The Elk (South) occurrence is centred 1.6 kilometres south-southwest of the south end of Siwash Lake and 2.1 kilometres northeast of Elusive Creek.
The occurrence is hosted in the northwest margin of the Middle Jurassic Osprey Lake Batholith, approximately 250 metres east of andesitic volcanics of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group. The intrusion is cut by Negogene(?) andesitic dikes in the vicinity of the occurrence.
Locally, trenching over an 800- by 300-metre area has intersected a zone of erratic quartz veining in altered granite, in association with breccia or intensely argillic-altered andesite dikes. The veins are typically accompanied by halos of weak to strong argillic alteration and yellow-orange iron sulphate (?) staining. The granite itself hosts zones of strong, blue, clay alteration containing fine disseminated pyrite and associated gold values. The occurrence, as interpreted from diamond drilling, contains up to four discrete quartz veins across a width of 125 metres and an overall strike length of 430 metres.
One prominent zone of mineralization consists of a breccia zone containing rounded fragments of granite and andesitic volcanics in a clay-altered matrix. The zone trends 060 degrees, similar to the andesite dikes. A series of quartz veins, 0.5 to 3 centimetres wide and striking 060 to 065 degrees, follows the northern contact of the breccia. The veins contain up to 10 per cent pyrite and variable (usually less than 1 per cent), chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena.
In 1987, a chip sample, taken across a stockwork of quartz veins with 1 to 10 per cent disseminated pyrite and minor arsenopyrite and galena, assayed 36.3 grams per tonne gold and 18.5 grams per tonne silver across 2.8 metres (Property File - Fairfield Minerals Ltd., 1987). Also at this time, a chip sample taken across a clay altered zone in granite assayed 5.93 grams per tonne gold and 12.8 grams per tonne silver over 1.7 metres (Assessment Report 16644, page 13).
In 1989, trenching and stripping on the South zone exposed a northeast-trending mineralized structure hosted in brecciated and clay-altered granite yielding up to 50.03 grams per tonne gold over 0.85 metres from pyritic quartz veins (Assessment Report 19835, pg. 2). Later in the report a value of 23.55 grams per tonne over 0.86 metre is reported (Assessment Report 19835, page 42). Also at this time, panel sampling of trench SS89-7 indicated that the breccia-hosted zone of veining averaged 3.36 grams per tonne gold over a width of 12.0 metres for a strike length of 34 metres (Assessment Report 19835, page 41).
In 1995, drilling yielded intercepts of up to 15.42 grams per tonne gold and 12.8 grams per tonne silver over 0.22 metre in hole SSD95-166 and 34.60 grams per tonne gold over 0.40 metre in hole SSD95-169 (Assessment Report 24374).
In 2010, drilling yielded intercepts including 1.14 grams per tonne gold over 3.2 metres in hole SSD10-003 and 1.04 grams per tonne gold over 7.8 metres in SSD10-004 (Assessment Report 32373).
In 2011, drilling intercepted a quartz breccia zone, up to 0.5 metre wide, yielding values up to 31.7 grams per tonne gold and 73.8 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 34382). The breccia zone is interpretated to strike 060 degrees and dip 40 degrees to the south.
In 2012, diamond drilling expanded the vein zone to the northeast and southwest approximately 40 and 75 metres, respectively, for a total strike length of 430 metres. Drilling to the southwest yielded values from 55.3 grams per tonne gold over 0.85 metre in hole SSD12-246 to 1.39 grams per tonne gold over 9.0 metres in hole SSD12-260 (Assessment Report 34382). Another drillhole (SSD12-226) intercepted three quartz veins in the previous identified breccia zone near the eastern end of the occurrence area and yielded 8.01 grams per tonne gold and 14.4 grams per tonne silver over 15.75 metres, including 230 grams per tonne gold and 31.1 grams per tonne silver over 0.5 metre (Assessment Report 34382).
Work History
The area has been historically explored in conjunction with the nearby Elk (MINFILE 092HNE096) occurrence and a complete exploration history of the area can be found there.
The occurrence was initially uncovered in a series of hand trenches excavated by Fairfield Minerals Ltd. in 1986. The company conducted various geophysical, geological and soil geochemical surveys in 1987, in addition to 975 metres of trenching. Placer Dome Inc. completed additional geophysical surveys and excavated eight trenches totalling 481 metres in 1989. During 1991 through 2000, Fairfield Minerals completed programs of prospecting, geological mapping, diamond drilling and geochemical sampling on the area. During 2002 through 2012, Almaden Minerals completed programs of geological mapping, geochemical sampling, ground geophysical surveys and 24 diamond drill holes, totalling 2895.8 metres. In 2019, a 1108 line-kilometre airborne magnetometer survey was completed on the Elk Gold property. In late 2020 and early 2021, Gold Mountain Mining Corp. completed 42 diamond drill holes on the Elk Gold property. This work centred on the 2500 zone and adjacent veins of the Siwash North (MINFILE 092HNE096) deposit.
