GOLD POTENTIAL AND PALEOGEOGRAPHY OF MANNVILLE OUTCROP SEDIMENTS (LOWER CRETACEOUS) OF NORTH-CENTRAL SASKATCHEWAN - A NEW EXPLORATION CONCEPT

Outcrops of Mannville Group sediments at Nipakamew River, central Sask atchewan, provide an opportunity to study the nature and provenance of Cretaceous sediments on the northeastern margin of the Western Canadi an Foreland Basin. At this locality paleocurrents document Albian (Cre taceous) drainage southward from the gold-bearing Canadian Shield. Pal ynological data indicate a probable lower to middle Albian age. Outcro p provides evidence of braided-fluvial and tidal sedimentation on the eastern margin of the basin. Physical and chemical breakdown of the co arsely crystalline Canadian Shield rocks provided detritus for souther ly transport. Outcrop location of less than 70 km south of known gold- bearing Precambrian basement, and the presence of southerly directed f luvial paleocurrents, provide an opportunity for paleoplacer gold expl oration in Mannville-aged sands and gravels. These deposits occur in a belt which trends across central Saskatchewan. The coarse nature and facies of the sediment demonstrate the action of powerful streams that likely were capable of transporting and concentrating gold.