The Diamond Hitch occurrence is situated approximately 700 kilometres east of the Granby River, 17 kilometres north of Grand Forks.
The Diamond Hitch property is situated within a belt of Devonian to Permian rocks immediately west of the fault contact with a Proterozoic gneiss complex (Grand Forks Gneiss). The northerly trending Granby River Fault is inferred to be the eastern margin of the Republic Graben, a fault-bounded package of rocks that extends north from Washington State. The Paleozoic rocks consist primarily of greenstone, chert argillite and limestone of the Knob Hill Group. Undivided sedimentary rocks of the Triassic Brooklyn Formation underlie the area just south of the prospect. Intruding the stratigraphy are granitic plutons of the Jurassic Nelson Intrusions and dikes, sills and intrusions of the Eocene Coryell Plutonic Suite, which are syenitic to monzonitic in composition.
Mineralization at the Diamond Hitch consists primarily of semimassive to massive sulphides in altered (chlorite-epidote) metavolcanics and metasediments of the Knob Hill Group. Evidence indicates the prospect is spatially related to the contact zones of the Coryell Intrusions and was likely formed as hydrothermal replacements and fracture fillings in the sheared hostrocks. Sulphide mineralogy consists primarily of pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite.
Limited sampling at the Diamond Hitch indicates that copper and associated gold values continue east from the trench area drilled in the 1980s. One of the 1983 holes yielded 0.73 metre averaging 48 grams per tonne gold and 4.11 grams per tonne gold over 3.7 metres (Assessment Report 12123). The style of mineralization is reported to be very similar to that of the Pathfinder (MINFILE 082ESE075), 1 kilometre to the northeast.
In 1897, the Diamond Hitch, owned by F. Ralston et al., was described as having considerable solid pyrrhotite and was being worked by five men. Some ore was mined in 1897 under the name of Hunter, Kendrick and Company. In 1900, the Diamond Hitch (Lot 1684) was Crown granted to Mammoth & Diamond Hitch Consolidated Gold Mining Company.
In 1917, a new company, Pathfinder Consolidated Mining Company, was formed to work the Pathfinder (MINFILE 082ESE075) and Little Bertha claims: The Iron Bell and Derby claims were subsequently added to the company holdings. Intermittent work by the company was confined to the Little Bertha claim, where a crosscut adit was begun in 1919; by 1932, the adit had been extended to 1000 feet. Leasers worked the Little Bertha claim from 1937 to 1939.
Exploration in the 1960s by Hecla Mining Co. and Alwin Mining Co. consisted of trenching, reopening adits and completing at least 12 diamond drill holes (Alwin). Only passing reference to this work is reported.
In 1980, Aries Resources Inc. optioned the property and conducted exploration around the main workings at Pathfinder, Diamond Hitch and Little Bertha. Three short holes were drilled on the Little Bertha vein zone with limited success. In 1980, Dolmage, Campbell and Associate conducted geological mapping between Pathfinder and Hornet creeks.
In 1982, property owner George Nakade drilled one hole in the Diamond Hitch area.
Nu-Lady Gold Mines Ltd. optioned the property in 1983. Exploration between 1983 and 1985 focused on the sulphide-rich mineralized zones at Diamond Hitch (1983 to 1984) and Pathfinder (1985) and consisted mainly of shallow diamond drilling. Five of the seven holes drilled on the Diamond Hitch were closely spaced over a 50-metre strike length.
In 1987 to 1988, an exploration program by Ber Resources Ltd. was followed up with magnetic, very low-frequency electromagnetic, soil and geological surveys and further trenching. This work was mainly in the eastern property area on the Pathfinder trend.
Two programs were completed on the property by Niagara Developments in 1992 and 1994. The earlier work consisted of a very low-frequency electromagnetic survey in the Little Bertha area. The latter featured a fairly detailed ground magnetic survey over the eastern Pathfinder trend.
Cassidy Gold Corp. held an option on the Pathfinder property between 1996 and 1999. Much of Cassidy’s exploration effort focused on the area between the Little Bertha and Pathfinder workings. The primary target was high-grade gold (silver)-bearing mesothermal quartz veins similar to the Little Bertha. Massive sulphide and skarn zones were secondary targets. Exploration in 1996 consisted of grid preparation, soil and rock sampling, geological mapping and grid geophysical surveys (magnetic, very low-frequency electromagnetic, induced polarization). Cassidy dropped the option in 1999.
In 2000, Conlon Resources Corp. explored the property through grid preparation, soil geochemical surveying, geological mapping, prospecting and sampling, mainly in the new Pathfinder grid area.
In 2008, Kingsman Resources Inc. sampled from two trenches in the Diamond Hitch zone. Samples 189405 and 189406 in trench TRPF08-13 returned 6.38 grams per tonne gold and 337 parts per million copper over 2.3 metres. Trenching generally indicates a close correlation between gold and copper (Assessment Report 30500).
In October 2008, Kingsman Resources Inc. drilled two diamond drill holes totalling 107.6 metres, exploring mineralization exposed in trenches. Drilling encountered narrow gold intercepts related to subtly mineralized calcareous siltstones, the best of which returned 0.98 gram per tonne gold over 6.5 metres in drillhole PF08-16. Unlike the nearby Pathfinder occurrence (MINFILE 082ESE075), gold and copper are not well correlated (Assessment Report 31006).
In 2009, the property was examined by Drs. Gerry Ray and Bob Thompson, who suggested a high potential for Rossland-style gold-silver-copper mineralization based on several geological similarities (Press Release, Kingsman Resources Inc., February 17, 2010).
In 2010, Kingsman Resources Inc. released tellurium results for samples from low-grade dumps, rock piles and an erratic float boulder on the property. In the Diamond Hitch area, the highest values include sample 90829.09, with 524 parts per billion gold and 111 parts per million tellurium (Press Release, Kingsman Resources Inc., March 12, 2010).
