Take Advantage of Mineral Exploration and Development in Nova Scotia |
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Nova Scotia Mineral Industry
Mineral Production
Development Projects
Exploration Projects
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Nova Scotia Mineral Industry
Nova Scotia, Canada, is situated on the Eastern Seaboard of North America. Nova Scotia offers many advantages to the mineral industry including:
- abundant industrial and metallic mineral and coal deposits
- strategic location for North American and European markets
- Excellent transportation infrastructure
- deep-water ice-free seaports
- offshore natural gas production
- comprehensive geoscience databases
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Mineral Production
Nova Scotia's mining history includes the production of gypsum, anhydrite, salt, aggregate, barite, coal, gold, copper, lead, zinc, tin, antimony, manganese, and several other industrial mineral commodities such as diatomaceous earth and iron oxide. Highlights of current production include:
- approximately 8 million tonnes of gypsum annually from 5 surface mines, accounting for 80% of total Canadian production
- approximately 1 million tonnes of salt annually from 1 underground mine and 1 brining operation - accounts for approximately 10% of total Canadian production
- crushed stone and sand & gravel aggregate production from numerous operations approximately 10 million tonnes per year for domestic consumption and export
- coal production (0.3-0.4 million tonnes per year) from five surface mines
- other commodities produced include limestone, dolomite, silica sand, peat, clay, granite, sandstone and slate
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Development Projects
Projects currently in feasibility or pre-production stages of development include:
- a red marble quarry in the River Denys area of Cape Breton Island. In early 2003, test blocks of red and grey marble were extracted for processing and market development
- a white quartz quarry near Yarmouth. Fault-related quartz-breccia zone is hosted by Devonian granitic rocks
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Exploration Projects
- titanium-bearing heavy mineral sand deposits in the Shubenacadie River and Cobequid Bay areas. Heavy minerals include ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon, garnet and magnetite
- sediment-hosted (turbidites) disseminated gold deposits in the Meguma Group rocks of south-central Nova Scotia. Recent exploration has outlined low-grade gold (generally 1-3 g/t) with high tonnage potential
- vein-hosted gold deposits in Meguma Group rocks. Past production of 1.2 million ounces gold with average grade of 7-16 g/t
- iron-oxide Cu-Au deposits associated with the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault System, a major transform structure that forms the northern margin of the Meguma Terrane. This environment includes the past- producing Londonderry iron mines
- paleoplacer gold in Witwatersrand-type environments in Carboniferous basins, containing siliciclastic conglomerate and sandstone, situated proximal to the Meguma Group in central Nova Scotia
- Cretaceous sedimentary silica-sand and kaolin deposits in central Nova Scotia. Recent exploration has revealed large laterally continuous deposits
- Proterozoiccarbonate deposits in Cape Breton Island for various applications, including mineral fillers and cement manufacturing
- industrial mineral commodities including gypsum, clay, crushed- stone aggregate, sand and gravel, and peat
- Carboniferous salt structures in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island for underground hydrocarbon storage
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About the Mineral Resources Branch
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Publications, Maps and Digital Data
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Geology, Minerals and Mining Topics
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