The Tow (Brew) occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1650 metres on a northwest-facing slope, west of the Fraser River and approximately 5.3 kilometres southeast of Mount Brew.
The area is underlain by a thick sequence of schistose argillites of the Jurassic-Cretaceous Relay Mountain Group, which have been intruded by porphyritic quartz diorite stocks. A north-trending swarm of vertical to steeply west-dipping micro-quartz diorite/dacite dikes intrude the sediments and the porphyritic quartz diorite. The dikes are cut by a later set of northwest-trending andesite dikes. Practically all mineralization is restricted to the larger two stocks, the northernmost which is referred to as the North zone (this description) and the southernmost or South zone, known as the Spray occurrence (MINFILE 092INW088).
The porphyritic quartz diorite and, to a lesser degree, the enclosing sediments, have undergone multiple episodes of fracturing and related quartz veining. Disseminated pyrrhotite and subordinate pyrite are ubiquitous. Molybdenite and minor chalcopyrite are associated with the quartz stockwork veining. A later set of larger (5- to 160-centimetre), 090 to 130 degree–trending pyrrhotite, pyrite, molybdenite, sphalerite and arsenopyrite-bearing quartz veins cut the porphyritic quartz diorite and the enclosing sediments. Strong stockwork zones are often indicated on surface by a light-yellow stain caused by weathering pyrite or pyrrhotite, which occur in veins, on fractures and as disseminations. Ferrimolybdite has been observed.
An extensive biotite hornfels aureole postdating the porphyry-type mineralization envelopes the intrusion and the sediments. Drillholes reveal zones of intense silicification with accompanying sericitization that totally obscure porphyritic textures and most quartz veinlets.
In 1980(?), samples from the Tow occurrence area are reported to have yielded up to 1.66 grams per tonne gold, whereas another sample, taken approximately 1.2 kilometres to the west-northwest, is reported to have yielded 5.02 grams per tonne gold (Kutluoglu, R. [2020-03-24]: National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Empirical Property, Southern Interior, British Columbia, Canada).
In 2019, rock samples from the occurrence area yielded values of up to 0.558 grams per tonne gold and 0.509 per cent zinc (Kutluoglu, R. [2020-03-24]: National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Empirical Property, Southern Interior, British Columbia, Canada).
Work History
Old claim posts and small trenches that date from the 1960s are evidence of past work.
In 1978 and 1979, geological mapping, geochemical sampling and prospecting were undertaken on the Tow 1-4 claims by Duval International Corporation to evaluate the molybdenum potential. The North (this description) and South (see Spray, MINFILE 092INW088) zone mineralized areas were discovered.
Work completed during 1980 by Duval consisted of geological mapping and geochemical sampling in and near areas of known molybdenite mineralization, the construction of helipads and drill sites, and the excavation of trenches. In 1981 and 1982, two diamond drill holes totalling 450 metres were completed by Duval on the Tow 1 and 2 claims. In 1984, Duval closed their Vancouver office and their claims expired in 1985. The claims were subsequently re-staked as the Spray and Brew claims in 1985 and were optioned to Geostar Mining Corp. and Miramar Energy Corp., who took limited soil and rock geochemical samples in June and July 1986. In 1986, Southern Gold Resources undertook investigative geological examinations and a six-hole, 264-metre diamond drilling program to substantiate Duval's results on the South zone. In 1988, Kerr Addison Mines optioned the Spray property, diamond drilled 746 metres in five holes and completed a geological and geochemical survey.
In 2019, Clarity Gold Corp. completed a program of prospecting, geological mapping and geochemical (rock and soil/talus fines) sampling on the area as the Empirical property.
