The BW showing is located on a western slope of Aaron Hill, near the head waters of Little McPhee Creek, roughly 8.0 kilometres east of Castlegar. The showing was discovered in 2009 by Swift Resources Inc. as a part of its Amazing Grace project. The showing is the site of a caved historic adit or open cut with a modest sized dump pile of quartz vein material.
Regionally, the area is underlain by granite and granodiorite of the Late to Middle Jurassic Nelson Intrusions and small areas of volcanic rocks of the Lower Jurassic Elise Formation (Rossland Group).
Locally, the property covers a portion of the multi-phase Bonnington pluton, which has intruded sedimentary, volcanic and subvolcanic rocks of the Jurassic Rossland Group. These older rocks occur as embayments, pendants, and possible fault slices within the pluton, and are typically metamorphosed with relic textures preserved only locally. An east- to southeast- trending pendant of mafic volcanics and subvolcanic intrusive, belonging to the Rossland Group (Elise Formation), occurs in the central part of the property.
The most prominent structural feature on the property are late-stage (Eocene) faults. Large zones of intense alteration (sericitic, argillic, carbonate, silica) occur along northwest trending normal faults, with gold-bearing quartz veins along and in the hangingwall of these structures.
The BW vein is not exposed at surface but dump material suggests the vein consists of quartz mineralized with fine grey banded sulphides of galena, pyrite, arsenopyrite and sphalerite; hosted in chlorite-sericite altered met sediments. Samples of vein material, from the former dump, have returned up to 1000.6 grams per tonne gold, 531.5 grams per tonne silver, 7.0 per cent lead and 0.6 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 31929). In 2011, trenching exposed a mineralized quartz vein, grading 31.25 grams per tonne gold over a true width of 0.5 metre (Press Release - Swift Resources Inc., September 27, 2011). Two drill holes performed later the same year, failed to intersect the vein.
The Curt Gold showing, 400 metres east of the BW vein, is a zone of quartz flooding and stock working veinlets occurring in sheared, sericite-chlorite altered, pyrite-arsenopyrite bearing metasediments.. Elevated gold values, up to 4.36 grams per tonne gold, were obtained from samples collected (Assessment Report 31929).
Less than 100 metres to the south, tungsten-molybdenum skarn mineralization is seen in outcrop, known as the Scheelite zone. Locally, pyrite and pyrrhotite is present as clots, veinlets, and fine-grained disseminations. Values up to 0.254 per cent molybdenum and 0.106 per cent tungsten were obtained from samples collected (Assessment Report 31929). In 2011, a12-metre zone was exposed by trenching. Samples across the zone returning an average grade of 0.2 per cent tungsten, including a two-metre interval that graded 0.71 per cent tungsten (Press Release - Swift Resources Inc., September 27, 2011).
Approximately 450 metres northwest of the BW showing, the Mercy showing is another area of narrow quartz-filled shear zones in hornfelsed sediments. One 0.5 by 0.5 metre exposure of white, low-sulphide, returned 15.3 grams per tonne gold. The vein contacts cannot be seen and its size and orientation are unknown. Nearby a 30 centimetre shear zone with quartz returned 8.4 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 31929).
Work History
Previous work in the area has been centered on the Maud S. and Meister (MINFILE 082FSW325) showings 2.5 kilometres to the south.
Firestone ventures optioned the property in 2004 and in 2005 completed a program of prospecting, rock and soil sampling and geological mapping. In 2007 and 2008, Medallion Resources examined the property and completed a helicopter-borne mag-AeroTEM-radiometric survey and soil sampling.
During 2009 through 2011, Cassidy Gold and Swift Minerals completed programs of prospecting, soil sampling, geological mapping, three diamond drill holes, totalling 147 metes, and 147 metres of trenching on the area. A chip sample (5366) from trench TR-11-08 located on the BW zone assayed 31.25 grams per tonne gold, 57.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.790 per cent lead over 0.5 metre; chip samples (5323 and 5325) from trench TR-1105 located on the Curt Gold zone yielded 2.53 and 1.29 grams per tonne gold over 1.00 and 1.20 metres, respectively, while a chip and a channel sample (5334 and 5373) from trench TR-11-06 located on the Scheelite zone assayed 1.34 and 0.41 grams per tonne gold with 0.50 and 0.16 per cent tungsten over 1.00 and 3.00 metres, respectively (Dandy, L. (2018-05-25): Technical Report on the Cobalt Hill Property)
During 2012 through 2018, the area was prospected by B. Doyle. Later in 2018, Walcott Resources Ltd. completed a program of ground geophysical surveys on the area as the Cobalt Hill property.
