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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  30-Jul-1997 by Keith J. Mountjoy (KJM)

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NMI
Name MONEY SPINNER, FIRE MOUNTAIN, INFERNO, FM, RES, MONEYSPINNER Mining Division New Westminster
BCGS Map 092G089
Status Prospect NTS Map 092G16W
Latitude 049º 51' 23'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 122º 23' 45'' Northing 5522839
Easting 543428
Commodities Gold, Copper, Silver Deposit Types I06 : Cu+/-Ag quartz veins
Tectonic Belt Coast Crystalline Terrane Gambier
Capsule Geology

The Money Spinner occurrence is situated on the southwest flank of Fire Mountain at 1524 metres elevation above Fire Lake, 21.5 kilometres northwest of the northwest end of Harrison Lake.

The Money Spinner is the most important of a cluster of copper- gold quartz vein mineral occurrences on the southwestern flank of Fire Mountain. A 90.72 kilogram test shipment was sent to San Fransico in 1897, with another 1360 tonnes stockpiled (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1897, page 579). A Huntingdon quartz mill was also erected on the property but found to be inadequate to crush the hard rock. A number of other production attempts were made in the 1930s. In 1938, clean-up of the stamp mill resulted in 6750 grams of gold and 1524 grams of silver. In the 1970s and 1980s, the area was explored for its base metal potential. In 1983, a number of very low frequency electromagnetic and high magnetic anomalies were outlined over Fire Mountain. Kidd Creek Mines also outlined a number of stream sediment anomalies. In 1987, Plaskey Development Enterprises conducted a prospecting program over part of the property and discovered a strongly pyrite-clay-silica-altered gossanous zone. In 1990, Burmin Resources entered into a joint venture with Plaskey Development Enterprises. Geological mapping and geochemical sampling were conducted. In 1991, a follow-up program was carried out.

Regionally, the Money Spinner showing is hosted in a belt of volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Lower Cretaceous Fire Lake Group, which extends northwest from Harrison Lake for 40 kilometres. The Fire Lake Group is an island arc sequence preserved in a roof pendant, which occurs mostly west of the Lillooet River near the eastern margin of the Jurassic to Cretaceous Coast Plutonic Complex. The assemblage has been subjected to thrust faulting, large amplitude folding and regional metamorphism up to greenschist facies. Immediately to the east of the Money Spinner occurrence in the Lillooet Valley, the Harrison Lake shear zone and related structures are interpreted as important mineral controlling structure.

The Peninsula and Brokenback Hill formations of the Fire Lake Group are recognized at the Money Spinner showing. The Peninsula Formation consists of a lower conglomerate and upper interbedded arkose and pyritic slate. The overlying Brokenback Hill Formation consists of four lithological units. The lowest unit is composed of interbedded feldspar crystal tuff with slate or phyllite. This unit is overlain by andesitic to intermediate volcanic rocks, which are in turn overlain by coarse grained volcaniclastic sandstone. Pyroclastic rocks dominated by lapilli tuffs comprise the remaining unit. These rocks have been affected by three phases of deformation.

A banded fissure vein, 0.9 to 1.3 metres wide, strikes 170 to 182 degrees for at least 300 metres and dips 40 to 65 degrees west. The vein cuts volcaniclastic sandstone and feldspathic greywacke 'porphyritic greenstone' of the Brokenback Hill Formation. The vein is occasionally cut by porphyritic dikes.

The Money Spinner vein is composed of layers of white quartz, 0.5 to 2.5 centimetres wide, separated by thin partings of sheared, blue to black chlorite. The quartz is locally intergrown with calcite and dolomite. Mineralization consists of variable amounts of chalcopyrite with traces of bornite and native gold. Malachite staining is present. The vein and layer margins are strongly slickensided giving the impression that veins and mineralization are fracture/shear controlled.

A chip sample taken across a 0.9 metre width assayed 5.5 grams per tonne gold (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1934, page F16). A 90 kilogram bulk sample averaged 127 grams per tonne gold (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1897, page 579). Two surface samples were taken in 1991. Sample 50704, from malachite stained quartz, yielded 0.21 gram per tonne gold, 2.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.35 per cent copper (Assessment Report 21735).

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1897-578, 579; 1898-1151; 1899-811; 1900-935,936,940; 1901-1232; 1920-220; 1921-231; 1930-314; *1934-F15,F16
EMPR ASS RPT 11796, 21036, *21735
EMPR BC METAL MM00224
EMPR FIELDWORK 1980, pp. 165-184; 1984, pp. 42-53; *1985, pp. 120-131
EMPR INDEX 3-206
EMPR PF (*Richmond, A.M. (1935): Preliminary Report on the Property of the Money Spinner Gold Mines Ltd., with accompanying claim sheet maps)
GSC MAP 1069A; 1151A
GSC MEM 335, pp. 42-44,191,192
GSC OF 2203
GSC P 86-1B, pp. 699-706; 89-1E, pp. 177-187; 90-1E, pp. 183-195, 197-204; 90-1F, pp. 95-107
Arthur, A. (1987): Mesozoic Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the West Side Of Harrison Lake, Southwestern British Columbia, unpublished M.Sc. thesis, University of British Columbia
Ditson, G.M. (1978): Metallogeny of the Vancouver-Hope Area, British Columbia, unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, University of British Columbia

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