The Smith occurrence, located near the head waters of the Graham River, approximately 160 kilometres north of the town of MacKenzie and 3 kilometres southeast of the Perkins occurrence (094B 015), is hosted in Ancestral North America terrane Paleozoic platformal carbonates.
Silurian Nonda Formation, Silurian and Devonian Muncho-McConnell Formation and Lower and Middle Devonian Stone Formation and Middle Devonian Dunedin Formation carbonates, overlain by Devonian and Mississippian Besa River Formation shales, lie on the northeast flank and in the core of the Bernard anticline, a prominent north trending structure. The north end of the Bernard anticline terminates in a small dome overlain by Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian strata.
Locally, minor disseminated sphalerite and galena are hosted in limonite-stained Dunedin Formation dolomite breccia exposed in a steep south facing bluff.
A grab sample of dolomite breccia contained 0.09 per cent zinc and less than 0.01 per cent lead (Assessment Report 5370).
Work History
Following the Robb Lake discovery (094B 005) in 1970, a regional silt sampling program identified numerous lead and zinc anomalies within the platformal carbonates. Follow-up soil sampling and prospecting led to the discovery of the Smith showing, 11 kilometres southeast of Lady Laurier Lake.
In 1972, Brinex Ltd. staked and optioned several blocks of ground on the “reef-front” facies of the lead-zinc bearing Pine Point Formation. A geological and geochemical exploration programme was mounted during the summer of 1972. Initial reconnaissance of the properties and adjacent ground included stream sediment surveys and geological mapping. This work identified several anomalous areas that were examined in more detail by close-spaced stream sediment geochemistry and by soil sampling (Property File Cyprus Anvil Westoll, N.D.S., 1972).
During 1972 through 1974, British Newfoundland Exploration Ltd. completed programs of prospecting, geological mapping and geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling on the area as the Brin and West claim groups of the Westoll, Lake, Horn and Reef properties.