The Brett Gossan showing is situated on the steep north slope of Whiteman Creek Valley, on the western side of Okanagan Lake, immediately north of Kelowna and 29 kilometres west of Vernon. The Gossan zone is located approximately 1 kilometre northeast of the Main Shear zone (MINFILE 082LSW110) on the eastern portion of the Brett #1 claim.
In this area, Devonian to Triassic sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Harper Ranch Group are intruded by Middle Jurassic granitic rocks. Eocene Penticton Group or Kamloops Group volcanic rocks overlie the igneous and sedimentary rocks. Eocene Coryell rhyodacite porphyry to syenite plugs and dikes intrude these rocks.
The eastern half of the Brett property is underlain by Jurassic or Cretaceous granitic rocks of the Okanagan Batholith. On the western portion of the property, a 500-metre-thick sequence of nearly flat-lying Tertiary (mostly Eocene) volcanics overlies the Okanagan Batholith rocks. All significant gold showings on the property have been found within the Eocene volcanics. Much of the volcanic sequence consists of amygdaloidal andesite with minor (less than 20 metres thick) basalt flows and tuffaceous horizons ranging from 2 to 40 metres thick. The volcanic stratigraphy can be divided into an upper and lower sequence. The upper sequence consists of thick, massive feldspar porphyritic flows and tuffs believed to be of Miocene age. No significant mineralization has been identified in the upper sequence. The lower sequence consists of a series of water-lain tuffs, flows and coarse andesite to basalt fragmentals. Gold mineralization usually occurs in zones of polymictic tuff that mark the contacts between units, especially coarse fragmental or tuffaceous member contacts. The inter-unit contact zones vary in thickness from 0.2 to 5 metres and occur throughout the stratigraphy.
The Brett deposit has been categorized as a classic epithermal deposit that has been cut by a series of northwest- and northeast-trending shears. Numerous northwest-striking, steeply dipping shear zones that vary in thickness from a few centimetres to several metres occur on the property. At least some of the northwest-striking structures formed postmineralization and are not associated with the main mineralizing event.
A large, structurally controlled silicified zone in andesite of the Penticton Group hosts gold and silver mineralization. The 300-metre-long by 50-metre-thick zone strikes northerly and dips moderately westward. The zone lies just west of Middle Jurassic granitic rocks. Finely disseminated pyrite, oxidized to limonite, occurs in the silicified, feldspathized and clay-altered zone and produces a distinct colouration. The zone is strongly altered, bleached and silicified. Alteration has obscured most of the original lithologies, though vague breccia fragments appear to resemble fine-grained and sometimes porphyritic volcanic rocks. Several northerly-trending feldspar porphyry dikes intrude the Gossan zone.
In 1939, A. Brewer, a prospector from Vernon, discovered auriferous quartz veins in the Okanagan Batholith on the current Brett #2 claim, approximately 1 kilometre east of what is now termed the high-grade section of the Main Shear zone. Sporadic work, including hand trenching and blasting, was carried out on what is now known as the Brewer showing (MINFILE 082LSW047).
In 1983, Charles Brett encountered significant concentrations of angular gold when panning the subsidiary tributaries of Whiteman Creek. Brett subsequently staked the Brett claim group to cover the Gossan zone and the previously identified mineralized quartz veins (MINFILE 082LSW047), conducting a preliminary heavy mineral silt sampling program. Later that year, ownership of the group was transferred to Huntington Resources Inc., who hired engineer J.M. Dawson to evaluate the claim area. The Gossan zone was considered to have precious metal hosting potential and was recommended for further work. In 1984, Huntington conducted a detailed geochemical sampling program. Samples collected from the Gossan zone returned sporadic anomalous gold and silver values. Further analysis revealed elevated arsenic and mercury values at the western margin of the Gossan zone. In 1985, Huntington staked the Brett #3 and #4 claims to cover areas of favourable geology and possible northern extensions of the Main Shear and Gossan zones. That same year, prospecting and geochemical sampling programs identified anomalous gold concentrations in soils and scattered high-grade gold values in quartz float. Road construction in the area uncovered a steeply dipping shear zone approximately 2 metres wide, referred to as the Main Shear zone. A significant quartz vein, the RW vein, was also exposed during road construction.
In 1986, 16 NQ diamond drill holes totalling 795 metres were completed. Drilling focused on the recently discovered Main Shear zone and RW vein and identified 25 intersections with greater than 6 grams per tonne gold or visible gold in the core (Assessment Report 32979). In 1987, a joint venture between Huntington Resources Inc. and Lancana Mining Corporation (later known as Corona Corporation) completed 32 NQ diamond drill holes totalling 2900 metres. That year, trenching and limited diamond drilling were completed on the Gossan zone. Four diamond drill holes were completed over a 136-metre strike length and returned low to background gold values. Detailed geochemical sampling east of Brett Creek yielded anomalous gold values in the New Discovery zone (MINFILE 082LSW131), a zone similar to the Main Shear zone. In 1988, 5737.3 metres of diamond drilling and 2834.7 metres of reverse circulation drilling were completed on the property. One reverse circulation hole was completed in the Gossan zone and returned low to background gold values. In 1989, a two-phase drilling program was completed. Surface sampling of siliceous breccia cut by a vuggy quartz vein stockwork assayed up to 6 grams per tonne gold and 9.9 grams per tonne silver, although the average grade is much lower (Property File, Miller, 1989).
In late 1991, the Beaton/Vicore Mining Contracting Group was offered the mining rights to the property, and Vicore commissioned Egil Livgard, P.Eng., to evaluate its high-grade section. Livgard provided a drill-indicated mineral resource estimate for the property of 12 000 tonnes, averaging 39.4 grams per tonne gold (non-NI 43-101 compliant; Assessment Report 32979); however, the Beaton/Vicore group could not raise financing and the project did not progress.
In 1993, an agreement was signed between Huntington and Liquid Gold Resources Ltd. whereby 24 trenches were excavated to bedrock and sampled along the Main Shear zone. Assays identified several areas with excellent potential. In November 1993, Liquid Gold followed up the assay results by drilling 19 reverse circulation drill holes into the RW vein and Bonanza zone. During the winter of 1993 to 1994, a new road was established to a portal site and buildings were installed to support underground development, which began in late November 1994 and continued until February 10, 1995. During this period, 360 metres of underground development were completed and approximately 1400 tonnes of mineralized development muck with an estimated average grade of 4 to 5 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 25964) was stockpiled; however, Huntington terminated the agreement with Liquid Gold. Shortly after, Vicore Mining Developments Ltd. placed a lien against the property due to unpaid bills for underground development work completed between 1994 and 1995.
In 1995, Huntington Resources Ltd. concentrated work on mining in the high-grade RW gold vein. In 1995 and 1996, Huntington Resources Inc. excavated pits over a 115-metre length of the RW Vein and a 55-metre length of the Trench-21 section of the Main Shear zone. Approximately 291 tonnes of ore was produced from the pits. The ore was shipped to the Cominco smelter at Trail for processing. An average grade of 27.74 grams per tonne gold and 63.7 grams per tonne silver was recovered at the smelter (Assessment Report 32979).
The lien placed by Vicore Mine Development Ltd. against the property went to court in mid-1998; in December 1998, Vicore was awarded a 100 per cent interest in the Brett property.
In 1999, Vicore Mine Development Ltd. hired Wayne M. Ash to conduct a general assessment of the property. Two years later, Vicore Mine Development Ltd. carried out a small soil and rock geochemical survey over the Brett #1 claim, identifying several areas of anomalous molybdenum, copper, lead and nickel.
In 2004, the Brett property was acquired by Mosquito Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd. (a subsidiary of Vicore Mine Development Ltd.) and a 50 per cent option was granted to Running Fox Resources Corporation. Work that year included soil surveys, trenching, geological mapping, prospecting, road building, staking 52 additional claim units, resampling old core and drilling 2776 metres of NQ core in 17 drillholes. Significant gold-bearing intersections were encountered in 15 of the 17 drillholes; 4659 soil samples were collected over an approximately 15-square-kilometre area. Extensive gold anomalies were identified over a central portion of the area, including five values in excess of 0.5 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 32979). This work resulted in the discovery of several new soil anomalies and mineralized zones and provided valuable information on the distribution, geology and controls of mineralization on the property.
In 2011, Running Fox Resources Corporation became the sole owner of the Brett property. That same year, Running Fox completed 13 NQ2 diamond drill holes totalling 1218 metres on the northern portion of the property. Drilling efforts focused on a structural alteration zone discovered during reconnaissance mapping. Results of the drilling indicated that the targeted zone was most likely not part of the main gold-bearing system.
During 2014 through 2016, the area was held and explored by Ximen Mining Corp. as the Brett Gold property and a complete summary of exploration work can be found at the Brett (MINFILE 082LSW110) occurrence.
