Geology of Quesnel and Slide Mountain Terranes

The Bonaparte project is a multi-year bedrock mapping program initiated by the British Columbia Geological Survey during the 2000 field season. The project is focused on Mesozoic arc volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Quesnel Terrane in the northeastern part of the Bonaparte Lake (92P) map sheet (Figure 1). This area encompasses a northwest-trending belt of high mineral potential that includes a number of interesting mineral occurrences, as well as numerous regional geochemical survey and till geochemical anomalies. The Bonaparte project will improve the quality and detail of bedrock maps for the area, which are based primarily on 1:250 000-scale mapping carried out by the Geological Survey of Canada in the 1960s. The new mapping will provide an improved geologic framework for interpreting the mineral occurrences and geochemical anomalies, and for predicting favourable settings for future discoveries.