The Pil South Canyon occurrence is located along a south-flowing tributary of Jock Creek.
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 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 Group andesite flows and pyroclastic rocks. These Takla rocks have been intruded by plutons and other bodies of the early Jurassic, mainly granodiorite to quartz monzonite 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.
Locally, altered intrusive rocks host quartz-magnetite veins and/or fracture fillings with traces of malachite and chalcopyrite. A highly leached sulphate-clay zone along faults with little or no original pyrite is also reported in the area.
In 1993, representative samples of the quartz-magnetite mineralization yielded values of up to 0.608 gram per tonne gold and 0.058 per cent copper (Assessment Report 23313).
In 1996, a rock sample (LPJ-12) of quartz veinlets with malachite and chalcopyrite in a monzonite host yielded 0.304 gram per tonne gold, 132.8 grams per tonne silver, 0.037 per cent molybdenum and greater than 1.00 per cent copper (Assessment Report 25054).
In 1997, five rock samples (JBP28 to JBP32) of variably clay-quartz-sericite-pyrite-limonite–altered intrusive yielded from 0.105 to 0.582 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 25282).
In 1998, a select grab sample (52295) of altered monzonite or monzodiorite with quartz veinlets and disseminated pyrite assayed 0.622 gram per tonne gold, and a grab sample (52293) of sericite-pyrite–altered volcanic rock yielded 0.105 gram per tonne gold, 3.4 grams per tonne silver, 0.403 per cent lead and 0.231 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 25811).
In 2002, two samples (RB02PS02 and RB02PS03) from the Canyon zone yielded 0.236 and 0.41 gram per tonne gold over 0.75 and 2.00 metres, respectively (Assessment Report 27055).
In 2003, a grab sample (WG-PS-03-001) of siliceous intrusive hosting disseminated pyrite and an unidentified blue-grey mineral assayed 2.4 grams per tonne silver, 0.286 per cent lead and 0.299 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 27310).
Work History
In 1980 and 1981, SEREM Ltd. completed programs of prospecting, geological mapping, trenching and geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling on the area as the Atlas and Hercules claims. In 1985, SEREM Ltd. completed a further program of prospecting, geological mapping and a ground electromagnetic survey on the Atlas and Hercules claims.
In 1986 and 1987, the Toodoggone Syndicate completed programs of prospecting, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and a 75 line-kilometre airborne geophysical survey on the area as the Daniel, Anna and Michel claims. Also in 1987, Beachview Resources Ltd. completed a program prospecting and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the Anna and Michel claims.
During the 1990s through 2020 (from 1999 by Finlay Minerals Ltd.) the area was explored as a part of the Pil property and a completed exploration history can be found at the Pil South (MINFILE 094E 310) occurrence.
