The Shastex East occurrence is located on the northwest side of a ridge separating Jock and Drybrough creeks, approximately 5.5 kilometres east of Black Lake.
The area lies within the Omineca-Cassiar mountains at the southern end of the Toodoggone gold camp. The Shastex showing is situated within a Mesozoic volcanic arc assemblage that lies along the eastern margin of the Intermontane Belt, a northwest-trending belt of Paleozoic to Neogene 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 (Stuhini) 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 calc-alkaline volcanics of the Toodoggone Formation (Hazelton Group).
The dominant structures in the area are steeply-dipping faults that 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.
The occurrence area is underlain by Takla Group volcanic rocks consisting of augite and feldspar phyric basalt to andesite breccias and lapilli tuffs interbedded with siltstone, sandstone and greywacke. To the south, Toodoggone Formation volcanic rocks are exposed as a fault-bound block and consist of coarse pyroclastics and clastics. Intrusive outcrops are scattered throughout the area and consist of variably altered hornblende granodiorite of the Black Lake stock.
Locally, quartz-carbonate veins host variable amounts of galena, chalcopyrite and sphalerite mineralization.
In 1980, two rock samples (SC-46-80-2 and SC-46-80-13) of quartz carbonate veining with galena from the JK-2 grid assayed up to 0.31 gram per tonne gold, 19.8 grams per tonne silver, 1.12 per cent lead and 2.49 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 9086).
In 1986, a sample (PS-62) assayed 1.095 grams per tonne gold and 5.2 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 15310).
In 2003, prospecting in the Dawn-Shastex occurrence area by Stealth Minerals Ltd., as part of their larger Pine property exploration, yielded approximately 130 rock samples. Samples from the Shastex East occurrence area yielded up to 0.85 gram per tonne gold, 14.8 grams per tonne silver, 0.618 per cent copper and 0.344 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 27429).
Work History
In 1968, Cominco Ltd. completed a program of prospecting and soil sampling on the area as the Xmas claim.
In 1974, Conwest Exploration Co. Ltd. completed a program of soil and silt sampling on the area as the Pill No. 1 claim.
In 1980 and 1981, Serem Ltd. completed programs of geological mapping, geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling and a ground electromagnetic survey on the area as the Jock 1-4 claims.
In 1986, Alexim Developments Corp. completed a program prospecting, geochemical (rock and silt) sampling and trenching in the area as the Dawn, Shastex 1 and Paradise 2 claims.
Refer to the Pine (MINFILE 094E 016) for details of the Pine property, which contained the occurrence from the late 1990s to 2014. Exploration work included programs of rock and soil sampling, geological mapping and airborne geophysical surveying.
During 2016 through 2018, Amarc Resources Ltd. completed programs of soil and rock sampling, geological mapping, 115.0 line-kilometres of ground induced polarization surveying and 1940.0 line-kilometres of airborne magnetic surveying on the area as the Joy property.
