The Tom Mountain showing lies within the Barkerville Terrane of the Omineca Belt, 10 kilometres northwest of Wells. The Mt. Tom claims were staked in 1981 as follow up to a regional silt-sampling programme. In 1982, soil sampling and geochemical and VLF surveys identified a zone of coincidental geochemical and conductivity anomalies.

The Barkerville Terrane is in thrust contact with Triassic Quesnellia Terrane rocks to the west and Hadrynian to Lower Paleozoic Cariboo Terrane rocks to the east. The Barkerville Terrane in this region is underlain by the dominantly metasedimentary rocks of the Hadrynian to Lower Paleozoic Snowshoe Group. In this area the Snowshoe Group comprises limestone, phyllite and quartzite. These rocks have been regionally metamorphosed to greenschist facies.

The showing consists of a number of quartz veins distributed over a distance of about two kilometres to the south of the junction of Sugar and Cooper creeks. The veins are hosted by phyllite, slaty argillite and garnet mica schist of the Downey succession, Snowshoe Group. While the regional metamorphic grade is greenschist facies, the presence of garnet in schists suggests retrogression from a higher grade metamorphic facies.

Mineralization consists of galena, sphalerite and pyrite with associated gold and silver values within some of the quartz veins.

Grid soil sampling of the property has identified numerous, coincidental anomalies of silver, lead, zinc and arsenic with values to 1500 parts per million zinc, 820 parts per million lead, 370 parts per million arsenic and 29 parts per million silver (Property File Rimfire Campbell, K.V., 1985).

The Upper Vein on Cooper Creek was trenched in 1987. Four diamond drill holes were also sited to drill through the quartz vein but these were unsuccessful. Grab samples, of sphalerite and galena-rich material from the vein carried 168.14 and 12.27 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 16755).

HISTORY

The area has been explored since around 1885. Most of the work was aimed at exposing the numerous quartz veins along Sugar and Cooper Creeks and their tributaries. The earliest reference to mineralization on the property is in 1888 when several quartz veins, their sulphide content and assays are described (Minister of Mines Annual Report, 1888, v.3, pt.1, 1887-88). Only traces of gold were reported.

In 1935, Hanson (Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 181) refered to the North Star Group of claims on Cooper Creek which were explored in 1933 by the Premier Gold Mining Co. Ltd. Quartz veins were explored by open cuts, none greater than 3 metres deep. No commercial grade mineralization was found.

In the late 1940s Mr. W. Armstrong sank a shaft north of the mouth of Cooper Creek. It is reported the shaft was about 10 metres deep and reached replacement ore in limestone (As reported in Assessment Report 16755).

Holland (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1947, pp. 117-123) describes in some detail quartz veins in the area and their geological situation. Reference is also made to the finding of boulders of fine grained pyrite replacement of quartzite similar in appearance to that from the Island Mtn. Mine. These boulders were from an old placer shaft about 1 km north of the mouth of Cooper Creek.

From 1958 to 1965, Mssrs. Armstong and McKelvie worked the area of what in 1987 was held as JJF claims. Most of the work was done at two quartz veins occurrences; (l) south of the confluence of Stave and Cooper Creeks and (2) on upper Cooper Creek.

In 1983 the Sandi-Jo Group (later held in 1987 as the JJF claim) was held by Clearbrook Mining Ltd. A report by Campbell (as reported in Assessment Report 16755) described the history of the various mineral occurrences on the JJF claim. Clearbrook optioned the ground to Noranda Exploration Co. in 1983.

R. MacPherson placer mined in Sugar Creek in the period 1980-1985. Because he found coarse, angular gold nuggets attached to vein quartz he staked the Sugar mineral claims underlying his placer operation. In 1983 the Sugar claims were optioned by Canadian United Minerals who in turn optioned them to Noranda Exploration Co. Ltd. Noranda performed a reconnaissance geophysical survey and reported a strong anomaly centered on the steep eastern slope of the Sugar Creek valley above the placer workings (information from Knutsen, 1983, as reported in Assessment Report 16755).

In late 1983 Noranda performed magnetometer, IP and limited HLEM and PEM surveys in the area of the placer workings. The IP survey further delineated the anomaly along Sugar Creek (Assessment Report 12352). In March, 1984, Noranda diamond drilled four holes (total of 318 metres) to test the conductivity anomaly (information from Lewis, 1984, as reported in Assessment Report 16755). It was thought that the anomaly could have been caused by massive pyrite, but no such sulphide mineralization was found, Lewis concluded that the IP anomaly was due to conductive graphitic phyllites and graphitic fault zones.

The area of the Ida IV claim, staked in November 1987, used to be the Sandi 4 claim, once held by Clearbrook Mining Ltd. That claim was optioned by Noranda in 1984, who conducted geological mapping and geochemical sampling in that year (Assessment Report 12875). In 1986, Noranda carried out follow-up geochemical sampling over what in 1987 was held as the Ida IV,JJF, CC 1 and CC 2 claims, (Assessment Report 15161). A widely spaced grid (lines 530 metres apart with 200 metre station intervals) was soil sampled and the major creeks were silt sampled. While a few sites reported anomalous values in lead, zinc and gold, Noranda did not contiunue their option.

The work done by Mr. Poschner since 1986 includes access road construction and refurbishing, trenching on Mustang Mountain and on the upper vein on Cooper Creek, and limited diamond drilling (AW size). Two holes were sited along Sugar Creek near quartz veins on the eastern boundary of the JJF claim. Four holes were sited in the vicinity of the ‘upper vein’ on Cooper Creek. A number of selected samples

In 1987, Poschner Construction Ltd attempted 6 diamond-drill holes and conducted rock sampling throughout their large claim holdings which included the JJF, Sugar, CC, Frost, Fir and Ida claims. The claims encompassed previously known MINFILE showings: Comstock (093H 031) and Tom Mountain (093H 077). Four holes were attempted in the Upper Vein area of the Tom Moutain occurrence but were declared “unsuccessful” Two holes at the new JJF occurrence adjacent Sugar Creek intersected sulphide-bearing zones. Total drilling in all holes was reported to be 120 metres. Rock samples collected totaled 150.

Claims owned by Gold City Corporation in 1995 covered the much of the same area of interest (including MINFILE 093H 077 and JJF (new)) but the only work done was a small soil program some 4.75 km south-southeast of the Tom Mountain occurrence (093H 077).