Gypsum at the Coyote prospect is exposed in outcrop and in sinkholes, between two logging roads, in a logged off area, 2 kilometres west of Coyote Creek.
In the Lussier River - Coyote Creek area, individual gypsum showings have been traced from about 2 kilometres north of the confluence of the Lussier River and Coyote Creek to the northern boundary of the Top of the World Park.
Gypsum observed in the Lussier River valley is vertical to steeply dipping. Faulting may have been important in the localization and preservation of these deposits. The dominant structural feature is a north-trending syncline with shallow dipping limbs. Gypsum is present along both limbs and the axis is located along the height of land separating the Lussier River and Coyote Creek.
At the Coyote deposit, a thin black limestone breccia overlies the gypsum. The gypsum and limestone breccia are assigned to the Devonian Burnais Formation. These are overlain by dark grey to black nodular limestone of to the Devonian Harrogate Formation.
The main gypsum showing is exposed in outcrop across a width of 30 metres with an estimated vertical height of 60 metres. The gypsum is laminated, pale grey to dark grey with some thin black laminations. Native sulphur, in trace amounts, is also present.
The gypsum has a purity in excess of 90 per cent; analysis of a sample gave the following results (Open File 1991-15):
------------------------------------------------ Al2O3 0.18 CaO 36.52 Fe2O3 0.09 K2O 0.07 MgO 1.05 MnO 0.01 Na2O 0.02 P2O5 0.08 SiO2 0.86 TiO2 0.01 SO3 43.45 H2O 18.88 Cl 0.01 ------------------------------------------------ |
The deposit is believed to be the northern extension of the Branch F West (082GNW077) prospect, 1000 metres to the south. These two areas are estimated to have a combined potential of 6 million tonnes of gypsum (Open File 1991-15).
Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. acquired the property in 1999 and subsequently conducted exploration and drilling programs. The 2006 drilling at the western edge of the deposit two drill holes intersected 51 metres and 49 metres of gypsum along with 5 metres of overburden. At the eastern edge two drill holes intersected 19 metres and 31 metres of gypsum along with 7 metres of overburden (Assessment Report 29727).
In 2007, the Coyote prospect (082GNW078) was possibly the largest, undefined gypsum deposit within the immediate Coyote property area having the potential, based on limited drilling, to host a near surface gypsum deposit occupying a 350- by 150-metre area. The western edge of this area, as implied by drill holes CK06-001 and CK06-002, hosts 51 metres and 49 metres of gypsum respectively, overlain by less than 5 metres of overburden. The eastern edge is blanketed by approximately 7 metres of overburden covering 19 metres and 31 metres of gypsum in drill holes CK06-003 and CK06-005, respectively. Approximately 175 metres separates current western and eastern limits of drilling.
WORK HISTORY
In 1989, in the area covered by the Coyote Creek claims, Steve Butrenchuk of the BC Geological Survey discovered three significant new gypsum showings which were exposed by Forestry Road construction. Butrenchuk described the geology and gypsum occurrences in the Coyote Creek and Lussier River drainages (Open File 1991-15).
In 1991, Teck Corporation conducted an exploration program in the Coyote consisting of 1:20,000 geological mapping concurrent with geochemical sampling (151 soils, 25 rocks, 11 moss-mat samples). Teck found highly anomalous values in three of their four separate claim blocks, with soil samples returning up to 6066 parts per million zinc (Assessment Reports 22321, 24150)
In 1991, Cominco Exploration Ltd., conducted a mapping and soil geochemical program on their “Coy” Property, which were contiguous to the Teck claims. Cominco collected a total of 377 soil samples and concluded that “soils/talus have elevated to distinctly anomalous levels of zinc with lesser values in nickel, molybdenum and vanadium…there is conclusive evidence of the association of these metals at these geochemical levels of concentration” (Assessment Report 22506).
In 1999, Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. staked a total of 161 units at Coyote Creek and contracted geologist Charlie Greig to carry out property-scale geologic mapping, concurrent with a 435-sample soil geochemical sampling program (Assessment Report 26331). Eagle Plains followed up in 2000 with 2 diamond-drill holes for a total of 261.8 metres of BTW core from two different sites. Other fieldwork included a detailed hand trenching program in areas of interest located by soil geochemical sampling, and some reconnaissance prospecting. A total of 6 rocks and 42 soil/rock chip samples were collected. The 2000 diamond drilling intersected a thick, black shale package which is strongly anomalous in many of the metals associated with carbonaceous shale-hosted nickel-molybdenum-platinum group mineralization.
In 2005 work by Eagle Plains consisted of a ten-hole diamond drilling program in the area of the Branch F West MINFILE occurrence. Nine of the diamond drill holes cored the gypsum deposit through to the underlying anhydrite formation, with an average gypsum thickness of 31 meters. Geochemical analysis of the gypsum indicates a very high purity (Assessment Report 28171).
In 2006, Eagle Plains drilled 540 metres in 14 diamond-drill holes on the Coyote Creek property in May-June (Assessment Report 28786). The eleven-hole 2006 diamond drilling program conducted by Bootleg Exploration Inc. for U.S. Gypsum Inc. focused primarily in the area between the Coyote (082GNW078) and Branch F West (082GNW077) showings, and three holes collared at the Branch F (082GNW071).
In 2007, U.S. Gypsum Inc (CGC Inc) optioned the Coyote prospects and contracted Bootleg Exploration Inc to drill the deposits. A total of 23 holes were collared within the Branch F, Branch F West, and Coyote target areas (Assessment Report 29727). Ten 2007 drill holes tested the north, south, east, and western extensions of the Branch F West deposit. The 2007 Branch F program delineated an extension of the gypsum resource to the north of historical drilling. Of note is the visual aspect of the gypsum which is atypically buff to white, indicative of selenite development and the lack of impurities.
In 2018, Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. conducted a 2000-hectare LiDAR and Satellite Image acquisition survey over their 2048-hectare Coyote Creek property (Assessment Report 37821).
