The Sam (266 zone) is located at an elevation of approximately 1140 metres on a northwest-facing slope overlooking Johnson Creek, approximately 3.3 kilometres southwest of the west end of Johnson Lake.

Regionally, the area is in structurally complex metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the Paleozoic (Lower Cambrian and older(?) to Mississippian) Eagle Bay Assemblage. The assemblage has a complex deformational history involving multiple stages of thrust faulting and folding during the Jurassic-Cretaceous periods , which produced strongly foliated and overturned rocks trending northwest and dipping northeast. These Paleozoic rocks are intruded by mid-Cretaceous granodiorite and quartz monzonite (such as the Baldy Batholith approximately 30 kilometres to the north of the occurrence), and Neogene quartz-feldspar porphyry, basalt, and lamprophyre dikes. These are all locally overlain by Miocene plateau lavas, now represented in the area by occasional erosional remnants.

The Eagle Bay Assemblage rocks include andesitic volcanic rocks of the Devonian to Mississippian Foghorn Mountain unit, greenstone and greenschists rocks of the Lower Cambrian Johnson Lake unit and Lower Cambrian mudstone, siltstone, shale, fine clastic rocks, limestone, and calcareous sedimentary rocks.

Locally, as defined by diamond drilling, a zone of massive sulphides (pyrite-galena-chalcopyrite-sphalerite±tetrahedrite), up to 2.3 metres thick and traced along strike for approximately 225 metres, is hosted by highly deformed, sericitized and silicified laminated cherts and argillites midway between the Sam and Rea horizons.

In 1989, drilling on the zone is reported to have yielded an average of approximately 10 per cent combined copper-lead-zinc with 50 to 229 grams per tonne silver and up to 0.43 gram per tonne gold (Property File – Minnova Inc. [1990-01-01]: Samatosum Joint Venture 1990 Exploration Program Summary).

Drilling intercepts included 1.89 per cent copper, 2.53 per cent zinc, 3.60 per cent lead, 103.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.30 gram per tonne gold over 2.1 metres (41.1 to 43.2 metres downhole) in hole RG-266; 1.92 per cent copper, 4.44 per cent zinc, 4.00 per cent lead, 167.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.40 gram per tonne gold over 2.7 metres (47.2 to 49.9 metres downhole) in hole RG-269; 0.426 per cent copper, 18.9 per cent zinc, 7.4 per cent lead, 131.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.72 gram per tonne gold over 0.10 metre (23.0 to 23.1 metres downhole) in hole RG-273; 0.742, 1.02 and 1.99 per cent copper, 2.35, 7.35 and 5.50 per cent zinc, 7.52, 4.65 and 9.02 per cent lead, 98.0, 40.2 and 162.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.47, 0.98 and 3.82 grams per tonne gold over 1.0, 0.6 and 0.1 metre (starting at 72.9, 117.8 and 121.2 metres downhole), respectively, in hole RG-277; 0.59 per cent copper, 4.76 per cent zinc, 3.17 per cent lead, 29.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.31 gram per tonne gold over 2.2 metres (142.5 to 144.7 metres downhole) in hole RG-278; 0.93 per cent copper, 2.87 per cent zinc, 2.00 per cent lead, 300.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.46 gram per tonne gold over 0.7 metre (29.4 to 30.1 metres downhole) in hole RG-282; 0.463 and 0.217 per cent copper, 9.80 and 4.02 per cent zinc, 2.03 and 1.70 per cent lead, 26.3 and 20.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.34 and 0.60 gram per tonne gold over 2.3 and 1.3 metres (77.8 to 80.1 and 225.9 to 227.2 metres downhole), respectively, in hole RG-289; 1.58 and 3.47 per cent copper, 5.30 and 0.63 per cent zinc, 13.20 and 15.20 per cent lead, 229.0 and 84.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.38 and 0.45 gram per tonne gold over 0.8 and 0.3 metre (starting at 47.5 and 134.5 metres downhole), respectively, in hole RG-291; 0.68, 0.97, 1.12 and 1.03 per cent copper, 1.58, 5.75, 1.16 and 5.04 per cent zinc, 0.79, 4.92, 3.80 and 3.36 per cent lead, 296.0, 185.8, 42.0 and 26.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.81, 0.24, 1.21 and 0.45 grams per tonne gold over 1.5, 0.4, 0.3 and 1.9 metres (starting at 36.9, 54.4, 119.0 and 163.6 metres downhole), respectively, in hole RG-293; 0.45 per cent copper, 2.38 per cent zinc, 1.64 per cent lead, 72.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.16 gram per tonne gold over 2.0 metres (77.3 to 79.3 metres downhole) in hole RG-301 and 0.54 per cent copper, 1.59 per cent zinc, 8.06 per cent lead, 83.4 grams per tonne silver, 0.17 gram per tonne gold over 4.5 metres (34.2 to 38.7 metres downhole) in hole RG-306 (Property File - Minnova Inc. [1989-11-08]: Samatosum Explorations Diamond Drill Holes - Drill Holes RG-254 to -307).

In 1990, a drillhole (R-308), located north of the 266 zone, yielded 0.34 per cent copper, 2.72 per cent zinc, 1.90 per cent lead and 14.1 grams per tonne silver over 2.0 metres (263.6 to 265.6 metres downhole; Property File - Minnova Inc. [1991-07-21]: Drill Hole Records for the Sam Project Holes RG308-RG437).

Work History

The area has been explored in conjunction with the nearby Rea Gold (MINFILE 082M 191) and Samatosum (MINFILE 082M 244) occurrences and a complete exploration history can be found there.