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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  19-Aug-2009 by George Owsiacki (GO)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name LIPSEY VEIN, GALENA LEDGE Mining Division Cariboo
BCGS Map 093A083
Status Showing NTS Map 093A14W
Latitude 052º 50' 52'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 121º 25' 05'' Northing 5856510
Easting 606534
Commodities Gold, Lead, Zinc Deposit Types I01 : Au-quartz veins
I05 : Polymetallic veins Ag-Pb-Zn+/-Au
Tectonic Belt Omineca Terrane Barkerville
Capsule Geology

The geology of the region consists of (?)Hadrynian to Paleozoic Snowshoe Group rocks. The Snowshoe Group is an assemblage of dominantly metasedimentary rocks within the Barkerville Terrane of south-central British Columbia. The metasedimentary rocks consist primarily of marble, quartzite and phyllite. In the Yanks Peak area these rocks comprise the Keithley and Harveys Ridge successions, but further to the east they remain undifferentiated. Metamorphism of the region varies from chlorite to sillimanite and higher grade. Gold-bearing quartz veins occur only in greenschist facies rocks.

The Lipsey and other quartz veins in this area occur within sericite schist probably of the Harveys Ridge succession. Mineralization within the veins comprises pyrite, galena, sphalerite and gold, unevenly distributed within the veins. A chip sample across 10 centimetres of the Lipsey vein containing visible gold and sparse pyrite and galena assayed 4.45 grams per tonne gold (Bulletin 34, page 73).

Three large outcrops of quartz lie just west of the Midas vein zone (093A 035) and close to the eastern edge of an anticline of black silty quartzite. An open cut has been made (ca. 1954) on each quartz outcrop, but continuity has not been proved between them. The quartz outcrops are thought to represent segments of three separate northerly striking veins. The northernmost outcrop exposes a lens of vein quartz having a maximum width of 3.3 metres tapering to 0.9 metre and 1.8 metres at the ends of the open cut. Two samples, one across 3.3 metres and the other across 0.7 metre of quartz containing unreplaced fragments of wallrock and no visible pyrite, assayed nil gold (Bulletin 34). The centre open cut exposes the Lipsey vein continuously for a length of 9 metres, and north of the outcrop exposes a 3.6 metre piece of quartz which may be a large boulder. The Lipsey vein strikes slightly west of north and dips steeply to the east. It occupies a small northerly striking fault zone. The vein is mineralized with galena and lesser pyrite and sphalerite. Visible gold is present in unmineralized quartz as well as in and around cavities from which pyrite has been leached. The southern open cut exposes shattered quartz for a length of about 7.6 metres. A shear along the east side strikes 340 degrees, and a narrow prong of quartz extends southwestward from the main mass along a fracture.

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1929-C194
EMPR BULL *34, pp. 72-75
EMPR OF 2001-11
GSC ANN RPT 1887-1888, p. C45
GSC MAP 369; 59-1959; 1424A; 1538G
GSC MEM 421
GSC P 38-16, p. 39
GSC OF 574; 844
EMPR PFD 600044

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