68237 093P 023 Liard PRIME LIME & MARBLE, BAKER CREEK, SUKUNKA RIVER 093P011 093P04W Past Producer 55° 09' 09'' 121° 55' 07'' 55.152500 -121.918611 10 6112081 569001 Limestone Foreland Ancestral North America R09 : Limestone The Prime Lime and Marble quarry is located on the northwest side of the Sukunka River, 2 kilometres north-northwest of its confluence with Baker Creek, 64 kilometres south-southwest of Chetwynd. The quarry lies within a bed of limestone of the Mississippian Rundle Group underlain by shaly carbonates of the Mississippian Banff Formation and overlain by siltstone and shale of the Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation. The limestone outcrops as a narrow northwestward trending band along the west limb of an overturned syncline. At the quarry, thickly bedded, homogeneous limestone, striking 160 to 180 degrees and dipping 75 to 85 degrees west, outcrops for 330 metres along the crest of a "hogback" ridge, with a minimum width of 45 metres. The limestone is overlain and underlain by less homogeneous thinly bedded limestone. The deposit is comprised of fine grained (0.2 to 0.5 millimetre), light to dark brownish grey, massive but highly fractured limestone. Four, 5-metre long, chip samples taken in succession across a 20-metre section averaged 52.8 per cent CaO (94.3 per cent CaCO3), 0.29 per cent MgO, less than 0.5 per cent SiO2, 0.096 per cent Al2O3, 0.058 per cent Fe2O3, less than 0.01 per cent Na20, 0.020 per cent K2O, less than 0.0004 per cent manganese, 0.00741 per cent PO4 and 0.01442 per cent titanium (Industrial Mineral File - J.D. Curry, 1983). A sample of crushed and screened limestone taken from a stockpile assayed 55.7 per cent CaO, 0.58 per cent MgO, 0.98 per cent SiO2, 0.30 per cent Al2O3, less than 0.07 per cent Fe2O3, 0.004 per cent MnO, 0.02 per cent TiO2 and 43.36 per cent ignition loss (Geological Fieldwork 1985, p. 239). Subsequent drilling in 1986, encountered limestone averaging 55.5 per cent CaO (99 per cent CaCO3). Reserves are estimated in excess of 100 million tonnes (George Cross Newsletter #123, 1986). The deposit was quarried to produce limestone for agricultural purposes by Prime Lime and Marble Co. Ltd. during 1984 and 1985. Peace River Lime acquired the quarry in 1986, but failed to place the deposit into production. Northern Lime and Fertilizer Co. Ltd. of Vancouver is planning to be begin quarrying operations in the spring of 1992. The company intends to supply limestone to pulp mills in northern Alberta and to agricultural markets in northern Alberta and northeastern B.C. EMPR EXPL 1985-A48; 1987-A59 EMPR FIELDWORK *1985, p. 239 EMPR MAP 65, 1989 EMPR PF (*Curry, J.D. (1983): Notice of Opening of Quarries by Prime Lime & Marble Ltd.) GSC MAP 19-1961; 2669 GSC OF 286 GCNL #123, 1986 EMPR PFD 16507, 16513, 16514, 503512