The Lay Creek occurrence is located approximately 6 kilometres due east of the northern tip of Johanson Lake.
Regionally, the area is underlain by Upper Triassic Takla Group volcanics. These are bounded to the north by the northwest trending Lay Range fault and to the west by the north trending Dortatelle fault. This succession of volcanics has been intruded about 5 kilometres to the west by small Early Jurassic quartz dioritic stocks.
Locally, the area is underlain by a series of andesitic flows and intercalated fragmental rocks. These fractured fragmental rocks contain angular to rounded andesitic clasts and are carbonate altered. The andesitic volcanics are augite andesite flows, pyritic augite andesite, andesitic to dacitic tuff and highly chloritized andesites. Shales and granodiorites also occur in the area. The flows and tuffs generally strike 140 degrees and dip 70 degrees to the
In 1981 and 1982, initial work by Silver Standard Mines and Lornex Mining occurred on the Breccia zone within the Breccia claim and is discussed as the Omega occurrence (094D 115). Massive sulphide mineralization on the Breccia 4 claim was examined in 1983 by Lornex Mining and is discussed below.
Mineralization consists of massive sulphides cutting highly chloritized andesites. This vertical massive sulphide zone is 0.70 metre thick and strikes 140 degrees. The zone is possibly a vein containing approximately 20 per cent quartz-carbonate with varying amounts of coarse crystalline pyrite and chalcopyrite and abundant manganese staining. The sulphide zone assayed up to 9.5 grams per tonne gold, 0.685 per cent copper and 12.9 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 11842). Because of weak VLF conductors in the vicinity of the linear geochemical anomalies Lornex interpreted the sulphide genesis as possible fracture controlled massive sulphides.
WORK HISTORY
The Lay Creek showings were discovered by Silver Standard Mines Limited in 1981. Subsequent to staking, a small program of blasting and trenching was carried out by Silver Standard in September 1981. A joint exploration agreement was arranged with Lornex Mining Corporation Ltd. In 1982, a program of road construction, establishment of a grid soil sampling, magnetometer and induced polarization surveys was completed by Lornex Mining Corporation Ltd. A total of 388 soil samples were collected from the Breccia claim grid area. In general, the area surveyed has a large area of anomalous chargeability. The soil geochemical and induced polarization surveys conducted over the Breccia claim grid area located a northwest trending anomalous zone about 1500 metres long by about 300 metres wide. Results from these surveys, together with geological mapping resulted in the drilling of 3 NQ diamond drill holes (428.5 metres total) in late August 1982. The drilling indicated a significant intersection of 0.22 copper mineralization in a highly altered and erratically mineralized vertically extensive breccia zone pipe in hole LC 82 1 and a pyrite halo with minor molybdenite mineralization in hole LC 82 3 (Assessment Report 10686A).
In 1983, Lornex extended the grid from the Breccia claim to the Breccia 4 claim and a program of prospecting, soil geochemistry, ground magnetic and VLF surveys was conducted, primarily on the Breccia 4 claim where a massive sulphide layer was explored. In total, 66 rock and 351 soil samples were taken. A total of 2.7 kilometres of base line and 12.3 kilometres of crossline were laid out and 8.1 kilometres of crossline was surveyed with VLF and magnetometer. Weakly conductive bodies are visible in the inflections and very little magnetic variation was seen on the property. Anomalous values obtained by soil sampling indicated narrow parallel linear zones; geophysics indicated weak VLF conductors existing in the vicinity of the linear geochemical anomalies.
See Omega (094D 115) for a description Contact/Breccia zone, the focus of 1981-1982 work including drilling.
