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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  14-Oct-2015 by Garry J. Payie (GJP)

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NMI 093E11 Cu1
Name CREEK, WHITING CREEK (CREEK), WHIT Mining Division Omineca
BCGS Map 093E074
Status Showing NTS Map 093E11E
Latitude 053º 44' 23'' UTM 09 (NAD 83)
Longitude 127º 12' 22'' Northing 5956057
Easting 618315
Commodities Copper, Molybdenum Deposit Types L04 : Porphyry Cu +/- Mo +/- Au
L05 : Porphyry Mo (Low F- type)
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Stikine
Capsule Geology

The Whiting Creek property Creek zone is underlain by volcanic rock of the Lower Jurassic Telkwa Formation (Hazelton Group). Stocks of the Late Cretaceous Bulkley Plutonic Suite intrude the strata. The largest intrusive body is the Whiting hornblende-biotite granodiorite stock. Other stock consists of feldspar porphyry and quartz diorite.

Mineralization is in the form of veinlets and disseminations of chalcopyrite, molybdenite and pyrite. The best grades of mineralization occur within zones of potassic alteration. From earliest to latest the indicated sequence of vein formation is pyrite veinlets with or without epidote and chlorite, followed by chalcopyrite, quartz-chalcopyrite and quartz-molybdenite veinlets followed by gypsum veinlets. Mineralization observed in core occurs as fracture fillings in a medium grained biotite plagioclase granodiorite included with the Whiting Creek stock.

Most of the andesite on the property has been subjected to some amount of homfelsing caused by one of the many intrusions. The hornfels is usually dark brown to black, fine grained and contains secondary biotite and magnetite. Potassium feldspar and biotite alteration are common at the Rusty and Creek zones. Biotite occurs as replacements of mafic minerals while potassium feldspar forms envelopes around quartz and sulphide veins. Sericite alteration is common with secondary quartz in the molybdenite-rich quartz aplite porphyry as patchy to pervasive replacement of feldspars. Sericite alteration also occurs at the Creek zone replacing in envelopes around quartz and sulphide veins. Widespread propylitic alteration occurs in the volcanics as epidote, calcite and chlorite.

The Creek Zone copper-molybdenum occurrence is exposed east and north of the junction of Rusty Creek with Whiting Creek. As a result of the surveys, the Creek Zone copper-in-soils anomaly can be traced for approximately 2200 metres in a north-south direction, and approximately 900 metres east-west at a copper concentration of greater than 200 parts per million.

WORK HISTORY

Portions of the Whiting Creek property were staked in the early part of the 20th century, and explored for precious metals. Kennco Explorations (Western) Ltd. staked the Rusty Creek drainage in 1962, and actively explored the property. The property was subsequently optioned to Quintana Minerals Corporation in 1972, SMCD Mining Ltd. in 1980 and 1981 and New Canamin Resources in 1992.

The first recorded work in the area was in 1913 with the discovery of placer gold in Sibola Creek. Exploration of the drainages on Sibola Peak resulted in the discovery of precious and base metal veins in Whiting Creek. Kid Price, a mining pioneer in the central interior of British Columbia, reportedly worked placer and lode claims in the Whiting Creek drainage. Kennco Explorations (Western) Ltd. while following up stream sediment sample staked portions of the area in 1962, and followed up with geochemical, geophysical and diamond drill programs which led to the discovery of the Ridge Zone. In 1972, Quintana Minerals drilled a single hole to 457 metres in the upper reaches of the Ridge zone. In 1980-81, SMDC followed up with geochemical, geophysical, mapping, percussion drilling and diamond drilling programs. The work was carried out over all four known zones of mineralization - Rusty, Ridge, Creek and Sweeney, SMD dropped the option after the 1981 work program. This work led to the statement of a drill-inferred resource of 123.5 million tonnes at 0.062 per cent Cu and 0.043 per cent MoS2 (0.025 per cent molybdenum) including 40 million tonnes at 0.17 per cent Cu and 0.10 per cent MoS2 (0.06 per cent molybdenum) (Cann and Smit, 1995 (in CIM Special Volume 46)). These resource estimates were made before the implementation of National Instrument 43-101 regarding the reporting of mineral resources, and may not be compliant with that standard.

The property remained idle until Kennecott drilled two diamond drill holes at the Creek zone in 1991. Only one of these holes penetrated the overburden.

New Canamin Resources acquired the properly in 1992 and completed a soil survey in 1994 consisting of 155 samples (Assessment Report 24064). Huckleberry Mines Ltd. is the successor to New Canamin. Sampling was completed in the vicinity of the Rusty zone (093E 049) occurrence and in the area of the northern extension of the Ridge zone, drilled in 2008.

In 1998, Huckleberry Mines Limited cut and surveyed a total of 15.1 kilometres of grid lines and completed 15.1 kilometers of Induced Polarization (IP) geophysics at the Creek zone.

In 2000 Huckleberry Mines Limited drilled 545.1 metres in 4 NQ diamond-drill holes (Assessment Report 26443). Diamond drilling in 2000 at Whiting Creek successfully extended the northern edge of known mineralization at the Creek zone by 400 metre. The zone now measures 700 metres (north-south) by 300 metre significantly, drill hole WCOO-03 intersected the highest grades of consistent copper/molybdenum (east-west) and mineralization may be continuous with the Ridge zone 700 metres to the north. Mineralization remains open to the north-northeast and the copper grades are improving in this direction.

In 2002, Huckleberry Mines Limited completed 2 contour soil lines, one silt line, and several rock samples, for a total of 40 samples (Assessment Report 27002). Sample locations were selected base on proximity to mineralization identified in the 2000 Creek Zone drilling.

In 2004, geophysical lines were laid out to extend geophysical coverage north from the Creek Zone through the Ridge Zone Huckleberry Mines Limited (Assessment Report 27613). A total of 13.1 line kilometres of gridline was cut and chained and an Induced Polarization geophysical survey was completed over the 13.1 line kilometers of gridline and 154 soil samples were collected.

In 2008, Huckleberry Mines Limited completed seven drillholes totalling of 2,028.43 metres of BTW diamond drilling. The program was focussed a molybdenum in soil anomaly just to the northwest of the Ridge zone and has been called the Moly Creek zone or the large amount of molybdenite-bearing stockwork quartz veining outcropping in the creek bed. The five holes drilled in the Moly Creek zone returned good values in molybdenum but weaker than anticipated copper values. The last hole of the 2008 program, WC-08-07, was drilled in the southwestern portion of the Creek Zone and yield copper values but almost no molybdenum values.

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1916-K161; 1964-55; 1965-87
EMPR ASS RPT *3961, *8757, *9119, *9831, *9897, 22109, 23289, 24006, 25850, 26443, 27002, 27613, 31128
EMPR BULL *75, pp. 52,56-60
EMPR EXPL 1980-317; 1981, pp. 130,148; 2000-1-8
EMPR FIELDWORK 1986, pp. 171-179
EMPR GEM 1972-341
EMPR OF 1987-4; 1994-14
GSC MAP 367A; 1064A
GSC MEM 299
GSC OF 708
CIM Special Volume 15, 1976, pp. 33-34

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