The North Notch occurrence is located on the northeastern slopes of Merry Widow Mountain, approximately 600 metres southeast of Newt Lake.

The oldest rocks in the Merry Widow camp are massive to pillowed volcanics and subvolcanic gabbroic intrusions of the Upper Triassic Karmutsen Formation (Vancouver Group). These are unconformably overlain by approximately 1000 metres of massive to bedded grey limestone of the Upper Triassic Quatsino Formation (Vancouver Group). The Quatsino is unconformably overlain by the Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group which consists of andesitic ash and lapilli tuff, breccia, greenstone and well bedded tuffaceous siltstone.

The area includes two major episodes of intrusive rocks. The oldest rocks, the Keystone suite, is believed to be coeval with the Bonanaza Group and probably formed feeders to the tuffs, breccias and greenstones in that succession. Many Keystone suite dikes and sills that cut the Quatsino limestone are associated with barren and mineralized skarn. The second major intrusive episode resulted in the emplacement of the Early to Middle Jurassic Coast Copper stock. This is mostly a coarse grained, mafic gabbro.

A distinctive sill-like body of tholeiitic basalt of unknown age intrudes the Quatsino limestone in the southern part of the camp.

The North Notch skarn showing is located at or very close to the contact of Quatsino limestone with ash tuff and tuffaceous sediments of the Bonanza Group. Magnetite, chalcopyrite and cobaltite have been observed (Open File 1991-8).

In 2019, six rock samples (Y993771 through Y993776) from the North Notch occurrence yielded from 0.8 to 11.0 grams per tonne gold, 2.1 to 335.0 grams per tonne silver, 0.08 to 17.35 per cent copper and 17.5 to greater than 50 per cent iron, while a sample (Y993769) from the nearby Adit zone yielded 3.3 grams per tonne gold, 60.8 grams per tonne silver, 4.23 per cent copper, 0.118 per cent cobalt and 19.25 per cent iron (Assessment Report 38855).

In 2020, two channel samples on the North Notch occurrence yielded 1.21 and 0.70 gram per tonne gold, 25.3 and 55.3 grams per tonne silver with 1.47 and 2.43 per cent copper over 4.0 and 5.1 metres, respectively, whereas a 1.0-metre channel sample from the Adit occurrence yielded 1.03 grams per tonne gold, 6.7 grams per tonne silver and 0.20 per cent copper (Assessment Report 39420).

Work History

The area has been explored in conjunction with the Merry Widow (MINFILE 092L 044) deposits since the early 1900’s. In 1968, Quatsino Copper Gold completed a program of airborne magnetic and radiometric geophysical surveys on the area. In 1970, Alice Lake Minerals completed an aeromagnetic survey. During 1989, through 1992, Taywin Resources completed programs of geological mapping, trenching and surface sampling on the area. During 2005 through 2012, Grande Portage Resources completed programs of rock, silt and soil sampling, geological mapping, airborne electromagnetic and magnetic surveys and a ground magnetometer survey on the area. In 2016 and 2017, Bridgeland Minerals completed a radar satellite and LiDAR orthophoto geological interpretation program on the area as the Blue Gold/Merry Widow property. In 2019, Mirva Properties Ltd. completed a rock sampling program on the Merry Widow property. In 2020, Roughrider Exploration Ltd. completed a program of rock, silt and soil sampling on the area as the Empire Mine property.