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File Created: 16-Mar-2012 by George Owsiacki (GO)
Last Edit:  09-Apr-2012 by George Owsiacki (GO)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name MIDNIGHT BLUE, HASTINGS, BIG BULK, KINSKUCH, KINSKUCH LAKE, SUE Mining Division Skeena
BCGS Map 103P064
Status Showing NTS Map 103P11W
Latitude 055º 37' 12'' UTM 09 (NAD 83)
Longitude 129º 22' 00'' Northing 6163864
Easting 476907
Commodities Copper, Lead, Zinc, Silver Deposit Types L03 : Alkalic porphyry Cu-Au
L01 : Subvolcanic Cu-Ag-Au (As-Sb)
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Stikine
Capsule Geology

The Midnight Blue occurrence is situated about 2.7 kilometres south of Kinskuch Lake, 16 kilometres north-northeast of Alice Arm.

The Kinskuch Lake area is underlain by volcanics and sediments of the Upper Triassic Stuhini Group and the Lower Jurassic Hazelton Group. These occur along the eastern limb of the north to northwest trending Mount McGuire anticline and have been regionally metamorphosed to greenschist facies.

The Midnight Blue area appears continuous with the geology and alteration package at Big Bulk (103P 016) and comprises volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Hazelton Group and associated diorite porphyry intrusions. The Midnight Blue area is a rugged, steeply incised cirque at the headwaters of the Dak River where significant copper-gold anomalies were found. Most of the Hazelton Group volcanics are chloritized but prominent rusty brown gossans indicate the areas of greatest alteration; the heaviest alteration occurs in the Sue zone along a ridge. The rocks are heavily fractured with variable chlorite, carbonate alteration, local silicification and up to 5 per cent pyrite. Malachite stains on fractures are common and chalcopyrite is occasionally observed. Strong alteration, heavy fracturing, disseminated mineralization and anomalous copper-gold soil geochemistry indicate a zone approximately 600 by 400 metres.

The Sue zone showing is exposed by a 16-metre trench at the southern end of the ridge. Three different shear sets cut heavily fractured andesites. Northerly trending shears dip 30-70 degrees west. Northeasterly trending shears are shallow northwest dipping; and northwesterly trending shears approach vertical. Malachite stained quartz-sphalerite veins are associated with the northeasterly structures. A one by one metre panel trench sample (90TSR-1280) yielded low gold values, but ranged to 0.27 per cent copper, 1.5 per cent zinc, 11.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.09 per cent lead (Assessment Report 20574).

In 2008, drillhole 08MB-008 was collared amongst talus fines samples anomalous in copper and gold and trended into a chargeability high as defined by a 2008 induced polarization survey. Hazelton Group andesites were intersected in the top 30 metres characterized by chlorite, quartz and sericite alteration and pyrite contents between 1 and 5 per cent. Diorite porphyry, as seen throughout the Midnight Blue and Big Bulk drilling, comprised the remainder of the hole except for 14 metres of a felsic sedimentary rock near the bottom of the hole. The sedimentary rock was typically massive and very fine grained with local bedding evidenced by coarser grained material. The diorite porphyry was variably altered with chlorite, epidote, sericite and quartz and contained pyrite abundances between trace and 5 per cent including a notable decline in the last 100 metres. Pyrite was typically present as disseminations or within quartz-carbonate stringers and veinlets. Textural destruction of the diorite was common and most often affiliated with the severity of silicification. Sphalerite and lesser galena were occasionally present in quartz-carbonate veinlets in the bottom 30 metres of the hole.

A 1990 work program on behalf of Aber Resources Ltd., Oliver Gold Corporation and Tanqueray Resources Ltd. comprised detailed mapping, prospecting, survey grid establishment, geochemical and geophysical surveys. This work defined an 800 metre long copper-gold anomaly using talus fines. In 2008, the talus fines anomaly was confirmed and expanded by sampling. A very difficult induced polarization survey was also conducted in 2008 which helped vector the drilling towards high chargeability targets at depth. Two holes were drilled for a total of 509.08 metres and was part of a larger exploration program on the Hastings Project on behalf of owners Rand Edgar Smyth Syndicate, Durango Capital Corp., Dolly Varden Resources Ltd., Teck Cominco Limited and C.G. Brookes.

Bibliography
EMPR ASS RPT *20574, 28476, 29753, *30581
EMPR BULL 63
EMPR FIELDWORK 1985, pp. 219-224; 1988, pp. 233-240; 1990, pp. 235-243; 2005, pp. 1-4
EMPR MAP 8
EMPR OF 1986-2; 1994-14
GSC MAP 307A; 1385A
GSC OF 864
Gale, R.E. (1957): The Geology of Kinskuch Lake Area, British Columbia, University of British Columbia, M.Sc. Thesis

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