The Motherlode occurrence is located just upstream from the big bend in the Germansen River and is found on both sides of the river, approximately 11 kilometres south-southeast of the community of Germansen Landing (Assessment Report 8956).
This showing is composed of sulphide (tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite and pyrite)-bearing quartz veins found within phyllites of the Middle to Upper Triassic Slate Creek Formation (part of the Middle Triassic to Lower Jurassic Takla Group). The veins are up to 1 metre in width and strike 120 degrees, dipping 70 degrees to the west. These veins cut across the dominant northwest-striking and steeply dipping foliation. The rocks around the veins vary from weakly carbonatized phyllites containing ankerite porphyroblasts to mariposite-ankerite-quartz-sericite schists. These rocks are cut by shear zones parallel to the foliation and are in fault contact with carbonatized mafic and ultramafic rocks close to the showing. The rocks lie within the probably Cretaceous to Neogene right-lateral Manson fault zone. Grab samples assayed 1.68 grams per tonne gold and 267.67 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 8956).
Work History
In 1972, Sullivan and Rogers of Toronto sampled anomalous gold, silver, copper and zinc from soil and rock geochemistry and outlined two large anomalous trends on the QCM claims (093N 200). This geochemistry program was followed up later in 1972 by induced polarization and resistivity surveys. The work extended over 100 kilometres of grid lines and resulted in two extensive anomalous gold trends.
In 1973, Rio Tinto optioned the claims and completed six diamond drill holes (499.56 metres). The results of this drilling were not filed but it has been reported that one of the drillholes, which intersected the more eastern of the two major carbonate alteration zones, yielded a 0.79-metre wide zone grading 4.25 grams per tonne gold. Claims in the area lapsed and were re-staked in 1979 by Vital Mines; these were allowed to lapse just one year later.
In 1980, Golden Rule Resources of Calgary staked the QCM claims and contracted Taiga Resources to complete geological mapping, soil and rock geochemistry and a limited ground magnetic and ground very low frequency electromagnetic survey. Their work is summarized under OPEC and QCM claims.
In 1982, Anaconda Canada optioned the Manson Creek property from Golden Rule and carried out extensive geological mapping, detailed soil and rock geochemical sampling, ground magnetic and very low frequency electromagnetic surveys and trenching. This work delineated two zones: the Flag showing, which is called the Motherlode or Flagstaff, and the Central showing, which is called the QCM (MINFILE 093N 200) located 1.5 kilometres south. The QCM is 200 by 300 metres and open to the southeast with gold-in-soils ranging from less than 10 parts per billion to 4200 parts per billion. Bedrock below and around the Central zone consists of quartz-carbonate–altered epiclastics of the Takla Group. A 32-hole percussion drill program followed but the work was not filed for assessment. A four-hole reverse circulation drilling program, totalling 414 metres, which was filed (Assessment Report 11627), and a three-hole, NQ-sized diamond drilling program, totalling 422 metres, which was not filed. The results of the percussion and diamond drill programs were briefly summarized in later assessment reports numbered 19594 and 24349. In 1992, Golden Rule allowed the claims to lapse.
In 1993, Mike Fox, who had worked on the property for Golden Rule since 1980, staked the Au 1-12 two-post claims. In late 1994 to 1995, Fox completed a program of re-mapping, analyzing existing data, and re-evaluating the controls of mineralization. Four line-kilometres of grid line were re-established to provide ground control. This program concluded that a significant potential gold resource, of 0.6 gram per tonne gold, extending over an area 300 by 130 by 80 metres deep, justified further exploration on the property.
Pursuant to an option agreement between Royal County Minerals Corp. and Viceroy Resources Ltd. dated October 4, 2002, Canadian Gold Hunter Corp. earned a 100 per cent interest in the Manson Creek QCM bulk tonnage gold property. The property includes the QCM (MINFILE 093N 200) and Motherlode (MINFILE 093N 024).
In 2004, the property was evaluated by Canadian Gold Hunter Corp. The company completed a 34 line-kilometre induced polarization survey that outlined a north-northwest–trending zone with low chargeability and high resistivity characteristics. Five diamond drill holes, totalling 1190 metres, tested a 375-metre strike length of the coincident anomaly. Three of the five holes drilled in 2004 intersected low-grade gold mineralization over broad intervals.
In 2005, the QCM property was again drilled by Canadian Gold Hunter Corp. A total of 1802 metres in nine holes evaluated carbonate-altered, quartz-veined pyritic greywacke of the Triassic Slate Creek Succession (Takla Group) and returned a best intersection of 0.58 gram per tonne gold over 137.2 metres (Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 2005, page 48).
In 2017, Angel Jade Mines Ltd. carried out a field program with the intention of locating hard-rock sources of placer gold, and to determine if gold and base metal anomalies within the listwanite exposures could be used as a vector to high-grade mineralization. The field program focused on three regions within the Manson Creek area: the Big Bend area near the southern extent of the claim group, the Gary’s Pit area within the eastern extent of the claim group and the Blackjack Creek area within the northern extent of the claim group. Between the three regions, a total of 62 rock samples were collected and assayed. The assays returned no values of economic interest and it was suggested that future exploration would benefit from structural mapping in locating the quartz-vein–hosted coarse gold.
