The Tunnel phosphate occurrence is located on a southwest-facing ridge overlooking the Sukunka River, approximately 10.5 kilometres northwest of Hook Lake.
The area is underlain by the Triassic Spray River Group, which includes the Whitehorse and Sulphur Mountain formations, Permian Belcourt and Mowich formations, lower Carboniferous Rundle Group and Upper Devonian Exshaw and Banff formations. The formations form a northwest–southeast–trending belt of rocks that have been traced the full extent of the property. The units have been folded tight, northwest-southeast–trending anticlines and relatively broad synclines. In general, the northeast limbs of the synclines are more gently dipping to the southwest and the southwest limbs are steeply dipping to the northeast.
Locally, phosphate bearing sediments, consisting of the Whistler and Llamma members of the Sulphur Mountain Formation (Spray River Group) have been identified by trenching over a strike length of at least 900 metres. Phosphate occurs as pellets, nodules, phosphate cement, phosphatic fragments, or clasts and phosphatized fossil debris. The phosphate-bearing bed varies from 0.5 to 3.0 metres wide.
In 2008, sampling of trenches yielded:
--------------------------------Trench Interval P2O5 (No.) (m) (%) 1 3.0 19.4 2 6.0 16.3 3 3.0 17.1 4 1.0 13.2 5 3.0 17.7 6 5.0 15.8 7 4.0 12.3 ------------------------------- |
(Assessment Report 34085)
The average of the zone, as defined by trenching, is reported as 20 per cent phosphate (P2O5) over 3.6 metres including 2.1 metres of 19.3 per cent phosphate (P2O5) over a strike length of 900 metres (Assessment Report 34085).
In 2013, resampling of the 2008 trenches yielded 15.5 and 11.8 per cent phosphate over 3 metres, each, in trenches TR-01 and PR-02, respectively (Assessment Report 34552).
Work History
In 2008, Future Metals, on the behalf of Pacific Ridge Exploration, completed a program of hand trenching and sampling. In 2012, Fertoz International optioned the property from Homegold Resources and completed a photogeological program on the area as the Tunnel project. In 2013, J.T. Shearer completed a program of geological mapping, trenching and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as the Wapiti West property. In 2015, a minor program of rock sampling was completed.