The Virginia Silver deposit is located in a canyon of Causqua Creek, east of the Bulkley River, about 5 kilometres east of Moricetown.
The Kitsuns Creek Formation of the Lower Cretaceous Skeena Group, in this vicinity, is dominated by dense, dark greenish grey volcanic sandstones intercalated with lesser black shale and a pebble conglomerate member. The sedimentary rocks are compressed into an anticline-syncline pair striking 020 degrees and overturned to the east. The eastern limb of the syncline is cut by a fault that strikes 020 degrees and dips 65 degrees west, in effect parallel to the fold axial planes. The fault has a small displacement of 12 to 15 metres. Two latite dikes cut the sediments and follow the bedding in the parts of the folds where the orientations are similar.
The main mineralization is contained in a shear-like vein zone that, although quite irregular locally, maintains a fairly regular attitude overall. It strikes 020 to 040 degrees and dips approximately 15 degrees east. The main vein/shear varies locally from a small series of thin veinlets that horsetail into the bedding, to a discrete mass 1.2 metres wide or more with minor mineralization extending into the walls as veinlets or as disseminations. The vein consists of partially replaced wallrock with variable amounts of quartz, ankerite and sulphide minerals in bands, blebs and disseminated grains. The sulphides in decreasing abundance are: sphalerite, galena, pyrite, tetrahedrite, arsenopyrite and traces of bournonite, polybasite and pyrargyrite. In general, sphalerite occurs with galena, in part veining the sphalerite, in discrete bands. Pyrite and arsenopyrite occur as discrete crystals but commonly in separate bands of concentration. Tetrahedrite occurs with galena, in some quartz-rich areas as a minor matrix to separate quartz crystals, and as transecting late veinlets. The silver minerals are associated with the tetrahedrite, in part with exsolution textures. Minor thin parallel carbonate veinlets cut all other mineralization. Minor mineralization is also contained in a steep fault (mentioned previously) and in a small steep shear that strikes north on the western limb of the anticline.
Alteration in the vicinity of the veins consists of porphyroblastic ferrodolomite and a variable amount of kaolinization of feldspars. It is most intense in the immediate vicinity of the vein/shear zone and most noticeable in a latite dike which locally occurs in the zone.
Past development consisted of two adits, drifting and a raise. Some ore was shipped in 1975-76. A 50 ton-per-day mill was installed in 1980; approximately 90 tonnes of ore was reportedly processed before the mill froze in December 1981, and was not reopened.
Unclassified reserves are 20,000 tonnes grading 2948.4 grams per tonne silver, 1.19 grams per tonne gold, 4.4 per cent lead and 2.2 per cent zinc (CIM Special Volume 37, page 185).
In 1966, R.H. Dieter of Smithers discovered mineralization in the canyons of Causqua Creek. The property was optioned to Virginia Silver Mines, a subsidiary of Silver Standard Mines Limited. Silver Standard Mines Ltd. aggressively worked the property in 1968-69, driving two exploration adits totalling 152 metres and drilling 22 short diamond-drill holes. Silver Standard’s engineer at the time estimated a historic, non-43-101 compliant resource of 27,213 tonnes grading 708 grams per tonne silver based on detailed underground channel sampling and drillhole data.
In 1975, Paul Kindrat leased the property, completed 28.5 metres of drifting and shipped 226 tonnes of hand-sorted ore, mined from open cuts, that reported 696,952 grams silver and 401 grams gold.
In 1977, Barriere Exploration leased the property and installed a 50 ton-per-day mill. Two shipments of concentrate were shipped in 1980-81, before the mill was shut down in December of 1981 and was not reopened. A tailings impoundment dam was constructed but not used.
In 1990, the mine and mill were decommissioned.
In 1999, Silver Standard allowed the mineral claims to lapse and the property was restaked by George Braun who completed an 11 line-kilometre ground electromagnetic survey in 2001.
In 2006 and 2007, Endurance Gold Corporation optioned the property, staked the Annie claims, completed a soil geochemical program and drilled three diamond-drill holes south of Causqua Creek. Two holes, VAG-1 and VAG-3, intercepted the targeted vein material. Hole VAG-01 was a vertical hole and intersected a 0.20 metre thick quartz-carbonate vein at 80.60 metres depth, grading 121 grams per tonne silver and 0.186 gram per tonne gold. The property was optioned from Endurance Gold Corporation on September 14, 2007 by Mega Silver Inc. An exploration program of ground induced polarization (IP) geophysics and six diamond-drill holes focused south of Causqua Creek was implemented in June to September, 2008. The drill program was designed to test a number of large deep (> 200 metres) IP geophysical conductors, which appear to be associated with zones of secondary tourmaline. Most of the 2008 drillholes intercepted significantly anomalous to mineralized vein material. On November 4, 2008, Mega Silver terminated the Virginia Silver property option (Assessment Report 30603).
