Phosphate occurs in the headwaters of Bighorn Creek, some 45 kilometres southeast of Fernie.
The property area is dominantly underlain by black shale of the Jurassic Fernie Group which unconformably overlies the Triassic Spray River Group comprised of indurated shale, mudstone and siltstone. The base of the Fernie Group is marked by a persistent pelletal phosphorite horizon that is 1 to 2 metres in thickness.
A horizon in the "Ranger Canyon Formation" strikes north for 1000 metres along the nose of the Storm Creek thrust fault. A sample across 1.5 metres contained 21.3 per cent P2O5 (Assessment Report 10135, page 67). A second horizon outcrops in this vicinity at the hinge of a gentle syncline at the base of the Fernie Group. From base to top the horizon is comprised the following lithologies with accompanying phosphate contents in per cent (Assessment Report 7617, page 4):
--------------------------------------------------0.13 metre of phosphatic conglomerate (7.1% P2O5) 0.38 metre of massive phosphorite (24.5% P2O5) 0.18 metre of shaly phosphorite (24.5% P2O5) 0.10 metre of shale (0.9% P2O5) 0.08 metre of shaly phosphorite (12.1% P2O5) -------------------------------------------------- |
The Ram 1 prospect was first explored by Imperial Oil Ltd. in 1978 before being mapped and sampled by First Nuclear Corporation in 1981.
WORK HISTORY
In 1978, Imperial Oil (ESSO) drilled thirty-three (33) holes totaling 430 metres on the Cabin 1, 2, 3 and Ram 1 and 2 claims (Assessment Report 7617). Five holes were about 50 metres in depth and 28 holes are 20 metres or less. Three showing (Cabin #1, Cabin #2, and Cabin #3 (see 082GSE055)) and 1 showing (Ram 1 (082GSE056)) on the Ram claims.
In 1981, First Nuclear commenced a program of airborne and car-borne radiometrics followed by field prospecting and caterpillar trenching in order to assess the surface exposure of the favourable sediments exposed along the erosional edge of the Fernie basin some 72 kilometres in length (Assessment Report 10135). A total of 18 sections were exposed through the basal portion of the Fernie Formation. The Bighorn occurrence (082GSE060) was first explored by First Nuclear Corporation in 1981 and then prospected by Formosa Resources Corporation in 1989.
In 1989, Formosa Resources Corporation began exploration for yttrium and phosphate in the area, staking a number of claims as part of the Columbia Project (Assessment Reports 19948, 19954, 19938). A significant section of the phosphate trend was trenched as the RAM A (082GSE063). The phosphate bed/layer was explored from Leslie Creek west to a south-flowing tributary of Bighorn Creek. A MINFILE occurrence (Ram 1 (082GSE056)) is documented up the tributary from the confluence, where the phosphate layer continues. A total of 8 hand trenches and 9 backhoe trenches revealed the phosphate layer intermittently over 5 kilometres from southeast (near Ram A) to the northwest (near Ram 1) along its trend (Figure 5, Assessment Report 19938). In 1992, Formosa Resources conducted an 8-kilometre radiometric survey over a 400 by 2000 metre grid area considered to have potential for a higher-grade phosphate mineralization (Assessment Report 22736). The west end of the grid area appears to be near to where the northeast-flowing north fork of Leslie Creek comes close (within 700 metres) of the Ram A access road, possibly between trenches 89-5 (Ram A prospect) and 89-7 (082GSE123) (Figure 5, Assessment Report 19938).
In 1996, exploration by Mammoth consisted of staking and prospecting across the 48 units over a 6-day period (Assessment Report 25076). The prospecting consisted primarily of checking locations of known outcrops and trenches from earlier mapping and prospecting programs on their Cabin Creek (082GSE055 and 082GSE068 area), Barnes Lake (082GSE051) and Hunger Lake (Ram A (082GESE063)) claims. In 1998, work by Ecomineral Resources Ltd. (and Mammoth Geological) on their Barnes Lake, Leslie Creek (Hunger Lake), and Cabin Creek properties consisted of surface sampling to obtain 5-gallon pails of phosphorite for metallurgical testing (Assessment Report 25643). Samples were obtained from the Cabin Creek and Barnes Lake properties only. In 1999, Mammoth Geological conducted exploration on their Fernie Phosphate project, consisting of 2 claims (Cabin Creek in mapsheet 082G02E and Bighorn in 082G02W) totaling 31 units. Work consisted of the collection of 1 pail near the Bighorn prospect (082GSE060) of weathered phosphorite for metallurgical and agronomical testing (Assessment Reports 25989, 26033). Some work was completed on the Cabin Creek property as well (082GSE055 and 082GSE068 area).
In 2008 Paget Resources Corporation conducted a program on their Barnes Lake and Bighorn – Cabin Creek claim groups which consisted of eight reverse circulation holes totaling a total of 425 metres drilled. Seven of the holes were drilled on the Bighorn - Cabin Creek claim blocks (377 metres) and one on the Barnes Lake claim block (48 metres). Geological mapping and limited trenching were also carried out. The 2007 Fernie Phosphate exploration program failed to confirm the presence of phosphorite rock with P2O5 concentrations greater than 1.3 per cent (Assessment Report 30091).
In 2017, the program of Fertoz International Inc. consisted of reconnaissance geochemistry, rock sampling, soil sampling and establishing access. Work included locating historical phosphate workings, re-sampling a number of old trenches, reconnaissance mapping, prospecting and soil sampling in the Ram 1 area (082GSE056) (Assessment Report 37201). Mapping and sampling surveys conducted along the headwaters of Bighorn Creek identified a phosphate-bearing horizon that trends northwest and appears to extend up northwestern branch of the creek. Soil samples show the subcrop of the phosphate horizon. Rock samples from a large road pit/trench area at DC returned higher P2O5 values. In 2018, Fertoz International collected 11 rock samples on their Bighorn property which included the Ram 1-6, Bighorn 7 and Bighorn Southwest claims (Assessment Report 37967). The 2018 report also documents 2017 work by Fertoz. Work was done on the Bighorn (082GSE060) and Ram South (082GSE067).
Refer to Ram A (082GSE063), Bighorn (082GSE060), Cabin Creek (082GSE055), and Barnes Lake (082GSE051) for related work history and geological information.
