Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering Graduate Theses
Recent Submissions
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Factors Controlling Tungsten Mobility in W-Cu Skarn Tailings from the Cantung Mine, Northwest Territories, Canada
Few studies have addressed the mobility of tungsten in mine waste, which could act as a point source for metal leaching. This study addresses the behaviour of tungsten in tailings at the Cantung Mine in the Northwest ... -
Assessment of Rockfall Deformation and Related Geometric Characteristics via Terrestrial Laser Scanning
Due to the required numerous and extensive rock cuts through steep topography and adjacent steep natural slopes, rockfalls are a common risk to which the Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) ... -
Characterization of Tailings Dust from Two Abandoned Mine Sites: Effects on Nearby Surface Waters and Evaluation of Dust Sampling Methods
Canada’s climate is warming and as a result the hydrological cycle is expected to become more intense, with rainfall concentrated in extreme events with longer dry spells. Consequently, dry tailings may be more likely to ... -
Characterization of Rock Salt Response to Blasting using Terrestrial Laser Scanning Technology
This doctoral research project addresses some of the fundamental aspects for blast design methods in rock salt mines. An experimental field work protocol was devised based on the use of single hole blast (SHB) tests to ... -
Autonomous Bathymetric and Magnetic Surveying for Canadian Lakes
Magnetic surveys are an important step in the process of mineral and archaeological exploration. Current magnetic surveying methods include mounting magnetometers to various survey platforms including inhabited airplanes, ... -
High Spatial Resolution Measurement of Tendon Reinforcement in Underground Construction Works
Distributed optical fiber strain sensing is investigated as a technology to enhance the assessment of tendon reinforcement elements that are commonly used in mines and tunnelling projects. Central to this research effort ... -
Reliability of Stress Induced Damage Predictions in Hard Rocks With Continuum and Discontinuum Numerical Modelling Approaches
The use of underground repositories known as deep geological repositories (DGR) is globally accepted to be the best solution for long term storage of nuclear waste. In combination with different types of engineered barriers, ... -
Geomechanics and Mineralogical Characterization of Intact Heterogeneous Rocks from the Legacy Skarn Deposit
Predicting the geomechanical behaviour of rockmasses is key to the economic success and safety of rock engineering projects such as surface and underground excavations. For these projects, unconfined compressive stress ... -
Trace and Isotopic Geochemistry of Groundwaters in Mineral Exploration
Total cover (100 % coverage) presents a challenge for mineral explorers, with the effectiveness of traditional geochemical techniques greatly reduced. Hydromorphic mobilization of solutes can produce geochemical footprints ... -
Arsenic mobility in a changing northern climate: Implications for geochemical baselines and long-term stability of contaminants in lake systems
Climate change is influencing the biogeochemical dynamics of lake systems in northern Canada. These changes may affect the loading and cycling of naturally occurring metal(loid)s and the long-term stability of mining-derived ... -
Environmental Characterization of Waste Rock and Tailings from a Carbonatite- Hosted Niobium and Rare Earth Element Deposit
Rare earth elements (REEs) have become essential in green energy and high-tech applications and the development of new REE mines is expected in the coming years. There is currently little published research on the behaviour ... -
Characterization and Age of North-Verging Back Structures in the Tethyan Sedimentary Sequence, Hidden Valley, Central Nepal Himalaya
(2006)Throughout the central Nepal Himalaya, the Tethyan sedimentary sequence (TSS) is structurally dominated by a train of north-verging folds, in apparent contradiction to the dominantly south-propagating Himalayan orogen. The ... -
Provenance, mineralogy, geochemistry, geochronology and Pb isotope systematics of meta-siliciclastic rocks in the Mesoproterozoic Upper Vazante Sequence, Brazil: Implications for metal sources and base metal metallogeny
The objective of this research is to investigate the origin and evolution of meta-siliciclastic rocks within the Mesoproterozoic Upper Vazante Sequence (1300 to 1100 Ma) in order to improve understanding of metal sources ... -
A Stepwise Approach to Verification of the Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method for Modelling Instability Around Tunnels in Brittle Rock
Numerical modelling of excavations in rock has advanced considerably in recent decades. While continuum numerical models form their basis in methods which can be verified by analytical solutions, discontinuum and hybrid ... -
Impact of Long- and Short-Term Geodynamic Processes on Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Grand Banks
The evolution of the passive margin off the coast of Eastern Canada has been characterized by a series of rifting episodes beginning approximately 200 ma which caused widespread extension of the lithosphere and associated ... -
Improvement of Laboratory Protocols for Discontinuity Geomechanical Characterization and Investigation of the Effect of Saturation on Granite Strength
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Canada (NWMO) is currently in the process of site selection for the future development of a high-level nuclear waste Deep Geological Repository (DGR), and locations with crystalline ... -
Characterization of Arsenic Hosting Phases in Subaqueous Tailings at Terra Mine, Northwest Territories, Canada
Over the lifetime of operations at Terra Mine, an abandoned silver-copper mine in the Northwest Territories, an estimated 500,000 tons of tailings containing 540,000kg of arsenic (As) were deposited into Ho-Hum Lake. Arsenic ... -
Application of Molybdenum and Thallium Isotopes as Indicators of Paleoredox Conditions and Genesis of Hyper-Enriched Black Shale (HEBS) Deposits, Peel River, Yukon
Hyper-enriched black shale (HEBS) deposits, such as those hosted in Devonian black shales of northern Yukon, are a globally significant source of a variety of economically important metals, particularly nickel, copper, ... -
Application of Pyrite Mineralogy and Chemistry to Determining Paleoredox, Hydrothermal History, and Target Vectoring in the MacMillan Pass Sedex District, Yukon, Canada
The MacMillan Pass district in Yukon, Canada, hosts the Tom and Jason sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) Pb-Zn-Ag-(Ba) deposits. Pyrite-bearing drill core samples were collected from seven drill holes that intersected ... -
Arsenic concentrations and solid phase speciation in soils in the Yellowknife region
Roasting of gold-bearing arsenopyrite (FeAsS) ore at mines around Yellowknife resulted in the release of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) via airborne emissions. Previous studies highlighted a persistent elevated arsenic (As) in ...
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