The Contact prospect is located on a southern tributary to the Kaslo River, approximately 18 kilometres northwest of Kaslo, British Columbia.
Silver-lead-zinc mineralization occurs in the Triassic Slocan Group, locally consisting primarily of black fissile phyllites with interbedded limestone, calcareous phyllites and brown gritty quartzites. The general structural trend is 310 degrees, dipping generally to the southwest. Greenstones and ultramafic rocks of the Permian Kaslo Group unconformably underlie the Slocan Group to the east, also hosting silver-lead-zinc mineralization. Satellite stocks, dikes and sills are generally correlative with the Nelson batholith to the immediate south. Late-stage lamprophyre dikes are also common.
A limestone bed roughly 46 metres thick is interbedded with shaly and slaty argillaceous rocks of the Slocan Group. The limestone has been extensively replaced, particularly along the hangingwall, by manganiferous siderite over widths averaging 6 metres and up to 27 metres. Surface workings indicate a probable strike length of greater than 180 metres.
A sample from the face of No. 1 adit was analysed and found to contain 10.03 per cent Mn, 43.56 per cent Fe2O3, 15.86 per cent MnO2 calculated (National Mineral Inventory 082K3 Mn1). Other samples analysed averaged 12 to 20 per cent metallic manganese (NMI 82K3 Mn1).
Several small sulphide-bearing veins were found to intersect the limestone bed. These veins host galena, sphalerite and pyrite. Surface workings exposed siderite and galena over 6.5 by 2.5 metres, along the footwall side of the limestone bed. Assay values from select samples were 17 to 1959 grams per tonne silver, 0.2 to 80.2 per cent lead and 0.3 to 23.4 per cent zinc (NMI 082K3 Mn1).
During World War 1, the manganese potential of the property was examined. Estimated reserves were 9070 tonnes grading 12 to 15 per cent metallic manganese and 40 to 45 per cent iron based on the above assays (NMI 082K3 Mn1). Subsequent property work was suspended until a change of ownership in 1931 with further work during the periods 1931 to 1933 and 1939 to 1941.
A 2024 exploration program by Tailwinds Exploration Corp. collected nine representative samples from altered and mineralized zones, confirming the results of historical work. Iron values ranged from 23.4 to >50 per cent Fe, consistent with historical grades of 37 to 44 per cent Fe and interpreted to suggest a siderite content of approximately 50 to 75 per cent. Manganese values were consistently elevated, ranging from 3.85 to 9.11per cent Mn, which is comparable to historical values and confirms significant manganese enrichment within the alteration. Historic work reported sphalerite and galena veins with zinc grades of 3 to10 per cent and alteration-hosted zinc values of 2 to 5 per cent. The 2024 program returned zinc values of 1.28 to 15.95 per cent Zn in four of nine samples, confirming and locally exceeding historical results. Although lead-silver mineralization was not a focus of the 2024 program, historical sampling reported high-grade galena veins with significant silver values. The highest 2024 results were 0.67 per cent Pb and 32.6 grams per tonne Ag. The program also identified unexpected gold enrichment, with two samples returning 0.656 and 2.04 grams per tonne Au. Anomalous values of Cu (up to 1,080 parts per million), Sb (up to 13.15 parts per million), and Sn (up to 311 parts per million) were also reported (Assessment Report 42689).
