The Grouse Mountain occurrence is located 16 kilometres north of Houston on the northwestern slopes of Grouse Mountain. It is underlain by Lower-Middle Jurassic Hazelton Group rocks (Telkwa Formation), comprised mainly of a uniform fine-grained maroon tuff, which is massive, showing weak to moderate cleavage. This is overlain by a variegated sequence of tuff, lapilli tuff, tuffaceous greywacke and argillite. The tuff ranges from dark grey to green to maroon, is fine-grained, thinly bedded, laminated, and massive. The tuffs are overlain by a massive dark green andesitic to dacitic flows.
The volcanics are crosscut by a series of feldspar porphyry dikes trending north-northwest and dipping west ranging between 30 to 70 metres in width. The volcanics are also crosscut by silicified granodioritic dikes and dark grey lamprophyre dikes. The lamprophyre dikes in the vicinity of the Julia vein strike 105 degrees and dip 75 to 80 degrees south.
The Hazelton rocks are highly broken and fractured with quartz- carbonate infilling with associated epidote and chlorite. Larger veins show weak sericitization. Stringer and breccia zones are silicified and the volcanics are bleached and partly altered to kaolinite.
Mineralization occurs as high-grade silver veins. The Julia vein (formerly Last Chance) is a series of three parallel veins traceable for 200 metres. The veins occur along shears which trend 010 to 030 degrees and dip 80 to 90 degrees east. Mineralization on the surface consists of tetrahedrite blebs with pyrite and chalcopyrite in quartz-carbonate gangue with honey-coloured sphalerite. In 1984, 25 samples averaged 17.8 to 6360 grams per tonne silver, 3.96 per cent copper and 4.73 grams per tonne gold. Four wallrock samples assayed 32.5 to 141.59 grams per tonne silver. Stringers from the main vein assayed 43.5 grams per tonne silver, 0.51 gram per tonne gold and 0.06 per cent copper over 1.0 metre, and 196 grams per tonne silver, 0.72 gram per tonne gold and 0.17 per cent copper over 1.5 metres. In 1925 a sample assayed 212.6 grams per tonne silver, trace gold, 0.04 per cent zinc, 4.96 per cent iron and 0.06 per cent antimony (Assessment Report 13364).
Approximately 300 metres east of the Julia vein is the Gwenda vein (formerly Cornucopia), which strikes 020 to 030 degrees and dips 40 degrees east. The vein is exposed for 6.0 metres and ranges between 10 to 30 centimetres in width. The showing hosts disseminated tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite and honey-coloured sphalerite in quartz-carbonate gangue. In 1984, two grab samples assayed 48.7 grams per tonne silver, 0.14 gram per tonne gold, 0.11 per cent copper and 8.41 per cent zinc, and 840.6 grams per tonne silver, 0.75 gram per tonne gold, 1.01 per cent copper and 0.25 per cent zinc respectively (Assessment Report 13364). In 1925 a sample from an open-cut in this vein assayed 1.7 grams per tonne gold, 2540 grams per tonne silver, 1.44 per cent copper, 0.06 per cent lead, 1.95 per cent zinc and 1.0 per cent antimony (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1925, page 141).
Other showings consist of the Christina showing (093L 295) in the northeast part of the claims. It is a silicified stringer zone hosting tetrahedrite, sphalerite, minor galena and pyrite. The Paola showing (093L 296) in the southeast part of the claims is a shear striking north and dipping 30 to 40 degrees west and hosts extensive malachite staining in an open-cut.
Between 1938 and 1940, 2.72 tonnes of ore from the Cornucopia showing produced 12548 grams silver and 85.3 kilograms copper.
A drill indicated mineralized body (Ruby) contains 360,000 tonnes grading 30.1 grams per tonne silver, 0.38 per cent copper and 4.23 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 20665, page 1).
WORK HISTORY
The first recorded work on the Grouse Mountain vein system (also referred to as Gwenda, Cornucopia, Chance, Julia Veins) was in 1938 and 1940 when 2.72 tonnes of ore produced 12,548 grams silver and 85.3 kilograms copper. In 1952, the owners of the claim performed hand trenching, stripping and excavation of a 15 metre long adit.
From 1964 to 1970, additional trenching and road development was carried out.
In 1984, Adriatic Resources carried out 26 diamond drill holes, (total depth of 1170 metres), geological mapping, geochemical soil surveys, and geophysical VLF-EM surveys. The results indicate relatively higher grades of silver bearing mineralization are associated with relatively higher copper-lead-zinc values. Relatively higher gold values have a positive correlation with increased copper percentage. Due to a lack of 3D data and understanding of the distribution of mineralization, it is not known whether these intervals represent true width. Work done by Adriatic Resources in 1984 indicates the presence of variable and relatively narrow drill intercept intervals (0.07 to 0.76 metre) of elevated silver values and lesser gold associated with copper-zinc bearing minerals over a vertical distance of less than 30 metres and strike length of less than 200 metres on the Julia (aka Last Chance) quartz-sulphide fissure vein occurrence.
In 1991, AIC International Resources Corporation drilled a total of 264 metre was in two holes. The IP survey on the Chance Property (Julia) outlined a 1350 metre long chargeability anomaly up to 650 metres wide open to both the north and south.
In 2005, Valley Resources Ltd carried out trenching and excavated a total of 8 trenches, 140 metres in length. Trenches were mapped and grab samples were collected from mineralized intervals. Fourteen rock chip samples were collected for analysis.
In 2007, Torch R Res Ltd carried out rock chip, soil sampling and magnetometer geophysics on numerous quartz-sulphide vein occurrences located in the area west of McQuarrie Lake on the Grouse Mountain prospect (093L 251) (and the area south of Torch River Resource Ltd 2009 grid). Torch River Resources 2007 grid consists of 8 east-west lines. A total of 77 soil samples were taken at 25 meter spacing along 1.725 kilometres of grid lines. The grid lines were also walked with a GEM GSM 19 proton magnetometer. A total of 4 rock chip samples were taken from widths ranging from 0.2 to 0.3 metre. At the Julia Vein, mineralized zones are developed along brittle-ductile fault zones with quartz-carbonate veins related to conjugate shear fractures that generally occur within a shear zone and/or fault structure. Results from 2007 soil sampling program show a relatively strong silver anomaly immediately adjacent to the Julia Vein near the adit and two trenches located 50 to 100 metres south-southwest of and 60 to 100 metres north of the Julia adit.
In 2009, Torch River Res surveyed a total of 7.5 kilometres of grid lines (166 soil samples, 600 magnetometer readings, and 4 rock chip samples), covering a 1 by 2 kilometre area (Assessment Report 31107). A 2000 metre long by 1000 metre wide area was surveyed by east-west oriented grid lines spaced at 200 metres apart. A number of soil anomalies resulted from the work, one being in the near the Christina trench area (093L 295). The 2009 geophysical survey carried out by Torch River Res consisted of 7.5 kilometres of total field magnetic survey. A total of 1 out of the 7 anomalous soil samples coincides with total field magnetic anomaly.
In 2010, rock chip/soil sampling, mapping, and surveying were carried out (Assessment Report 31644). A 2000 metre long by 1000 metre wide area was surveyed by east-west oriented grid lines in 8 follow-up soil anomaly zones. The 2010 soil grids focused on areas adjacent to intrusive contacts that returned anomalous copper-zinc-silver-gold values in the 2009 soil survey. A total of 34 soil samples and 9 rock chip samples were taken. Rock chip sample from the Christina showings (093L 295) (GM10AR-53) contains elevated gold-arsenic, and two rock chip samples from the Paola showings (093L 296) contain elevated copper-silver (GM10AR-55) and elevated lead-zinc (GM10AR-56). Results from geochemical analysis of 54 soils taken in 2010 indicate there a few weak strength anomalies in zinc-silver-gold-arsenic present.
