The April (Jim) area is underlain by Carboniferous to Permian Attwood Group rocks and Triassic Brooklyn Formation rocks that are intruded by diorite and granodiorite of the Jurassic to Cretaceous Nelson Intrusions.
High copper values were obtained from a sample of silky, very fine-grained, finely banded massive sulphides from an old trench in the Jim area. Mineralization occurs in Attwood rocks, at a cherty volcanic-limestone contact, and is suggestive of a VMS origin, rather than a skarn origin as most previous workers have interpreted. Tofino Mines Ltd. conducted a short program of mapping and a ground magnetometer surveying over the Jim area late in 1977. The old workings were sampled and massive magnetite mineralization with pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pyrite was sampled and yielded up to 1.58 per cent copper (Assessment Report 25308).
Work in the Jim area is known go back to as early as 1896.
The April claim group was staked in 1976 and covered the Jim area as well as ground to the east and north (see Wolfard, MINFILE 082ESE206). These claims were optioned to Tofino Mines Ltd (which later became Banqwest Resources Ltd.). Tofino/Banqwest carried out a significant amount of geological, geochemical and geophysical work during the period of 1976 to 1984.
During the period from 1979 to 1982, Banqwest Resources Ltd. carried out soil and rock sampling plus ground magnetometry over a number of isolated grids on the property. Rayner (1984) also postulated a volcanogenic massive sulfide origin for massive sulfide occurrences in the Jim area, rather than the previously accepted skarn model. The April property lapsed in the mid-1980s.
Vikon International Resources Inc. completed a program of gridding, rock sampling, geological mapping and follow-up trenching during 1987 (Sookccoff et al., 1987). Six different "showings" are described, as well as the Overlander vein. The showings are poorly referenced in terms of position on the ground but all appear to be within the Jim haul road area. Vikon’s "Showing 1" corresponds to the Jim workings. Twenty-nine samples were collected by Vikon in this area and values up to 1.1 grams per tonne gold and 1.5 per cent copper were reported from a 1 metre channel sample across a north-trending sulfide zone in a new trench (Assessment Report 25308). A grab sample from a “sulfide-rich quartz vein” on the dump of one of the workings, Vikon’s "Showing 2" to the west of the haul road, assayed 3.3 grams per tonne gold. Two very minor, incomplete and inconclusive follow-up geochemical (soil and rock) sampling programs were completed by Vikon in the upper reaches of May Creek in 1994 and 1995.
During 1996 and 1997, Donald Rippon staked many claims in the area and optioned them to Century Gold Corp. as the Royal Attwood property. Century Gold’s Royal Attwood property was larger than the property by the same name held in 2004 by Comcorp Ventures Inc, and included additional claims to the north, west and east of Comcorp’s property. During 1997, Century Gold Corp. completed a program of grid work (approximately 100 line-kilometres); soil, silt, and rock geochemistry; geophysics (ground magnetometry) and limited geological mapping. Almost 4000 soil samples were collected from the property. At least five rock samples were taken in the Jim area.
In 2010, Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. optioned the property from Donald Rippon, and in the same year signed an agreement to option 50 per cent of its interests to Hi Ho Silver Resources Inc.
In 2011, Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. conducted an exploration program of geological mapping, rock and stream sediment sampling, IP and EM geophysical surveys and a single diamond drillhole. Highlights of the rock sampling include sample 11CGP072, which assayed 10.86 per cent zinc, 5.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.52 per cent lead, and sample 11CHP015, which assayed 4.8 per cent copper and 27.8 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 33111). Also, at this time, a sample (11RGP001) from the area assayed 24.1 grams per tonne silver and 3.40 per cent copper (Dufresne, M. (2013-11-25): Technical Report for the Greenwood Gold Project).
See Wolfard (MINFILE 082ESE206) for further details of the area’s geology and history.
