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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  10-Oct-1995 by Keith J. Mountjoy (KJM)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name IBEX (L.1428), FLETCHER GROUP, PHOENIX GROUP, HIGHLAND SURPRISE, WHITEWATER 1-3, PAISLEY (L.5612), WHISTLER (L.5614), CUBA (L.5609), GARNETT (L.2842), RUBY FR. (L.5820), EMERALD FR. (L.5821) Mining Division Slocan
BCGS Map 082K005
Status Past Producer NTS Map 082K03E
Latitude 050º 04' 18'' UTM 11 (NAD 83)
Longitude 117º 06' 41'' Northing 5546605
Easting 492029
Commodities Silver, Lead, Copper, Gold Deposit Types I05 : Polymetallic veins Ag-Pb-Zn+/-Au
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Slide Mountain
Capsule Geology

The Ibex occurrence is located 1.25 kilometres north of the Highland Surprise (082KSW037), some 29 kilometres northwest of Kaslo, British Columbia. Production records indicate that 9 tonnes of material was mined from the Ibex occurrence in 1906, from which 28,024 grams silver and 7242 kilograms lead were recovered. The Ibex (Lot 1428) Crown grant covers the ground hosting this mineral occurrence, but has been historically recorded under claim group names of neighbouring occurrences. In 1920, it was part of the Fletcher Group, later to become part of the Phoenix Group (1937) and finally associated with the Highland Surprise from 1937 to 1938.

The main lithologies of the area are assigned to the Permian Kaslo Group, consisting of andesite flows, pyroclastics and tuffaceous sediments. The volcanics and sediments are generally oriented 320 degrees and the contact between these two units has a strike of 350 degrees. Serpentinite is the most extensive rock type exposed in this area, forming northwesterly trending bands with steep southwest dips and extending up to 750 metres in width. Talc and asbestos are common alteration minerals associated with this serpentinite unit. The contact between the serpentinite and surrounding lithologies is faulted. This faulted contact has a strike of 350 degrees and a steep westerly dip. The surface trace of this fault can be traced for several kilometres. Underground this fault is marked by a heavy talc gouge. Dikes and sills in the area are dioritic and feldspar porphyry. For a more detailed geological description of the area the reader is referred to the Highland Surprise occurrence.

Mineralization consists of disseminated chalcopyrite and pyrite with some free gold hosted in quartz veins, adjacent to the serpentinite contact (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1937, page E5). In 1979, a 1850 parts per billion gold soil anomaly was discovered in the vicinity of the Ibex occurrence. The anomaly is underlain by chloritized andesites hosting infrequent quartz veins (Assessment Report 7835). Exploration work on the Ibex showing in 1989 included extensive surface trenching on a sinuous quartz-rich shear. The shear zone strikes 215 to 220 degrees and dips steeply to the northwest and was examined over a strike length of 200 metres. It has a width of 0.5 to 1.0 metre with occasional small folds widening to 3.0 metres over a 15-metre strike length. The quartz vein carries 1 per cent disseminated chalcopyrite, galena and pyrite with infrequent massive galena and chalcopyrite stringers. Two, 2-metre wide feldspar porphyry dikes crosscut the shear at 145 to 160 degrees. A shear-hosted quartz vein occurs adjacent to one of these dikes and is 0.7 to 1.0 metre wide. A 0.9-metre chip sample across this shear zone, consisting of a series of hematitic quartz stringers containing massive galena blebs and trace chalcopyrite and pyrite, yielded 0.86 gram per tonne gold and 340 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475). A second sample, BB-36, across sheared andesite with numerous quartz stringers, yielded 0.28 gram per tonne gold and 67.0 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 19475). Both samples were taken approximately 60 metres north or northwest from the old Ibex adit.

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1897-528; 1900-984; *1906-249; *1935-E5
EMPR ASS RPT 4126, 5401, *7835, 12053, 13695, 16758, 17158, *19475
EMPR BC METAL MM01239
EMPR INDEX *3-200
GSC MAP 1667
GSC MEM 184, p. 241
GSC OF 288; 432; 464
EMPR PFD 884028, 600411

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