The Palm Spring showing is located on a ridge above Eskay Creek, approximately 3 kilometres southeast (142°) of the confluence of Eskay Creek and Iskut River.
The Palm Spring occurrence area is underlain by northwest trending bands of Lower to Middle Jurassic Hazelton group rock consisting of the Eskay Facies and Iskut River facies (Open File 2005-5). The Eskay Facies consists of dacite, fragmental tuff and amydaloidal flow which, according to Open File 2005-5, is correlative with Mount Dilworth Formation; Footwall Volcanic Unit; Datum Dacite. The Iskut River facies consists of dacite breccia and minor siltstone interbeds. Early Jurassic granodioritic intrusions related to the Texas Creek suite intrude the strata within several kilometres. These may be K-feldspar or hornblende porphyritic.
North of Palmiere (Volcano) Creek, a thin unit of felsic volcaniclastics and argillite crops out in the saddle between the main high ridge to the northeast and the small spur that overlooks the lower Iskut River Valley to the west. The lower part of this unit consists of chaotic, unsorted felsic breccia which is overlain transitionally by black, siliceous, pyritic argillite which hosts realgar and orpiment and an associated cross-cutting quartz vein. This small outcrop is exposed in a north-draining creek and lies stratigraphically above a thick dacite unit. Assays of two grab samples yielded arsenic values greater than 1.0 per cent, with negligible associated precious metals (Fieldwork 2004, page 20). However, creeks draining this low ridge to the north and south are reported to have yielded anomalously high gold grain counts in the heavy mineral concentrates collected during the government Regional Geochemical Survey.
WORK HISTORY
In 1990, Hi-Tec Resource Management Ltd, on behalf of Rockridge Mining Corp and Meadfield Mining Corp, collected total of 12 bulk stream samples, 24 silt/soil samples and 232 rock samples were collected during the 1990 program (Assessment Report 20614). No record of any previous showings on the Arc 1,2 and Arc 14-17 claims (worked in 1990) or of any previous mineral exploration work on the property is documented.
Most of the 1990 work was concentrated on the northeastern portion of the Arc 15 claim. This area forms a saddle-like depression between outcrops of volcanics on the west side and black siltstones with interbedded brown weathering sandy/tuffaceous laminae on the eastern side. No outcrop is exposed in this depression and exposure is limited to steep side creeks which drain to the north and south, off the saddle area.
Outcrops of very siliceous, well bedded, fine-grained, grey/green, occasionally maroon or grey/green banded, rhyolitic to dacitic felsic volcanics were located on the north and south facing slopes of the saddle. These are commonly mineralized with up to 10 per cent fine disseminated pyrite and occasionally contain 1 to 2 per cent chalcopyrite and trace galena. Outcrops of flow breccias and banded felsic flows with 3 to 10 per cent pyrite and 1 per cent chalcopyrite were mapped in the area.
Although outcrop is sparse, the rhyolitic volcanics appear to be underlain by black siltstones and volcaniclastics. The area is intruded by a 3 to 10 metre-wide felsic dike, with ubiquitous fuchsite, and breccia zone. Red realgar crystals and orpiment stains are commonly developed within the breccia. Disseminated pyrite, blebs of galena and chalcopyrite are also evident. The breccia zone appears to be hosted by altered tuffaceous volcanics, coarse volcaniclastics and agglomerates (Samples 90CJR046, 047).
In 1990, limited hand-held plugger trenching of the felsic volcanics, the felsic dike and breccia zone was completed by Hi-Tec in three sites separated in total by about 250 metres. Site 1 trenching exposed approximately 8 metres of dacitic-tuffaceous, well bedded, felsic volcanics towards its upper contact with the sediments. Up to 20 per cent disseminated pyrite mineralization was noted within the felsic volcanics. Quartz veins and veinlets also contained up to 20 per cent pyrite and 2 per cent chalcopyrite. At site 2, approximately 4 metres was exposed across the dike-black siltstone/argillite contact. The dike appears to be a type of fuchsite rich-flow breccia which is crosscut by quartz veins and veinlets. Only 1 per cent pyrite mineralization was visible in hand specimens. The breccia zone, site 3, was trenched in one spot and appears to continue down dip. Up to 5 per cent realgar and abundant orpiment staining was visible with some realgar crystals up to 0.5 centimetre in length.
An arsenic value of 3 per cent was recorded from a rock grab sample (90CJR027) of the quartz breccia realgar bearing zone, which also contained 1.6 per cent mercury, 0.015 per cent antimony, 210 parts per million barium and 0.025 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 20614).
The highest gold from a rock sample was 0.41 gram per tonne from grab sample 90CPR085 of a felsic dike adjacent to the inferred upper contact of the rhyolitic/dacitic felsic volcanics near Palmiere Creek (Assessment Report 20614).
A 2016 prospecting, rock and soil XRF sampling survey for DeCoors Mining Corp. on the Palm Springs property sampled the Palm Spring area. The program located the pyroclastic breccia with high arsenic values which is encouraging with regard to the lithology similar to the Eskay Creek deposit. Three rock samples were anomalous As, Au and Ba and silver values were slightly elevated in one sample. However, only low values in other key metals were obtained (Assessment Report 36311).
