83784 104P 084 Liard MCDAME, CASSIAR (MCDAME) 104P031 104P05W Past Producer 59° 19' 19'' 129° 48' 56'' 59.321944 -129.815556 9 6576007 453676 Asbestos Omineca Slide Mountain M06 : Ultramafic-hosted asbestos The McDame deposit is located about 1 kilometre from the Cassiar deposit (104P 005), north-northeast of the Cassiar town site, 100 kilometres north of the community of Dease Lake. The area is underlain by four major thrust sheets, distinguished on McDame Mountain, of the Devonian to Triassic Sylvester Allochthon. These comprise greenstones, argillites, limestones, ultramafites and ultramafic bodies of variable size, shape and form. These bodies of serpentinized peridotites occur along at least three distinct horizons which are probably major thrust fault surfaces. The lowest horizon occurs just above the Sylvester basal thrust fault, and contains a serpentinite thrust slice that hosts the Cassiar (104P 005) and McDame deposits. The ultramafite sheet dips 32 to 50 degrees east under McDame Mountain where it attains a thickness of 300 metres. There are two episodes of faulting postulated with asbestos thought to have formed during the change from normal to dextral motion on a north-trending fault that transects the serpentinite (45 degree shear). The hangingwall of the McDame ultramafite is marked by shearing, serpentinization, chloritization, pods of schistose tremolite, talc soapstone, zoisite, epidote and clay. The footwall is characterized by sheared carbonaceous argillite and gouge. Pyrite and magnetite are disseminated throughout. Chrysotile veining is controlled primarily by the joint system. Joint sets in the serpentinite strike east-northeast and south-southeast. Normal faulting is prominent in an east and northeast direction. The McDame deposit is the downward extension of the Cassiar deposit. Drilling has outlined an east-dipping body of cross-fibre chrysotile ore which thickens towards the east. Reserves have been calculated for a deposit having the approximate dimensions of 540 metres dip length (east-west), 320 metres width (north-south), and 15 to 150 metres thickness. Measured geological reserves are 19.94 million tonnes with a 6.21 per cent mill yield of asbestos; proven reserves with a 6.21 per cent mill yield of asbestos (Princeton Mining Corp. Annual Report 1990). Production at the McDame deposit began in February 1991 after three years of underground development, prompted by declining reserves from open-pit operations at the adjoining Cassiar asbestos mine. Production up to October 1991 totalled 40,000 tonnes (George Cross News Letter No.200, 1991). The ore has averaged 9.2 per cent asbestos fibre, suggesting overall grade is higher than expected (Northern Miner - February 11, 1991). High quality asbestos underground reserves in the McDame deposit were estimated at 16 million tonnes (10 years of production) in 1989 (P. Wojdak, personal communication, 1994). EMPR ASS RPT 15702, 16776 EMPR OF 1989-9; 1992-1; 1992-3; 1992-9; 1995-25; 1996-11 EMPR INF CIRC 1986-1, pp. 26,87; 1987-1, pp. 9,75; 1988-1, p. 73; 1989-1, p. 18; 1990-1, pp. 25,28; 1991-1, p. 40 EMPR FIELDWORK 1979, pp. 80-88; 1987, pp. 245-248; 1988, pp. 323-337 EMPR MINING 1975-1980, p. 41; 1981-1985, p. 52; 1986-1987, p. 78; 1988, p. 78 EMPR ENG INSP Annual Report 1989, 1990 EMPF PF (Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, March 1988; Cassiar Mining Corporation, date unknown; Cassiar Mining Corp. Annual Report 1987; Press Releases, Mar.17,21, Apr.25, May 30, June 16, Jul.19,27, 1988; First Quarter Report to Shareholders, May 1988, Cassiar Mining Corp.; Cassiar Mining Corporation Annual Reports 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 (excerpts) in 104P 005 - Cassiar File) EMPR EXPL 1988-B173-176 EMPR BULL 83 EMPR MP MAP 1992-13 GSC MEM 194; 319 GSC MAP 381A; 1110A GSC OF 2779 GCNL #174, 1984; #26,#78,#158, 1985; #37, #125, #217, 1986; #230, 1989; *#14, #200, 1991 N MINER Sept.13, 1984; Apr.25, 1985; June 16, Nov.24, 1986; Jan.2, 1989; Jan.15,22, May 14, Aug.30, 1990; Feb.11, Mar.18,25, Apr.1, May 13, Oct.7,28, 1991; Feb. 1,17, Mar.30, 1992 N MINER MAGAZINE Vol.4, No.11 (Nov. 1990) MINING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA Jan/Feb 1991, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 8-11 Burgoyne, A.A. (1985): CIM Annual General Meeting, April 22, 1985 Geology and Exploration, McDame Asbestos Deposit, Cassiar, B.C. (also in Property File) Harms, T.A. (1986): Structural and Tectonic analysis of the Sylvester Allochthon, Northern British Columbia: Implications for Paleogeography Accretion, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Arizona Falconbridge File EMPR PFD 900011, 904279, 20345, 20346, 20347, 20348, 810334, 810283, 752222, 752228, 752229, 752236, 752237, 752238, 752239, 752240, 752241, 752242, 752243, 752220, 752221, 752223, 752224, 752225, 752226, 752227, 752230, 752231, 752232, 752233, 752234, 752235, 752244, 752245, 752246, 752247, 752248, 752249, 752250, 752251, 752252, 752253, 881668, 675965, 675966, 675967, 675968