The Win occurrence lies on the crest of Mount Chingee, 30 kilometres southeast of the town of Mackenzie, in the Cariboo Mining Division.
Regionally, the area lies in the Rocky Mountain Trench at the western margin of the Ancestral North American miogeocline and is underlain by quartzite, siltstone and slate of the Neoproterozoic Misinchinka Group; undivided sedimentary rocks of the lower Cambrian Gog Group and limestone, slate, siltstone and argillite of the Cambrian to Ordovician Kechika Group.
A southeast-trending quartzite unit has been traced for 600 metres along strike and has a width roughly estimated at 50 metres. The unit is truncated to the east and west by northeast-striking faults. Silty phyllite occurs to the south and strata to the north consists of highly deformed interbedded metamorphosed pelites, siltstones and dirty to clean quartzites.
The quartzite, of the lower Cambrian Gog Group or the upper Proterozoic Misinchinka Group, is normally a buff white, well-sorted, fine- to medium-grained rock; however, grit-sized quartz grains may constitute up to 40 per cent of the rock. It is generally pure, although it sometimes contains traces of sericite and minor hematite and limonite stains, especially on joint surfaces. Quartz veins may account for greater than 70 per cent of the rock volume over widths of tens of metres.
Three samples collected by the Geological Survey Branch in 1981 assayed 94.14, 96.02 and 96.10 per cent silica.
An inferred reserve of 4.5 million tonnes grading 98.03 percent silicon dioxide (or 45.82 per cent silicon; conversion to silicon using the factor 2.1393), 0.10 percent ferric oxide, 0.38 percent aluminum oxide, 0.01 percent calcium oxide and 0.19 percent loss on ignition was reported by the 1987 program (Assessment Report 16646).
Work History
In 1974, SSR Mining Inc. completed six diamond drill holes, totalling 378.0 metres, on the Win claim group. In 1987, Consolidated Silver Standard Mines Ltd. completed a minor program of geological mapping and rock sampling on the Win claim.
