Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

The proposal is to study the origin of the gold mineralization in the Providence mine, one of a number ofx000D
high-grade deposits in the "Mother Lode Gold Belt", a 200-km-long system of gold-quartz veins located on thex000D
western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Despite the history of mining in the area, suprisingly littlex000D
scientific research has been done on the "Mother Lode Gold Belt", and in particular, there exists no detailedx000D
structural and mineralogical analysis of the veins. The literature that is available consists almost entirely ofx000D
regional studies or summaries, and it is difficult to determine the relevance of many of these because the namesx000D
and definitions of the groups and structures have been repeatedly revised.x000D
In order to efficiently direct further exploration the sponsoring company needs to know: (1) how the depositx000D
formed; (2) the relationship between geological structures such as folds, faults, and shears and the gold-bearingx000D
veins; (3) minerals the gold occurs with and their relationships; and (4) the classification of the deposit andx000D
how it compares to other gold deposits. There are two primary benefits of such an analysis: (1) it will aid inx000D
developing genetic model of the deposit, with an eye towards predicting where additional veins may be found;x000D
(2) it will allow the company to develop a metallurgical circuit for maximum gold recovery.x000D
The proposed project will involve fieldwork (mapping and sampling) followed by optical petrography,x000D
scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and X-ray diffraction techniques. The gatheredx000D
data will be evaluated to determine which deposit model is most consistent with the data, or if a new depositx000D
model is more appropriate. In either case, elements idiosyncratic to the Providence Gold Mine will be closelyx000D
examined.