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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  24-Jun-2016 by Nicole Barlow (NB)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name PRINCE, GORDON, FOB Mining Division Osoyoos
BCGS Map 092H020
Status Prospect NTS Map 082E04W, 092H01E
Latitude 049º 10' 18'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 120º 00' 08'' Northing 5450866
Easting 718496
Commodities Molybdenum, Copper, Silver, Gold, Lead Deposit Types L04 : Porphyry Cu +/- Mo +/- Au
I05 : Polymetallic veins Ag-Pb-Zn+/-Au
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Okanagan, Plutonic Rocks
Capsule Geology

The Prince showing is located along the Ashnola River in the southeast portion of the Ashnola property, on the west side of the Ashnola River forestry road and approximately 22 kilometres south-southeast of Hedley.

The area is underlain by argillites, chert and intermediate to mafic Apex Mountain Group volcanics, formerly known as the Bradshaw, Old Tom, Showmaker, Independence and Barslow formations.

A quartz vein, 1 to 46 centimetres wide, in altered volcanics of the Ordovician to Triassic Apex Mountain Complex, has been explored by a short adit over a distance of 12 metres. The vein strikes 064 degrees and dips 70 degrees north. A flat-lying fault truncates the vein.

The vein is mineralized with minor disseminated galena and chalcopyrite. A chip sample taken across a width of 0.46 metres contained 0.69 gram per tonne gold, 13.7 grams per tonne silver, 0.48 per cent copper and 0.050 percent molybdenite (Property File - G.E.A. van Rosen, 1971, page 5, sample 11203). The quartz vein is also reported to carry values in lead.

A quartz-filled fracture zone occurs in granodiorite 70 metres east-northeast of the adit, on the east bank of the Ashnola River. This granodiorite may be related to the nearby Cahill Creek pluton. The zone strikes 025 degrees and dips 70 degrees to the west. Exposed widths vary from 1.5 to 4.0 metres. Mineralization consists of pyrite, chalcopyrite and molybdenite. Two chip samples, each 0.91 metre long, assayed trace gold, 0.08 and 0.23 per cent copper, and 0.420 and 0.130 per cent molybdenite (G.E.A. van Rosen, 1971, page 5, samples 11204, 11205).

Molybdenite-bearing quartz stringers occur on surface over a 110 by 10 metre area, 50 metres northwest of the previous fracture zone, near the east bank of the Ashnola River. The stringers occur in granodiorite and feldspar porphyry. Diamond drilling in the vicinity revealed strong molybdenite mineralization in feldspar porphyry and traces of molybdenite in green andesite. An angled hole drilled underneath the zone of quartz stringers encountered 0.107 per cent molybdenite over 51.2 metres (B. Taylor, 1977, page 3, hole KV3, 12 to 180 feet).

This prospect was initially explored in 1920, with work up to the 1960s being confined to the quartz vein west of the Ashnola River. Subsequent exploration by Cop-Ex Mining Corporation and Consolidated Kalco Valley Mines Ltd. between 1971 and 1977 outlined porphyry-style molybdenite-chalcopyrite mineralization on the east side of the Ashnola River. Four holes totaling 477 metres were drilled by Consolidated Kalco Valley Mines in 1976 and 1977.

In 1992, the Prince occurrence was covered by the TO claims, held by International Tower Hill Mines, Ltd., as part of the Ashnola property. Velocity Minerals Inc. carried out a prospecting and geological mapping program on the Ashnola claim group in 2010. That year, the Prince showing was located and sampled. In 2012, DGW & Associates carried out a reconnaissance exploration program on the Ashnola property. Five rock samples were collected to the northwest of the Prince occurrence, with the intention of having them assayed in the future.

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1920-158
EMPR ASS RPT 6173, 22421, 32277, 33090
EMPR EXPL 1976-E25; 1977-E23
EMPR PF (*Rosen, G.E.A. (1971): Report on the Ashnola River Claims for Cop-Ex Mining Corporation Ltd., in Cop-Ex Mining Corporation Ltd. [1971]: Statement of Material Facts (Prospectus), Vancouver Stock Exchange (see 092HSE057); *Taylor, B. [1977]: Report on Consolidated Kalco Valley Mines Ltd.'s FOB 1-4 Mineral Claims, in Consolidated Kalco Valley Mines Ltd. [1977]: Statement of Material Facts (Prospectus), Vancouver Stock Exchange)
GSC MAP 888A; 889A; 41-1989
GSC MEM 243, p. 114
GCNL Feb., 1977
Milford, J.C., (1984): Geology of the Apex Mountain Group, North and East of the Similkameen River, South Central British Columbia, M.Sc. Thesis, University of British Columbia
EMPR PFD 8867, 8868

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