The Marble property is located along the eastern side of Daisy Lake about 14 kilometres southwest of Whistler on the Squamish- Pemberton highway.
The area covered by the Marble prospect has been extensively explored during three main periods; 1916 to 1917, early 1980s and late 1980s. A shallow dipping, gold bearing quartz vein was discovered and developed by a crosscut and a drift. The workings are referred to as the Venetian showing. Between 1972 and 1974, trenching, diamond drilling and geophysical surveys were carried out on the Venetian showing. During the 1970s to early 1980s, Acacia Mineral Development Corp. Ltd. explored the area for copper- molybdenum porphyry mineralization. Further surveys and diamond drilling were carried out in 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982. Between 1983 and 1987, at least another 7 diamond-drill holes and an induced polarization survey were completed. In 1987, J. Cuttle staked the ground and conducted property exploration in 1987 and 1988. In 1988, Bond Gold Canada Inc. optioned the property. In 1989, Placer Dome Inc. completed a soil geochemical survey during evaluation of the property and followed in the following year by a more comprehensive exploration program.
The area is underlain by volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Cheakamus, Helm and Empetrum formations correlative with rocks of the Gambier Group. The Gambier Group comprises the Callaghan Creek roof pendant; a north-northwest trending fault bound package of rocks of island arc affinity. The contact between the metavolcanic- metasedimentary sequence and granodiorite of the Jurassic to Cretaceous Coast Plutonic Complex is manifest by a regional shear zone.
The Cheakamus, Helm and Empetrum formations and Gambier Group comprise seven locally defined rock units exposed in the west and southeast portions of the property. These rocks consist of a sequence of, from southeast to northwest, volcaniclastic, mafic volcanic, limestone, argillaceous chert, chert and mudstone. The sequence strikes southwest and dips steeply north. Adjacent to shears, bedding attitudes are rotated into the dominant shear direction. In the western portion of the property, the sequence is interrupted by a north-trending shear zone, referred to as the Marble Creek melange. The rocks at the Marble prospect have been affected by at least 5 stages of deformation. The main stage is characterized by ductile deformation expressed by northeast-trending shears. Gold- silver-bearing quartz veins and related zones of alteration are contemporaneous with this main phase of deformation.
Four types of mineralization occur at the Marble prospect. In order of formation they are: 1) copper-molybdenum porphyry, 2) gold-silver shear zone, 3) quartz vein/tension gash and 4) late ankerite vein mineralization. The gold-silver shear zone mineralization is the most widespread and economically important type of mineralization.
The dominant style of mineralization of the showing consists of pyrite, chalcopyrite and molybdenite-bearing, sugary, white quartz veins within sheared rocks of the Main shear zone, developed at the contact of and within granodiorite. They are accompanied by gold tellurides, pyrrhotite, galena, and sphalerite-bearing shear zones associated with silicification, sericitization, albitization and carbonatization. This type of mineralization was not observed within the Marble Creek melange. Large sugary white quartz veins are present at the Main, Lake, Black Tusk, 6.5 Mile and Eastern zones. Veinlets are common in the Contact, Cu-Mo and Park zones and are scattered through the Main shear zone. Sugary white quartz veins and veinlets are commonly boudinaged and have sheared margins. Mineralization occurs as blebs, disseminations and films. Manganese oxide coatings commonly occur with the mineralization. Quartz veins occupy dilatant zones, which formed early in the evolution of the Main shear zone. The largest veins occur in the Main and Lake zones, which are at the junction of the Main shear zone and the Marble Creek melange. Dextral movement along shears that bend from the Marble Creek melange into the Main shear zone created large dilatant zones.
One sample yielded 30.1 grams per tonne gold and 86.0 grams per tonne silver over 0.15 metre (Assessment Report 18645). Molybdenite mineralization is associated with shear zones in the area. Values for molybdenum range up to 0.133 per cent in grab samples (Assessment Report 18645). Rock sampling has shown an apparent zonation from base metal mineralization in the west to pyrite-telluride-gold mineralization in the centre to copper-molybdenum mineralization in the east. In 1991, sample 5082 from granodiorite, sericite-chlorite- quartz schist and mafic dike of the Black Tusk zone yielded 0.13 per cent copper (Assessment Report 21345). Sample 5193, from the Lake zone yielded 28 grams per tonne silver, 0.5 gram per tonne gold and 1.46 per cent copper. At the Eastern zone, sample 5384 yielded 3.8 grams per tonne gold. A total of 58 rock chip samples were taken from 5 sites at the Park zone with discouraging results overall. The highest values obtained were 9 grams per tonne silver, 0.04 gram per tonne gold, 0.07 per cent copper and 0.006 per cent molybdenum. Traces of chalcopyrite and molybdenite were observed. Elevated copper and molybdenum values occur together. Silver and gold values occur together but are not associated with copper and molybdenum. Sample 5164 from the Venetian showing yielded 110 grams per tonne silver, 8.3 grams per tonne gold and 0.17 per cent copper (Assessment Report 21345). Three samples (5157 to 5159) were taken from sugary white quartz veins with chalcopyrite in a crossfault south of and roughly midway between the Black Tusk and East zones. The samples yielded 0.32, 0.19 and 0.39 per cent copper, respectively.
Copper-molybdenum porphyry mineralization consists of fracture controlled and disseminated pyrite, molybdenite and chalcopyrite. This type of mineralization occurs in the Cu-Mo zone, within a small stock of quartz-eye feldspar porphyry and predates sugary white quartz veins and contemporaneous shearing. Malachite is locally common. Sample 5170 taken in 1991 from quartz-eye feldspar porphyry in the Cu-Mo zone yielded 0.24 per cent copper (Assessment Report 21345).
Another style of mineralization that occurs are northeast trending, quartz vein/tension gashes in granodiorite, made up of sugary quartz with irregularly distributed zones containing blebs of pyrite and minor chalcopyrite with characteristic dark blebs of chlorite. The veins, which post-date sugary white quartz veins and related mineralization, are small and ubiquitous. Grab samples from the sulphide-rich portions assayed up to 122.1 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 18645).
Late ankerite vein mineralization consists of trace pyrite within narrow, vuggy, orange weathering ankerite veins, some of which have centres of calcite. The veins are enveloped by carbonate alteration zones up to 1 metre wide. These veins are only found in the Eastern zone.
