The Raven occurrence is located on the northeast slopes of Merry Widow Mountain, approximately 600 metres south of Newt Lake.
Regionally, the area is underlain by basaltic volcanic rocks of the Upper Triassic Karmutsen Formation (Vancouver Group), which are overlain sequentially by limestone of the Upper Triassic Quatsino Formation (Vancouver Group); limestone, mudstone and siltstone of the Upper Triassic Parson Bay Formation (Bonanza Group) and mixed volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Lower Jurassic LeMare Lake volcanic unit (Bonanza Group). The volcanic and sedimentary rocks have been intruded by gabbro to quartz diorite of the Lower to Middle Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite.
The occurrence is located on a 045-degree trending fault that has localized magnetite-skarn mineralization. The occurrence lies 150 metres east of the Benson Lake diorite stock of the Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite. The area south of the fault is underlain by Upper Triassic Quatsino Formation (Vancouver Group) limestone and Lower Jurassic Bonanza Group tuffs and agglomerate. North of the fault, greenstone, microdiorite and breccia are related to the diorite stock.
Skarn and magnetite are located within 30 metres of the fault. Skarn minerals include garnet, epidote, actinolite, diopside and chlorite. Magnetite occurs as disseminations, veinlets or lenses in the skarn.
Massive pyrrhotite, with lesser chalcopyrite and pyrite are cut by later calcite-sphalerite veins at the east side of the orebody. Gold and silver values are associated with the sulphides.
The Raven deposit was mined in 1959. Production was included with the Merry Widow and Kingfisher (092L 044, 092L 045), and no separate production figures are available.
In 1989, a rock sample (19180) from a 0.8 metre sulphide pod in a skarn zone near a former adit in the area of the Raven occurrence assayed 6.8 per cent copper, 244.7 grams per tonne silver, 29.46 per cent iron and 13.48 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 19178).
In 2020, four lines of channel samples on the Gossan zone yielded 0.50 gram per tonne gold, 5.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.14 per cent copper over an are of 15 by 45 metres (Assessment Report 39420).
Work History
The area was originally explored in 1897 and by 1911 a group of six claims were staked to cover the immediate area of Merry Widow Mountain. During 1916 through 1931, Cominco completed approximately 8 kilometres of underground development along the Old Sport horizon. In the 1930’s, Quatsino Copper Gold Mines explored the claims. In 1956, Empire Development was formed to mine the Merry Widow magnetite deposit.
During the period 1957 to 1962 the open pit was mined to its economic limits. In 1964, the Kingfisher Adit, which had been driven under the adjoining Kingfisher pits to mine the lower sections of those ore bodies, was extended to the Merry Widow ore zone. Extraction of magnetite ore from underground draw points continued until 1967. In 1968, Quatsino Copper Gold completed a program of airborne magnetic and radiometric geophysical surveys on the area. In 1970, Alice Lake Minerals completed an aeromagnetic survey.
In 1989, Equinox Resources completed a program of detailed rock sampling of the Merry Widow and the nearby Kingfisher (MINFILE 092L 045) occurrences. During 1989, through 1992, Taywin Resources completed programs of geological mapping, trenching, surface sampling and 42 diamond drill holes, totalling 2850 meters.
During 2005 through 2012, Grande Portage Resources completed programs of rock, silt and soil sampling, geological mapping, airborne electromagnetic and magnetic surveys and a ground magnetometer survey on the area. In 2016 and 2017, Bridgeland Minerals completed a radar satellite and LiDAR orthophoto geological interpretation program on the area as the Blue Gold/Merry Widow property. In 2019, Mirva Properties Ltd. completed a rock sampling program on the Merry Widow property. In 2020, Roughrider Exploration Ltd. completed a program of rock, silt and soil sampling on the area as the Empire Mine property.
The Raven pit is now covered by waste material derived from the Merry Widow open pit.
