The Whiskey Jack (L.1529) occurrence is located on the northeastern slopes of Merry Widow Mountain, approximately 450 metres southeast 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 consists of small, scattered outcroppings of magnetite skarn in a residual pod of limestone of the Upper Triassic Quatsino Formation (Vancouver Group). The limestone is completely surrounded by greenstone, thought to be related to the Benson Lake diorite stock of the Jurassic Island Plutonic Suite which is exposed 40 metres to the west.

Skarn mineralogy consists of diopside, garnet, epidote, actinolite and chlorite. Diamond drilling has indicated a mineralized zone that measures 90 by 45 metres. The zone strikes northeast and dips steeply to the southeast.

Work History

The area has been explored in conjunction with the Merry Widow (MINFILE 092L 044) deposits since the early 1900’s. 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. During 1989, through 1992, Taywin Resources completed programs of geological mapping, trenching and surface sampling on the area. 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.