Ettore Colaiacovo HBSc Thesis Abstract

Thesis Title: 
Relationships between Shear Zones and Mineralization of the Rainy River deposit
Ettore
Colaiacovo
HBSc
2021

The Rainy River gold mine is located in northwestern Ontario and has been operating since 2015. The deposit has three major high-strain zones striking NW to SE across the main ore zones. Thin sections taken from sampling transects across each zone provide evidence that these high strain zones are ductile shear zones. Microstructural evidence including strong preferred mineral orientation, folded quartz veins and grainsize reduction indicate dislocation creep as the ductile deformation mechanism in these zones. These shear zones also seem to influence the shape of each mapped ore zone, seeming to bound each ore zone and separating them from each other. It is likely that these major structures are responsible for the multiple ore zones and the shape of each ore body being mined today.