Troilus is an Archean Au-Cu deposit from which was produced 2 Moz of Au and 70 Kt of Cu between 1996 and 2010. It also represents the flagship project of Troilus Gold corp., which aims at relaunching mining operations. The project is located in the Frotet-Evans greenstone belt, ~ 600 km north of Montreal, in the Superior Province (Opatica subprovince). The mineralized zones are hosted in complexly deformed and metamorphosed diorite intrusions, breccia and volcanic rocks, whereas relationships between mineralized zones and crosscutting dykes suggest that at least part of the ore was formed during or shortly after the crystallization of the diorite bodies, and were possibly overprinted by quartz veins and shear zones.
This PhD position, which will be held at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), is part of a larger project aiming to develop mineral chemistry of sulfides as a tool to optimize mineral deposit models, and exploration vectoring from deposit- to belt-scale in the James Bay area of Northern Québec. The Troilus site was selected as it is one of the most advanced mining projects in the area, it is known to host several types and styles of mineralization, and a wealth of drill core data is already available.
The selected student will integrate a research partnership composed of several students and research partners (Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, Troilus Gold corp., Geological Survey of Canada, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi – UQAC, and Université du Québec à Montréal – UQAM). UQAC and UQAM have a large group of students working on diverse aspects of mineral systems, from active geothermal and hydrothermal systems to orthomagmatic deposits. Combined, UQAC and UQAM give access to an impressive toolkit for geochronology, isotope geochemistry and quantitative mineralogy, and potential to develop research collaborations. The project will be co-supervised by Stéphane De Souza (UQAM) and Dominique Genna (UQAC), it is set to start in Spring – early Summer 2026, and is fully funded through a research grant. UQAM is a francophone university, and knowledge of French will be considered an asset, but is not mandatory.
Candidates should prepare a candidacy including:
- long-form CV that includes scientific contributions or achievements (ex.: conferences and articles if applicable)
- latest academic transcripts
- letter of motivation
- contact details of two references
Previous experience with ore petrography, mineral chemistry and mapping in Archean environments will be considered as important assets. The full application package should be sent electronically as a single PDF document to troilusprojectuqam [at] gmail.com. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, or until the 1st of December 2025.
Context and short research summary
The PhD project will focus on the representativeness of the geochemical signal of sulfides at the scale of a mining property to understand the chemical signature of sulfides (e.g. pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite) and document which parameters can influence this signature (e.g. ore style, host rocks, metamorphic facies). The latest academic work on the mineralized system of the former Troilus mine suggests a complex origin involving several episodes of mineralization, including an early porphyry-type phase (Fraser, 1993; Larouche, 2005) and the superimposition of syn-deformation mineralized veins (Goodman et al. 2005).
In addition to the Troilus deposit, several volcanogenic sulfide occurrences (VMS deposits) are located in different parts of the stratigraphy on the Troilus property. The metamorphic facies varies from amphibolite at the edge of the Frotet-Evans belt and in the Troilus mine area, but decreases to green schist facies toward the center of the belt. This context is therefore ideal for studying the composition of sulfide mineralization at the scale of a greenstone belt and a mining property based on the type of mineralization and stratigraphic context, and for evaluating the effects of metamorphism on the composition, distribution, and textures of sulfide assemblages. A selection of mineralized samples will be prepared for petrographic study and LA-ICP-MS analysis of sulfides.
A detailed geological characterization of the Troilus mine environment and hydrothermal system will be carried out in order to gain a complete knowledge of the mineral system and establish a comprehensive deposit model. This will include a lithostratigraphic and structural study of the main mineralized zones through outcrop mapping and core logging, as well as mineralogy, geochronology and geochemistry work to distinguish and characterize the hydrothermal alterations associated with the mineralization, and to properly establish the context of the samples studied in mineral chemistry.