The Al porphyry prospect is located about 23 kilometres west-southwest of the village Iskut. In 1970 and 1971 Silver Standard Mines Ltd. staked the Al claims to cover several copper occurrences discovered by prospecting. Silver Standard conducted a limited mapping program and collected over 100 chip samples. TexasGulf Inc. optioned the property in 1977 and conducted a mapping and sampling program on the neighbouring QC property and completed a limited unspecified work program on the Al property. In 1980 and 1981, Teck Corporation examined the property as part of their evaluation of the QC, conducting 2.5 kilometres of self potential geopyhysics and taking 15 rock samples. In 1988, the Axe claims were staked over a large area by Kevin Whalen, including the Al property, and then sold (in part) to Dryden Resource Corporation. Initial exploration by Dryden in 1989 and 1990 consisted prospecting, silt, soil and rock sampling. In 1991, Dryden followed up with an expanded geochemical program and 0.6 kilometres of induced polarization and magnetometer geophysics. No additional work has been filed for assessment to date (October, 1998).
The Al area has recently been mapped and assigned to the Upper Triassic Stuhini Group (Open File 1997-3). Property reports describe the rocks as green to maroon lapilli tuffs and tuffs that range from felsic to mafic in composition. Thin interbeds of greywacke, siltstone and argillite occur within the volcanics. Several irregular dyke to sill to plug-like bodies of fine to medium-grained hornblende (plus/minus biotite) diorite intruded the strata in the Early Jurassic.
The zone of known porphyry alteration and mineralization extends in an east-northeast direction from the Al area to the QC porphyry prospect area. This alteration consists of a propylitic zone about 4 kilometres long by 0.8 kilometres wide. See the QC deposit (104G 033) for further details.
Chalcopyrite and pyrite mineralization at the Al prospect occurs as fine disseminations, fracture coatings and with narrow quartz veins (less than 5 centimetres wide). The bulk of the copper mineralization occurs within a 10 to 20 metres wide diorite sill and within surrounding wallrock, within 30 metres of the sill. Mineralization has been emplaced in brittle fractures that exhibit local preferred orientations.
Alteration is pervasive in both intrusives and volcanics wherever mineralization occurs. The hornblende and biotite are strongly chloritized and the feldspar is saussuritized. Silicification and quartz veining is strong locally and pyrite is widespread as disseminations and in veinlets. Chalcopyrite occurs in silicified andesites but is most common in hornblende diorite, especially where silification and quartz veining is strong.
Over one hundred chip samples were taken in 1971 with assays mostly in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 per cent copper. One sample contained 1.06 per cent copper (Assessment Report 3239). Gold values are typically insignificant. One sample of highly pyritized siliceous andesite contained a high of 0.72 grams per tonne gold over a 4-metre length (Assessment Report 9642).
