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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  25-Apr-2019 by Karl A. Flower (KAF)

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NMI 092I6 Cu1
Name VICTOR, SKEENA, SKEENA COPPER, DIVIDE COPPER Mining Division Kamloops
BCGS Map 092I045
Status Past Producer NTS Map 092I06E
Latitude 050º 27' 42'' UTM 10 (NAD 83)
Longitude 121º 01' 11'' Northing 5591836
Easting 640552
Commodities Copper, Silver Deposit Types L04 : Porphyry Cu +/- Mo +/- Au
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Quesnel
Capsule Geology

The Victor occurrence is located on the south side of Highland Valley and northeast of the Lornex (MINFILE 092ISW045) open-pit, at an elevation of 1433 metres.

The area is underlain by early Jurassic–late Triassic Guichon Creek Batholith intrusives, primarily Skeena variety, coarse-grained quartz diorite and granodiorite. An Eocene hornblende plagioclase porphyry dike is found in both fault and volcanic flow contacts to the north of the showings. In the Skeena rocks, mafic minerals are weakly chloritized and plagioclase has mild argillic alteration. The north- trending, west -dipping Lornex fault is approximately 1 kilometre to the west.

In the Victor open pit, two fault sets predominate; one strikes 020 to 030 degrees and dips moderately, the other set is younger, strikes 150 to 175 degrees and dips generally northeast. Joints have three dominant trends; two are sub-parallel to the faults, the third strikes 050 degrees and dips 88 degrees northwest. Joint faces are coated with epidote, quartz-epidote, epidote-chlorite and chlorite.

Along the western side of the pit, quartz diorite is cut by a 30-metre wide, north-northeast–trending, sheared, veined and pervasively oxidized zone. Early development indicated this zone was 90 metres wide with a 022 degree strike and a moderate east dip. A quartz vein within the fault zone ranges in width from several centimetres to almost 2.5 metres and hosts disseminations of pyrite and chalcopyrite and, locally, pods of massive sulphide. The quartz vein strikes 348 degrees with a low to moderate east dip. Sericite, chlorite and carbonate alteration occurs within the fault zone as well as in seams and grains of pyrite and chalcopyrite and silicified remnants of country rock.

In the present pit, an oxidized gossan contains nearly barren quartz lenses; quartz-chalcopyrite veins, of which some are brecciated; and quartz-carbonate veins carrying veinlets and blebs of chalcopyrite. Fractures carry malachite or azurite, and sometimes neotocite, along with iron oxides. Two other northeast- trending oxidized shear zones occur at the eastern end of the pit and are 2 and 7 metres wide, respectively. The country rock is well-jointed and locally cut by a network of faults.

The Victor adit is described as exposing a 0.45 to 1.8-metre-wide quartz vein with pyrite and chalcopyrite that dips 40 degrees to the east-southeast. Native copper is also reported. The vein has been traced for approximately 54 metres underground, 240 metres at surface and 97.5 metres down dip by drilling.

In 1956, underground sampling of the Victor adit yielded 1.47 per cent copper with 17.1 grams per tonne silver over 4.8 metres at the portal mouth, 2.52 per cent copper with 18.8 grams per tonne silver over 5.7 metres from approximately half way between the portal and winze, 2.65 per cent copper with 27.4 grams per tonne silver over 1.8 metres near the winze and 0.15 per cent copper with 10.3 grams per tonne silver over 10.5 metres further down the tunnel (Property File - Skeena Silver Mines Ltd. [1956-05-01]: Plan and Section Map - DDH No. 3 - Victor). Also at this time, a drill hole (No.3) from near the end of the adit yielded 2.67 per cent copper with 29.1 grams per tonne silver over 4.5 metres and 1.33 per cent copper with 25.7 grams per tonne silver over 3 metres from sludge samples, whereas drill cores yielded 1.45 per cent copper with 27.6 grams per tonne silver over 4.95 metres and 0.35 per cent copper with 16.2 grams per tonne silver over 3.15 metres (Property File - Skeena Silver Mines Ltd. [1956-05-01]: Plan and Section Map - DDH No. 3 - Victor).

In 1969, drilling is reported have yielded 0.17 per cent copper over 3 metres in hole S-14, 0.10 per cent copper over 9 metres in hole S-19, 0.12 per cent copper over 6 metres in hole S-30 and 0.18 per cent copper over 3 metres and 0.27 per cent copper over 0.75 metre in hole SK69-8 (Property File - Consolidated Skeena [1969-07-14]: Letter, map and assay for the Lornex option). Core recovery varied from 50 to 80 per cent.

In 1969, a possible resource of 90,720 tonnes grading approximately 1.5 per cent copper was reported (Property File - Unknown [unknown]: Notes - Victor).

In 1974, vein reserves were estimated at 40,000 tonnes with expected geological reserves of 100,000 tonnes grading approximately 1.5 per cent copper (Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 1974).

Reported production consists of 4,809 kilograms of copper being produced from a total of 27,215 tonnes of mined material.

Old workings, prior to the 1950‘s, included an east-trending, 33-metre crosscut adit, a 9-metre inclined winze and a 6-metre shaft. In 1955 and 1956, Skeena Silver Mines completed a program of trenching, soil sampling and 396 metres of surface diamond drilling on the area as the Divide Copper and Skeena Copper claims. Also, at this time, 126 metres of drifting and cross-cutting and 244 metres of underground drilling was completed on the Victor adit. In 1957, a further 122 metres of surface diamond drilling was completed.

In 1962, Bioe Metals Corp. blasted and stockpiled 680 tonnes of surface vein material. In 1966 and 1967, a 45,360 tonne (leach) stockpile was developed before subsequently being reduced in size to 3175 tonnes after leaching operations proved un-successful. A total of 10 percussion drill holes were also completed during this time. In 1968, Consolidated Skeena Mines Ltd. soil sampled the area.

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1915-281; 1955-37; 1956-46; *1957-27; 1958-71; 1962-49; 1966-158; 1968-188
EMPR ASS RPT 183, 1574
EMPR BULL 56; 62
EMPR GEM *1974-132-135
EMPR MAP *30
EMPR OF 1998-10
EMPR PF (Scott, A. [unknown]: Re: Comments on Lawrence Mining Corp. IP Survey; unknown [unknown]: Geology Map - Southern Highland Valley; unknown [unknown]: Geologic Sketch Map - Skeena Copper; unknown [unknown]: Geologic Sketch Map - Victor; unknown [unknown]: Geologic Sketch Map - Skeena; Surveys and Mapping Branch [unknown]: Compilation Geological Series Map - Ashcroft, Nicola and Vernon with annotations; *Unknown [unknown]: Notes - Victor; Graham Bousquet Gold Mines Ltd. [1956]: Geological Relief Map of Divide Group of Claims; Graham Bousquet Gold Mines Ltd. [1956]: Chain and Compass Survey of Divide Group of Claims; *Skeena Silver Mines Ltd. [1956-05-01]: Plan and Section Map - DDH No. 3 - Victor; Skeena Silver Mines Ltd. [1956-08-01]: Claim Map - Divide Copper Property; Zielinski, R. [1957-01-20]: Property Map of Highland Valley; *Consolidated Skeena [1969-07-14]: Letter, map and assay for the Lornex option; McMillan, W.J. [1974]: Report on Skeena Project; unknown [1974-07-05]: Sketch Map of Skeena Property)
EMR MP CORPFILE (Consolidated Skeena Mines Ltd.)
GSC MAP 1010A; 42-1989
GSC MEM 262
GSC OF 980
GSC P 46-8; 47-10; 77-12
CIM Trans. Vol. LX, pp. 273-289; Spec. Vol. 15 (1976), pp. 85-104
Northcote, K.E. (1968): Geology and Geochronology of the Guichon Creek Batholith, British Columbia, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, The University of British Columbia

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