The Price occurrence is located 5.5 kilometres north of Troitsa Lake in the Kasalka Range, 6.5 kilometres northwest of Mount Bolom.
The property is primarily underlain by volcanics of the Upper Cretaceous Kasalka Group consisting of andesitic flows, andesitic lapilli tuff and heterolithic volcanic breccia. Feldspar porphyritic granite intrudes the volcanics. Mineralization occurs within the volcanics. Disseminations of pyrite and pyrrhotite are localized on fractures while small pods of massive pyrite and pyrrhotite occur within and adjacent to the fractures. The pods also carry appreciable gold and silver values and contain chalcopyrite and sphalerite with minor galena and arsenopyrite. The largest pod measures 2.0 by 0.5 metres. There is no apparent consistent orientation to the mineralized zones or the controlling fractures.
In the mid-1980s, Equity Silver completed heavy mineral sampling of an area south of Tahtsa Lake as part of the Kasalka project. An area north of Mount Bolom, in the vicinity of the Price occurrence, returned a high multi-element anomaly in molybdenum, copper, zinc, lead, silver, gold, arsenic and antimony in all seven size fractions. Other anomalies were noted in the Swing Peak, Mount Carl Borden (093E 035) and Mount Baptiste areas.
WORK HISTORY
PRICE
The first documented work in the area was a geochemical bulk silting program by Union Carbide. The first claims in the area were staked on behalf of Union Carbide Canada Limited in late 1982 and transferred to Canamax Resources Inc. the following spring. Canamax discovered a small massive sulphide lens in volcanic rocks on a creek that hosted a bulk silt anomaly as well as elevated values from a heavy mineral concentrate sampling program. The company conducted prospecting and soil geochemical surveys over various parts of the property but did not follow up on any of the anomalies produced. The ground lapsed and was acquired by Equity Silver Mines Ltd. in 1987. Equity completed programs of prospecting and soil geochemical sampling in 1987 which expanded the area around anomalies previously discovered. The company drilled the property in 1989 with four BQTW core holes totalling 457.4 metres. Equity held the ground until 2000 when the claims were allowed to lapse.
Best results from the limited 1989 drilling program included one intercept of 10.8 metres assaying 0.188 per cent copper, 37.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.925 gram per tonne gold from a weakly altered and fractured ash tuff believed to be in the roof zone of an underlying porphyry system (Assessment Report 20211).
In 2010, the Kate claim covered the Price showing, but the main Price showing was not located. However, the creek was prospected and sampled over a distance of approximately 1.6 kilometres from the contact between the lower Cretaceous sediments and volcanics below the Price showing to as high up the left fork as was possible during the time available. Sulphide mineralization hosted by north-easterly trending shear zones to the west was discovered and sampled. Two samples were collected during the evaluation trip. Sample 042452 assayed 0.204 gram per tonne gold and 0.067 per cent arsenic and was derived from a rusty and silicified andesite with several percent sulphide mineralization Best results from the limited 1989 drilling program included one intercept of 10.8 metres assaying 0.188 per cent copper, 37.5 gram per tonne silver and 0.925 gram per tonne silver from a weakly altered and fractured ash tuff believed to be in the roof zone of an underlying porphyry system (Assessment Report 32014).
