The adjoining Winnipeg (Lot 599) and Golden Crown (Lot 600; MINFILE 082ESE032) claims are located 7.5 kilometres east of Greenwood and 3.2 kilometres southeast of Phoenix at the elevation of 1340 metres. Access to the property is 1.2 kilometres east from Hartford Junction by dirt road on an old railway grade.
The Greenwood-Grand Forks area contains Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks, mainly in the greenschist facies of regional metamorphism, intruded by Mesozoic plutons and unconformably overlain by Tertiary volcaniclastic and flow rocks. The pre-Tertiary stratiform rocks are contained in a series of five, north-dipping thrust slices with bounding faults that are marked in many places by layers and lenses of deformed serpentinite. These thrust slices lie above high-grade metamorphic complexes.
The Upper Paleozoic rocks in the Greenwood area are Knob Hill Group chert, greenstone and related diorite and serpentinite and Attwood Group dark-grey argillite, limestone and minor volcanic rocks. They are unconformably overlain by Brooklyn Formation clastic sedimentary rocks, limestone and largely submarine pyroclastic breccias and related dioritic intrusions. These rocks probably formed in an environment of growth faulting and explosive volcanism (Open File 1990-25).
The distribution of the Tertiary rocks is controlled by a complicated array of extension faults. Three sets are recognized. The oldest are gently east-dipping, at or near the base of the Tertiary. Later, dominantly west-dipping, listric normal faults have caused rotation so that the Tertiary strata dip to the east at moderate angles; the apparent offset on each of the five of these faults is measured in kilometres. The third and latest faults are north to northeast-trending, steeply dipping, strongly hinged and influenced by the earlier faults.
The Golden Crown property is underlain by Knob Hill Group greenstones intruded by Permian or possibly older ‘Old Diorite’. The greenstone ranges from andesite to basalt in composition, and occurs as flows and tuffs. The rocks are locally metamorphosed to greenschist facies with only a weak fabric being developed. All the rocks have been weakly propylitically altered, with chlorite being the predominant alteration mineral.
Regionally, the Old Diorite occurs principally in a narrow belt at the base of the Knob Hill Group. It consists of a coarse-grained hornblende diorite with many crisscrossing light-coloured veins of felsic rock. The coarse-grained phases grade into finer grained diorites and these in turn grade into greenstones of the Knob Hill Group. Pervasive felsic veinlets usually continue through the transition. Dikes and irregular bodies of Old Diorite also intrude the Knob Hill greenstone. The Old Diorite is also closely associated with serpentinite bodies.
The Winnipeg claim is underlain mostly by diorite on the east and greenstones on the west. The claims appear to be traversed by an important southeast-trending fault, off of which the many quartz-filled gash fractures containing the ore might have developed. At least eight known mineralized structures have been identified and are referred to as the King, George, MacArthur, Lynn and/or Ivory, Tiara, Samaritan, Calumet and Centre veins.
Three types of veins have been identified: 1) quartz veins with disseminated pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite; 2) massive sulphide veins of pyrrhotite with lesser amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite and quartz; and 3) quartz-calcite veins containing massive pyrite and chalcopyrite. The first type of vein occurs throughout the property but contains no significant gold values. The second type generally occurs east of the Golden Crown shaft; this type carries the best gold, silver and copper values. The third type of vein occurs west of the Golden Crown shaft. These have been classified as a mesothermal-type vein deposit.
Geophysical interpretation suggests two parallel faults trending north, bounding the area between the Winnipeg shaft and the Golden Crown shaft. The best continuous gold values occur between these two interpreted faults. West of the faults the veins are of the quartz-calcite variety (Assessment Report 20431).
Intermittent production from 1900 to 1940 on the Winnipeg was 53 316 tonnes of ore yielding 363 kilograms of gold, 1137 kilograms of silver, 86 tonnes of copper, and 0.17 tonne of lead. An additional 2488 tonnes of ore was mined from the Golden Crown. Production from 1910 to 1912 is reported in the Annual Reports to have come from the Wellington Group of claims; this likely refers to the Winnipeg.
The Winnipeg and Golden Crown claims were staked in 1891. By 1897, both properties had undergone vigorous development. The Winnipeg was Crown granted to D. McIntosh in 1896. A number of small copper and gold bearing quartz veins were found. At this time a crosscut adit was collared to intercept five of the most interesting veins. No. 2 vein, exposed on top of the hill, was a prime target and cut for 85 metres at a depth of 24 metres. A shaft was then sunk 18 metres on No. 2 vein, which was 3 to 50 centimetres wide and consisted of decomposed quartz and the sulphides from which high gold assays had been obtained. The enclosing country rock was also somewhat mineralized and yielded gold values. No. 3 is a small vein of quartz and sulphides exposed in a cut 10 metres south of No. 2 vein. Nearby No. 5 vein, the site of the second shaft, is approximately 1 metre wide and composed of quartz, pyrrhotite and copper and iron pyrite carrying high gold values. At least three other shafts and a number of trenches are reported on the adjoining Hard Cash (L.1062) and J. and R. Fraction (L.1059) Crown grants.
On the Winnipeg, the main shaft was developed on a vein that appeared to be aligned with the No. 4 vein, exposed 100 metres to the northwest on the Golden Crown claim. By 1899, the Winnipeg shaft was sunk to a depth of approximately 90 metres with levels begun at 30-metre intervals. Total underground development by 1903 on the Winnipeg claim amounted to approximately 1370 lineal metres; near the end of mine operations in 1912 it was estimated that there was more than 5000 metres of tunnelling completed. In 1943, Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting & Power Co. Ltd. examined the property.
In 1963, an aerial photo lineament study was completed on the area. In 1967, Sabina Mines Ltd. and Scurry-Rainbow Oil Limited initiated geophysical work followed by 1652 metres of diamond drilling in 16 holes. In 1977 and 1978, a small amount of drilling (two holes of 317 and 769 metres, respectively) was done by Golden Crown Syndicate and Con Am Resources Ltd. A drillhole (78-7 or G.C. No. 7), located south of the MacArthur shaft, yielded 30.1 grams per tonne gold, 38.6 grams per tonne silver and 1.64 per cent copper over 5.1 metres of core with a true width of 1.8 metres (Property File - Con-Am Resources Ltd. [1978-12-12]: News Clipping - Drilling and exploration - Golden Crown property).
In 1979, Consolidated Boundary Exploration Limited drilled an additional two holes, totalling 329 metres, on the property. This work was centred on the Golden Crown vein from the 100 foot level workings, southeast of the Golden Crown shaft and north of the MacArthur shaft.
During 1983 through 1986 the property was drilled under option to Grand Forks Mines Ltd. and several mineralized zones, including the Centre vein, were discovered. During 1987 through 1989, additional drilling and underground development was done by the company, now known as Attwood Gold Corporation. In 1990, Attwood undertook a program of surface drilling (34 holes), geochemistry, geophysics and surveyed all identifiable drillhole collars.
In 1987, a resource estimate of 59 840 tonnes grading 15.0 grams per tonne gold, 17.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.66 per cent copper along nine mineralized zones was reported (Property File - Grand Forks Mines Ltd. [1987-12-11]: Statement of Material Facts #151/87). In 1989, an estimated drill-indicated resource was made of 56 850 tonnes averaging 15.26 grams per tonne gold, 17.83 grams per tonne silver and 0.70 per cent copper (Attwood Gold Corporation, Filing Statement, May 31, 1989). These estimates are believed to include the Winnipeg (L.599) occurrence.
In 1996, 11 Crown grants were inadvertently allowed to lapse and reverted back to the Crown, including the Calumet, on which the first 500 metres of the main drift is located. Under regulations in effect at the time, the reverted Crown grants were placed up for auction in June 1997 and were acquired by Donald Rippon for a sum of $28,652. The claims were subsequently transferred to Century Gold. Attwood Gold still held title to the Winnipeg and Golden Crown Crown grants, the two claims that complete the Golden Crown property. Century negotiated a deal with Attwood Gold to acquire a 100% interest in these two remaining claims. In 1998, Century completed a preliminary review of data, followed by a program of grid work, geological mapping, and rock sampling. A trenching program was initiated late in the season.
During 2003 through 2005, Gold City Industries Ltd. completed programs of trenching and diamond drilling on the area as the Greenwood Gold project, which incorporated the Lexington (MINFILE 082ESE041, 042) and Golden Crown (MINFILE 082ESE032, 033) properties. At a cut-off of 6.0 grams per tonne gold equivalent, the Golden Crown (MINFILE 082ESE032) NI compliant indicated resource at the time was 30 700 tonnes grading 17.9 grams per tonne gold and 0.8 per cent copper, or a gold equivalent of 19.7 grams per tonne. At the same cut-off, the inferred resource was 74 200 tonnes grading 12.7 grams per tonne gold and 0.6 per cent copper, or a gold equivalent of 14.0 grams per tonne (News Release, Gold City Industries Ltd., May 17, 2004). This is believed to include the Winnipeg (L.599) occurrence.
In 2006, an updated NI43-101 compliant indicated resource of 105 000 grading 13.78 grams per tonne gold and 0.55 per cent copper, or a gold equivalent of 15.33 grams per tonne at a cut-off of 6.0 grams per tonne gold equivalent was reported for the Golden Crown (MINFILE 082E032) occurrence (Property File - Merit Mining Corp. [2006-10-03]: Press Release - Merit Updates Greenwood Gold Project Resource Base). This is believed to include the Winnipeg (L.599) occurrence.