British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas and Responsible for Housing
News | The Premier Online | Ministries & Organizations | Job Opportunities | Main Index

MINFILE Home page  ARIS Home page  MINFILE Search page  Property File Search
Help Help
File Created: 14-Dec-1988 by Dorthe E. Jakobsen (DEJ)
Last Edit:  27-Mar-2022 by Nicole Barlow (NB)

Summary Help Help

NMI
Name FORK Mining Division Skeena
BCGS Map 104B010
Status Showing NTS Map 104B01E
Latitude 056º 03' 34'' UTM 09 (NAD 83)
Longitude 130º 01' 40'' Northing 6213172
Easting 435999
Commodities Zinc, Copper Deposit Types G07 : Subaqueous hot spring Ag-Au
G06 : Noranda/Kuroko massive sulphide Cu-Pb-Zn
I02 : Intrusion-related Au pyrrhotite veins
Tectonic Belt Insular Terrane Stikine
Capsule Geology

The Fork showing is located northwest of the main Silbak Premier mine, 22 km north of Stewart, B.C. The showing was noted historically as part of a silicified zone along the "West" or "Northwest" mineralized zone which contains discrete pods of mineralization. For a more extensive capsule geology and bibliography refer to the Silbak Premier Mine (104B 054).

The area is located in the Intermontane Belt bounded on the west by the Coast Crystalline complex and on the east by the Bowser Basin, in the volcanic arc assemblage of the Stikinia Terrane.

The showing is hosted by the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Hazelton Group, Unuk River Formation. The Hazelton Group is a north- west trending belt of folded dacite flows, andesite flows, breccia and lapilli tuff containing a thick sequence of argillites and silt- stones infolded along a synclinal axis.

The andesite, at least 750 metres thick, is intruded by Early Jurassic Texas Creek plutonic suite dacitic porphyry dykes and is unconformably overlain by volcaniclastic and epiclastic rocks. Potassium feldspar porphyry (historically known as the "Premier Porphyry") is spatially associated with mineralization; this relationship is believed to indicate a Lower Jurassic mineralization age. The ore in the area is predominantly discordant but locally concordant with the moderately northwest-dipping andesite flows, breccias and dacite flows.

Hydrothermal alteration zones related to the mineralizing system are represented by a proximal silicification/quartz stockwork and potassium feldspar and/or sericite facies potassic alteration. Peripheral to mineralization is a propylitic alteration assemblage of carbonate, chlorite and pyrite.

The Fork showing is about 15 metres wide and extends for 400 metres between the Hope-Power zone (104B 154) and the Woodbine workings (104B 090) along the steep to vertical "Northwest" or "West" zone. The mineralization is not significantly offset by the Cascade or Lesley Creek faults. Mineralization, similar to the Hope-Power showing and the Woodbine workings, is within silicified and brecciated rock along the same porphyry-andesite contact as the Hope-Power showing. The porphyry is 50 to 75 metres wide and a limonitic, silicified and pyritized alteration zone is proximal to the contact.

Mineralization consists of massive sphalerite pods, disseminated pyrite and disseminated chalcopyrite. Gangue minerals are quartz, potassium feldspar, chlorite, carbonate and others.

From 2009 to 2020, Ascot Resources Ltd. conducted drilling and geophysical surveys in the Premier Gold project area. See Premier (104B 054) for details and work history.

Bibliography
FOR AN EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY ON SILBAK PREMIER MINE SEE 104B 054
EMPR ASS RPT *15762, 31489, 32357, 33267, 35410, 38850, 39342
EMPR BULL 58; 63
EMPR EXPL 1980-459
EMPR FIELDWORK 1982, pp. 183-195; 1983, pp. 149-164; 1984, pp. 316-342; 1985, pp. 217-218; 1986, pp. 81-102; 1987, pp. 349-353, pp. 489-493
EMPR OF *1987-22
GSC MEM 175
GSC P 89-1E, pp. 145-154
Brown, D.A. (1987): Geologic Setting of the Volcanic-Hosted Silbak Premier Mine, Northwestern British Columbia (M.Sc. Thesis, University of British Columbia (copy in Property File 104B 054)
Christopher, P.A. (2009-08-03): Technical Report on the Premier Gold Project
Kirkham, G. (2012-06-18): Technical Report on the Resource Estimate for the Premier Gold Property
Kirkham, G. (2012-08-20): Revised Technical Report on the Resource Estimate for the Premier Gold Property
Puritch, E. (2013-03-27): Technical Report and Resource Estimate for the Big Missouri and Martha Ellen Deposits, Premier Gold Property
Rennie, D.W. (2018-06-22): Technical Report on the Premier-Dilworth Project
Rennie, D.W. (2019-01-17): Technical Report on the Premier Project
Bird, S.C., Meintjes, T. (2020-02-28): Resource Estimate Update for the Premier Gold Project, Stewart, British Columbia, Canada
Ascot Resources Limited (2020-05-22): Premier & Red Mountain Gold Project Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report, British Columbia

COPYRIGHT | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY | ACCESSIBILITY