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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  04-Aug-2020 by Karl A. Flower (KAF)

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NMI
Name RENO (L.12684), RENO - DONNYBROOK, RENO GOLD, NO. 1 Mining Division Nelson
BCGS Map 082F015
Status Past Producer NTS Map 082F03E
Latitude 049º 10' 56'' UTM 11 (NAD 83)
Longitude 117º 07' 54'' Northing 5447721
Easting 490405
Commodities Gold, Lead, Zinc, Silver, Copper, Mercury Deposit Types I01 : Au-quartz veins
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Ancestral North America
Capsule Geology

The Reno-Donnybrook property is on the west limb of the western, overturned anticline in quartzites of the Lower Cambrian Reno Formation (correlative with rocks of the Hamill Group). The quartzites are in contact, immediately to the west, with argillites and calcareous argillites of the Lower Cambrian Laib Formation.

A series of quartz veins trending east crosscut Upper Reno Formation quartzites but appear to die out to the west as they approach the Laib Formation sediments and to the east within Lower Reno Formation sediments. The No. 1 or Reno vein strikes 070 de- grees, dips near vertical and is best exposed in quartzites, argillaceous quartzites and siliceous argillites of the upper Reno Formation which strikes 010 degrees with a near vertical east dip. The Reno vein has been tested for about 610 metres strike length and 580 metres vertically (downdip).

Quartz gangue, an average of 60 centimetres wide, contains pyrrhotite, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and minor chalcopyrite; the sulphides also extend into crushed country rock. The vein lacks well defined walls and may be from zero to 1.5 metres wide. Gold values may vary from trace amounts to spot highs of 720 grams per tonne (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 172, page 26). Oxidation of sulphides penetrates to considerable depths on the Reno vein.

Production figures have been intertwined historically between the Motherlode and Nugget (082FSW040) and later the Reno (082FSW036) occurrence. Production values have been separated out among the three as best as possible but some error may still exist.

The Reno mine commenced production in 1906 and produced intermit- tently until 1979. In total, 404,472 tonnes of ore were mined from which was recovered 7,270,227 grams of gold, 3,216,394 grams of silver, 2,858 kilograms of copper, 89,056 kilograms of lead and 60,907 tonnes of zinc. Some of this production has come from other nearby workings such as the Donnybrook (082FSW035) and the Bluestone (082FSW037).

The Sheep Creek mining camp consists of auriferous sulphide mineralization within a regional system of quartz veins controlled by faults. The camp hosts four distinct fault/fracture systems. All productive veins are associated with faults trending northeast and dipping southeast. The veins are particularly productive where they cross the axis of the two regional, northerly trending anticlines which dominate the geology of the camp. In addition there are a few northwest trending strike slip faults, north trending normal faults and flat faults, on which the hanging wall has been thrust westwards.

Ore occurs in shoots and is almost without exception confined to parts of fault zones in which one or both walls are quartzite. Other parts of the veins are either too narrow or low grade to be economic. The ore shoots are found at the intersection of northeast faults with quartzite stratigraphy, particularly the Upper Nugget and Upper Navada Members of the Lower Cambrian Quartzite Range Formation (correlative with rocks of the Hamill Group). The underlying Motherlode quartzite is, without obvious reason, almost completely barren of economic gold mineralization. The veins contain a quartz gangue containing pyrite with lesser amounts of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. Visible gold is rare. Precious metal grades are exceedingly variable and zones of high grade appear to be distributed randomly. Such zones or ore shoots are rarely greater than a few tens of metres in size.

Throughout the camp, economic mineralization is found within a vertical range of less than 500 metres in any given vein and from north to south in the camp this vertical range occurs at progressively lower elevations. At the north end of the camp, near Reno Mountain, the economic zone lies at about 1675 to 2150 metres elevation and at the south end near Mount Waldie the zone is entirely below 915 metres above sea level. The veins may occur above the economic zone but are generally too narrow and below the zone the veins usually persist but are commonly wider and of lower grade. Higher grades of greater than 150 grams per tonne are generally restricted to the top of the zone.

In 1984, Goldrich Resources Inc. completed a program of soil sampling and ground magnetometer and VLF-EM surveys on the area. During the 1990’s, Nugget Mines Ltd. conducted several small electromagnetic (VLF) and self-potential surveys and geochemical sampling on the area.

During 2008 through 2016, Yellowstone Resources Ltd. examined the area as the Sheep Creek property. In late 2016, Margaux Resources Ltd. optioned the property and in 2017 examined the area. A sample (SC17-BL03) from an ore bin assayed 58.63 grams per tonne gold, 21.22 grams per tonne silver and 0.545 per cent zinc (Lane, R.A. (2017-08-17): NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Sheep Creek Project).

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1909-121; 1910-102; 1911-160; 1913-130; 1914-328; 1915-136,
160; 1918-173; 1919-135; 1920-134,149; 1921-142; 1922-205,355;
*1923-219; 1924-191,368; 1925-248,449; *1927-309; *1928-344;
1929-285,352; 1930-230,274; 1931-138,153; *1932-160,190;
*1933-200,228; 1934-A27,29,E15; 1935-A7,A27,E15,E30,G45,
G50; 1936-E47,G48; 1937-A39,41,E47; 1938-A36,A39,E3,E39;
1939-39,83; 1940-26,68; 1941-26,67; 1942-27,64; 1946-35,146;
1947-163; 1950-124; 1956-80; 1957-44
EMPR BULL 1, p. 89; 10, p. 93,133; 20; *31, pp. 21,23,35,42,51,54;
41; 109
EMPR FIELDWORK 1987, pp. 19-30; 1988, pp. 33-43; 1989, pp. 11-27;
1990, pp. 9-31
EMPR GEM 1971-400; 1972-48; 1973-58
EMPR OF 1988-1; 1989-11; 1990-8; 1990-9; 1991-2
EMPR PF (Starr, C.C. (1937): Notes and Memoranda on the Geology of
the Reno Mine, 7 p.; Starr, C.C. (1930): Report on the Geology of
the Reno Mine, 11 p.; Longitudinal Section - Reno Mine, 1938;
Reno Mine - Geology (underground), 1930; Reno Mine, Surface
Geology, 1930; Longitudinal Projections, Stopes and Levels with
Assays, Reno Gold Mines Ltd., Febuary 1931; Endersby, S.A.
(1974): Letter to J.E. McMynn; 2 p.)
GSC MAP 50-19A; 299A; 1090A; 1091A; *1145A; 1956-3
GSC MEM *172, p. 25; 308, p. 174
GSC OF 1195
GSC SUM RPT 1929, Part A, p. 263A
GCNL #147, 1988
N MINER Aug. 15, 1988; Jan. 9, 1989
Placer Dome File
*Lane, R.A. (2017-08-17): NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Sheep Creek Project

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