Placer Gold Deposits in New Brunswick
Although hard rock gold potential is being heavily prospected in New Brunswick, I often wonder where if any are our major placer gold deposits. There have been articles published by the government of New Brunswicks department of energy and mines regarding small placer occurrences in the past however nothing of any significance. A Geologist from Nova Scotia published a study comparing Placer gold deposition in Nova Scotia to that of placer gold potential in the Moncton Sub Basin. There have been some claims staked and some gold panned however no major placer gold deposits have been found to date.
I think our biggest challenge in the province is overburden v.s the hydraulic movement of present day streams. You will often find meandering streams in areas of low relief where previous water bodies could have been much large during prehistoric times. The present day streams move at such a slow pace that the hydraulic power required to create an ideal placer gold environment, just isn't there. However, was it? At one point in time when the glaciers were retreating meltwaters would have created large river systems capable of moving material at an unfathomable rate. As the glaciers retreated further the earths crust began to rebound lifting itself to present day heights. This along with the other geological processes that can create mountains would have brought landforms to it's present day heights. So where we see just a trickle of water today could have been perfectly submerged thousands of years ago.
Tune in later for a detailed article on high benches in the Caledonia highlands and Glacialfluvial gold deposits.
Until Next time.
