GOLD EXPLORATION POTENTIAL USING OXYGEN, CARBON, AND HYDROGEN STABLE ISOTOPE SYSTEMATICS OF CARBONATIZED ROCK AND QUARTZ VEINS, TIMMINS AREA.

This paper reports on the stable isotope and field studies being carried out in the Timmins area, Canada to resolve the origin of the carbonate alteration and to establish the usefulness of stable isotopes of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon as exploration tools for gold mineralization. The approach is to determine the stable isotope characteristics of the individual components of an altered and veined zone. A number of mining properties have been studied to date. They have been subdivided on the basis of their past gold production into prospects and producers.