The HSOV showing, discovered in September 1996, is located across the valley to the east of Mount Madge. The host rocks are interpreted as belonging to the Middle Jurassic Salmon River Formation (Hazelton Group) (Assessment Report 30131).
Rocks mapped in the showing area (from east to west) include andesitic to rhyolitic volcaniclastics and minor flows, massive rhyolites with minor interbedded volcaniclastics, mudstones and basalts and are interpreted as an overturned sequence. Contact relationships between the various units are complex, in particular between the mudstones and basalts.
The showing lies at the contact between rhyolite breccias and black shales; the horizon has been traced for one kilometre along strike and 500 metres down dip. Mineralization consists of a zone of semi-massive to massive marcasite and pyrite, with minor gypsum, anhydrite and sphalerite in a black, sooty matrix. The sulfide body is exposed over a length of 35 metres and is up to 3.5 metres thick. A left-lateral fault offsets sulfide mineralization 110 metres to the east, where another 30 metres of mineralization up to 1 metre thick is exposed. Blocky altered mudstone and felsic volcanic clasts are supported within a sponge like matrix of sulphides and sulphosalts along with gypsum associated with sulphidic tubules. Strong shearing and associated thrust faulting have complicated stratigraphy, however it remains that the mineralization is located at or near the mudstone/felsic breccia contact. The mineralogy, texture and setting all suggest that the showing is related to a submarine exhalative vent system ('black smoker').
A grab sample assayed 2.18 grams per tonne gold, 505.9 grams per tonne silver and 1.26 per cent copper (June 4, 1998 Press Release).
A total of three drillholes were completed in the HSOV Zone in 2005 (CR05-26 to CR05-28) to test the surface occurrence comprising massive pyrite hosted by black mudstones and rhyolites. Holes 27 and 28 both successfully intersected several metres of stringer to massive pyrite within mudstones and brecciated rhyolites down-dip and along strike of the surface occurrence; hole 26 did not intersect the mineralized zone due to a wide fault which offset the zone.
While these intersections did not yield significant metal values, they demonstrated that the HSOV mineralization has VMS characteristics. Given that the host package of mudstones and rhyolites can be traced on surface along a strike length of about 1 km, Company geologists are keen to test this zone with a much more aggressive drill program in 2006.
The main finding of the 2007 exploration season is that the C10 (104B 240), Red Lightning (new to the southeast), HSOV and Spearhead (new to the east) zones occur in a common stratabound sequence that underlies and extends beyond the Mandy Creek valley area.
The first recorded work on the HSOV showing was grid establishment, mapping, rock chip and whole rock sampling, and soil sampling carried out by Kenrich between 1996 and 1998. A VLF-EM and ground magnetic survey was also carried out on the HSOV grid in 1998. The HSOV showing is located on the Corey 8 claim. The northern portion of the HSOV grid extends to the north onto ground not controlled by Kenrich. Kenrich-Eskay Mining Corp. has continued to explore its large Corey property throughout the 2000s.
See Cumberland (104B 011) for details of the Corey property work.
