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File Created: 22-Oct-2012 by Karl A. Flower (KAF)
Last Edit:  08-Mar-2021 by George Owsiacki (GO)

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NMI
Name MOOSEHORN EAST, MOOSEHORN WEST, JD Mining Division Liard, Omineca
BCGS Map 094E034
Status Prospect NTS Map 094E06E
Latitude 057º 23' 04'' UTM 09 (NAD 83)
Longitude 127º 13' 48'' Northing 6361566
Easting 606405
Commodities Gold, Silver Deposit Types H05 : Epithermal Au-Ag: low sulphidation
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Stikine
Capsule Geology

The Moosehorn East and West showings are located on the northern side of the Toodoggone River, approximately 1 kilometre east of Moosehorn Creek and about 287 kilometres north of Smithers.

The area is situated within a Mesozoic volcanic arc assemblage, which lies along the eastern margin of the Intermontane Belt, a northwest trending belt of Paleozoic to Tertiary sediments, volcanics and intrusions bounded to the east by the Omineca Belt and to the west and southwest by the Sustut and Bowser basins. Permian Asitka Group crystalline limestones are the oldest rocks exposed in the region. They are commonly in thrust contact with Upper Triassic Takla Group andesite flows and pyroclastic rocks. These Takla rocks have been intruded by plutons and other bodies of the mainly granodiorite to quartz monzonite Early Jurassic Black Lake Suite and are in turn unconformably overlain by, or faulted against, Lower Jurassic calcalkaline volcanics of the Toodoggone Formation (Hazelton Group).

The dominant structures in the area are steeply dipping faults, which define a prominent regional northwest structural fabric trending 140 to 170 degrees. In turn, high-angle northeast-striking faults (approximately 060 degrees) appear to truncate and displace northwest striking faults. Collectively these faults form a boundary for variably rotated and tilted blocks underlain by monoclinal strata.

Locally, a zone of widespread potassic alteration accompanied by quartz veins and quartz stock work occurs within Jurassic porphyritic intermediate volcanic flows that are locally hydrothermally altered and mineralized.

Historic work on the Moosehorn claims consists of limited shallow diamond drilling, silt, soil, and rock geochemistry and ground induced polarization geophysics performed mostly by Cyprus Metals in the mid-1980s. Grab samples from float near the Moosehorn East vein target assayed up to 12.4 grams per tonne gold with 1010 grams per tonne silver, and 10.4 grams per tonne gold with 1280 grams per tonne silver (http://www.towerresourcesltd.com). Highlights from historic drilling by Cyprus Metals in the East vein target area include: 0.55 gram per tonne gold and 29 grams per tonne silver over 34 metres (DDH 88-12), and 0.42 gram per tonne gold and 24 grams per tonne silver over 27 metres (DDH 87-5). Smaller intervals of higher-grade material are typical of the West vein target area. DDH 87-2 reportedly intersected 9.0 grams per tonne gold and 251 grams per tonne silver over 1.2 metres across a quartz vein and DDH 88-9 intersected 2.6 grams per tonne gold and 352 grams per tonne silver over 1.5 metres across a quartz and pyrite vein cutting silica and potassium feldspar alteration (http://www.towerresourcesltd.com).

The main vein of the East zone does not crop out and is only known from intercepts in drillholes 87-5 and 88-12. The zone of quartz veining in drillhole 87-5 is about 15 metres wide and in drillhole 88-12 about 25 metres wide. The zone has been traced over a north-south length of 375 metres. In 1989, five holes were drilled to search for further mineralization on the Moosehorn East zone. Drillhole 89-6 intersected the East vein at 70 metres depth, confirming its extension along a north-northwest strike. The true vertical extent of this zone remains unknown (Forster, 1984).

The main ore minerals are acanthite and native silver, which generally occur as fine disseminations in quartz. Gangue minerals include amethystine, white and chalcedonic quartz, calcite, specular hematite, pyrite with lesser amounts of chlorite, kaolinite, albite, and adularia (Forster, 1984). Quartz veining and stockwork with pyrite has an apparent thickness of 55 metres and a width of 50 metres. Veins show well developed banding with a consistent paragenetic sequence, and at least five stages silicification and brecciation (Forster, 1984). Drillholes 89-1, 3 and 6 display strong alteration with some mineralization. From 3.6 to 20 metres, drill core from hole 89-1 is strongly feldspathized with stockworks of quartz veins with pyrite. Drillhole 89-3 is strongly silicified and has stockworks of grey quartz veins with about 1 per cent pyrite over the 8.9 metre interval from 39.0 to 47.9 metres depth. Silicification is the main expression of hydrothermal alteration (Forster, 1984). The thickest interval of silicification was intersected in drillhole 89-6. A heavy clay fault gouge was intercepted from 64.5 to 67.2 metres, below which a 56.6-metre interval of silicified and veined (10 to 50 per cent) hostrock with about 1 per cent pyrite was intercepted. Mineralization is terminated on a post-mineralization fault near the bottom of drill hole 89-3. Subaerial red lapilli tuffs are downfaulted against the mineralized zone in this drillhole.

Alteration consists of potassium feldspar replacing hostrocks and sericite replacing potassium feldspar. The zone of alteration widens at depth, from 35 metres at 1200 metres to 60 metres at 1140 metres.

Three zones of anomalous gold and silver were intersected in drillhole 87-5, two in drillhole 88-12, and one in 89-6. The intervals (in metres) and corresponding anomalous values (in grams per tonne) are tabulated as follows (Assessment Report 18847).

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Drillhole Interval True Width Au Ag

87-5 45.0- 49.0 2.0 0.885 68.9

57.0- 61.0 1.9 0.430 23.5

63.0- 64.0 0.8 1.520 30.4

88-12 65.0- 69.0 3.2 0.800 14.0

71.0- 82.0 9.0 0.990 58.2

89-6 122.0-123.8 1.8 0.630 66.3

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The highest-grade samples were obtained from finely banded, grey chalcedonic quartz veinlets with within highly fractured trachyte flow (Forster, 1984). Several other quartz veins occur in the hangingwall and west of the main vein, 15 to 100 metres on the Moosehorn East zone; they are 0.7 to 2.8 metres wide.

See Moosehorn (094E086) for property work history and related details. See JD (Finn) (094E 171) for JD property work history.

Bibliography
EMPR BULL 86
EMPR EXPL 1975-E163-E167; 1976-E175-E177; 1977-E216-E217; 1978-E244-E246; 1979-265-267; 1980-421-436; 1982-330-345; 1983-475-488; 1984-348-357; 1985-C349-C362; 1986-C388-C414; 1987-C328-C346; 1988-C185-C194
EMPR FIELDWORK 1980, pp. 124-129; 1981, pp. 122-129, 135-141; 1982, pp. 125-127; 1983, pp. 137-138, 142-148; 1984, pp. 139-145, 291-293; 1985, pp. 167-169, 299; 1987, pp. 111, 114-115; 1989, pp. 409-415; 1991, pp. 207-216
EMPR GEM 1969-103; 1971-63-71; 1973-456-463
EMPR GEOLOGY 1977-1981, pp. 156-161
EMPR MAP 61 (1985)
EMPR PF (Photogeologic Interpretation Map of the Northern Omineca area, Oct. 1964, Canadian Superior Exploration Limited-in 94E General File; Personal Communication, 1985 , Schroeter, T.G.; Annual Report,(1986), Energex Minerals Ltd.)
GSC BULL 270
GSC OF 306; 483
GSC P 76-1A, pp. 87-90; 80-1A, pp. 27-32
ECON GEOL Vol.86, pp. 529-554, 1991
GCNL #171(Sept.7), 1982; #23(Feb.1), 1985; #36(Feb.20); #175(Sept.11), #22(Jan.31); #165(Aug.27), 1986
IPDM Nov/Dec 1983; Sept. 1985
MIN REV September/October, 1982; July/August, 1986
NAGMIN Nov.8, 1985
N MINER Sept.23, 1982; Sept.23, 1985; Jun.16, Oct.13, 1986
N MINER MAG March 1988, p. 1
WIN Vol.1, #7, June 1987
W MINER April, 1982
WWW *http://www.towerresourcesltd.com
Forster, D.B. (1984): Geology, Petrology and Precious Metal Mineralization, Toodoggone River Area, North-Central British Columbia, Unpub. Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia
Diakow, L.J. (1990): Volcanism and Evolution of the Early and Middle Jurassic Toodoggone Formation, Toodoggone Mining District, British Columbia, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Western Ontario

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