The Sheila occurrence is situated approximately 350 metres southeast of the southeast end of Echo Lake and 15 kilometres north of Germansen Landing (Open File 1990-17).

The area is underlain by Ordovician to Permo-Pennsylvanian rocks dipping shallowly to the southwest. Big Creek Group (Earn Group equivalent) shales and Otter Lakes Group (McDame Group equivalent) limestones and dolomites occupy intermediate elevations to the west, and Echo Lake Group (Sandpile Group equivalent) limestones outcrop at lower elevations to the northwest. To the south, Slide Mountain Group rocks outcrop at high elevations. Regionally, lead-zinc-barium deposits are confined to the Otter Lakes Group. This occurrence has regional geology similar to that of the Biddy occurrence (MINFILE 093N 114).

Mineralization occurs within dolomites of the Middle Devonian Otter Lakes Group. The mineralization occurs just below the contact between the shales of the Otter Lakes Group and the Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian Big Creek Group. Mineralization primarily consists of sphalerite with lesser barite and galena. Mineralization is found as 1) very fine-grained aggregates of sphalerite and pyrite up to 1 centimetre long within grey, fine-grained dolomite, 2) sphalerite in a dolomite vein cutting 1) above and 3) coarse galena, sphalerite and barite in-filling a dolomitic breccia.

Work History

The Echo claim group—two claims of unknown ownership—was staked over the area of the Sheila showing in the 1950s; however, no record of work exists for this period. In 1973, claim owner Douglas Stelling conducted a soil and rock geochemical sampling program on the Sheila claim group (Assessment Report 4899). A high-grade sample from this occurrence analyzed 12.45 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 4899).

The following year, Serem Limited optioned the property from Stelling and conducted a program of geological mapping and geochemical soil sampling (Assessment Report 5453). Another sample taken from the site during the Serem Limited 1974 sampling program analyzed 8.35 per cent zinc and 0.4 per cent lead (Assessment Report 5453).

In 1993, Electra Mining Consolidated Limited conducted soil sampling and very low-frequency electromagnetic geophysical surveying on the King and Queen claims of the Chess claim group, situated to the immediate west of the Sheila occurrence (Assessment Report 22999). A strong zinc, lead and barium geochemical anomaly was outlined coincident with a strong, very low-frequency survey response.

Between 2005 and 2006, B.K. Bowen staked the Echo and Whistler claims to cover eight known lead-zinc-silver±germanium occurrences over a 20-kilometre strike length of Devonian carbonate strata. The Sheila occurrence was situated in the northeast corner of the Echo claim group. In 2006, Bowen compiled all existing data from 1973 to 1993, conducted a detailed mapping and prospecting survey on the Whistler claims and completed an air photo lineament study over the Echo and Whistler claims (Assessment Report 28634).