Geoscience.
“Nunavut mineral assessment reports contain over 75 years of valuable geological data which, until now, had never been assembled into a usable format. By providing a geographic browser and normalizing drill hole coordinates, the Chamber has produced a modern, effective, and impressive exploration tool for low cost. It’s especially gratifying that this project delivered exceptional value and was completed from start to finish in about 90 days,” said David Willis, Manager, Lands & Community, Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. Peregrine Diamonds assisted by providing a portion of the digital data for the NADD.
The NADD project was fully funded by the Geological Survey of Canada through a Natural Resources Canada Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals (GEM) grant. “NADD significantly enhances accessibility of existing public information. This first version provides the foundation to add drilling data from all 4,000 assessment reports dating back to 1930, and any new information as it becomes available,” said Mr. Vivian. “We want to thank NRCan and their GEM team for their vision and support for this project.”
NADD data compiled includes drill hole identification name/number, type (core or chip), size, assessment report, year drilled/reported and by whom, map coordinates, geology log, geotechnical log, samples and analyses, geophysical tests, and commodities sought.
For more information on the NWT and Nunavut mining industries, please visit the Chamber of Mines website at www.miningnorth.com or contact Tom Hoefer, Executive Director at Tel: 867-873-5281 or email: executivedirector@miningnorth.com.