LE3 .A278 2003

2003

Stanley, Cliff

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Earth & Environmental Science

Earth & Environmental Sciences

A 750m long and 200m wide sandbar containing anomalous concentrations of heavy minerals along the east bank of the Shubenacadie River, Nova Scotia was investigated in this thesis study. The sandbar was examined to determine the effectiveness of total magnetic field strength and magnetic susceptibility surveys as proxies for heavy mineral grade assays. The sandbar is located under Gosse Bridge in a fluvial, macro-tidal environment an~ is within mining claims held by Titanium Corporation Inc. Total magnetic field strength surveys conducted across the sandbar delineated magnetic anomaly trends in the sand. The trends appear to be related to either the amount of medium-grained sand present, or the concentrations of heavy minerals in the sands. Vibracore and pionjar drillcore, along with shallow surface sandbar samples, were found to display a strong correlation between heavy mineral concentrations and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The relationship between the heavy mineral concentrations and the magnetic susceptibility was supported further by the strong correlation between heavy mineral concentrations and magnetic mineral percentages separated from the samples using a Frantz isodynamic separator. The heavy mineral separations undertaken indicate that the sandbar under examination has significantly higher heavy mineral grades in the first meter of sediment.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3199