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File Created: 13-Sep-1985 by Tom G. Schroeter (TGS)
Last Edit:  27-Mar-2022 by Nicole Barlow (NB)

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NMI 094E6 Au4
Name AL (THESIS II/III), RANCH, AL/BONANZA, THESIS III, THESIS II, HUMP 81 GROUP, RIDGE 81 GROUP, SESAME 82 GROUP, FIJI 83 GROUP, HUMP 84 GROUP, HYUK 84 GROUP, HUMP 86 GROUP, BONANZA 86 GROUP, AL 1-8, BERT, ERNIE, ERIC Mining Division Liard
BCGS Map 094E044
Status Past Producer NTS Map 094E06W
Latitude 057º 28' 10'' UTM 09 (NAD 83)
Longitude 127º 22' 55'' Northing 6370800
Easting 597050
Commodities Gold, Copper, Lead Deposit Types H05 : Epithermal Au-Ag: low sulphidation
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Stikine
Capsule Geology

The AL (Thesis II/III) occurrence is located 2.6 kilometres east-southeast of the summit of Alberts Hump, south of Abesti Creek and 800 metres south of the Bonanza occurrence (094E 079), 700 metres due north of the BV occurrence (094E 099). Smithers is 295 kilometres south.

The occurrence area is situated within a Mesozoic volcanic arc assemblage which lies along the eastern margin of the Intermontane Belt, a northwest-trending belt of Paleozoic to Tertiary sediments, volcanics and intrusions bounded to the east by the Omineca Belt and to the west and southwest by the Sustut and Bowser basins. Permian Asitka Group crystalline limestones are the oldest rocks exposed in the region. They are commonly in thrust contact with Upper Triassic Takla Group andesite flows and pyroclastic rocks. Takla volcanics have been intruded by the granodiorite to quartz monzonite Black Lake Suite of Early Jurassic age and are in turn unconformably overlain by or faulted against Lower Jurassic calcalkaline volcanics of the Toodoggone Formation (Hazelton Group).

The dominant structures in the area are steeply dipping faults which define a prominent regional northwest structural fabric trending 140 to 170 degrees. In turn, high angle, northeast-striking faults (approximately 060 degrees) appear to truncate and displace northwest-striking faults. Collectively these faults form a boundary for variably rotated and tilted blocks underlain by monoclinal strata.

The Adoogacho and Metsantan members of the Toodoggone Formation underlie the property. The Adoogacho Member consists of trachydacite ash-flow tuff with lenses of lapilli tuff, rare marlstone, and conglomerate near the base. The Metsantan Member is composed mainly of trachyandesite (latite) flows with lenses of lapilli tuff, and lahar; minor volcanic sandstone and conglomerate (Bulletin 86). The Metsantan Member, in part, directly overlies the basal Adoogacho Member and is also in fault contact with it. For a more detailed account of the local geology and alteration refer to the Bonanza occurrence (094E 079).

The AL (Thesis II/III) occurrence is hosted by a fault controlled, complex alteration system comprised of at least three distinct "core" zones of intense silicification separated by and surrounded by haloes of intense argillic alteration developed in hornblende feldspar porphyritic andesite tuff. The Thesis III alteration system has been explored along 300 metres of strike and is at least 100 metres wide near its centre point. A northwest trending system of faults forming a zone over 100 metres wide in areas of apparent dilation, appears to control both the Thesis III system and the Thesis II system centred 350 metres to the southeast. Other zones to the northwest including the Bingo (094E 272) and BBX (094E 193) occurrences are thought to be genetically related to this fault system.

The central silicified A zone is flanked by a roughly linear B zone to the southwest and a roughly circular to elliptical C zone to the northeast. The A zone consists of 7 to 30 metres of argillic alteration (less than 5 per cent limonite along fractures) flanking an intensely fractured, locally intensely brecciated, (cemented with quartz-barite) intensely silicified zone. The central area is quite massive with little interbedded argillized material, averaging 20 metres true thickness to roughly 50 metres depth. All three zones, at surface, narrow rapidly to linear zones to the northwest. The internal structure is very complex; faulting along north, northeast, and southeast trends is evident within the A zone. Slickensides within the core indicate left-lateral movement, often with a gentle south to southwest plunge. The lack of large offsets in the flanking B zone suggest that the A zone was the focus of most post-ore structural failure and the apparent concentration of higher gold values, brecciation and veining also suggests that pre- and syn-ore hydrothermal activity was confined to this section. The structure of the poorly exposed C zone is also highly complex. Along strike to the northwest and southeast, the thick central silicified mass appears to split at depth into two or three silicified bands 5 to 7 metres thick, separated by clay or clay-silica bands of roughly equivalent thickness.

Moderate to high-grade native gold mineralization is directly associated with barite and is hosted by intensely silicified, brecciated and microfractured rock with a characteristic porous, vuggy texture; the result of corroded, clay-altered plagioclase phenocrysts. The vugs are commonly partially filled or lined with barite crystals. Some coarse gold, up to 2 millimetres in diameter, occur as dendritic or mossy crystals growing on barite or lying on quartz-barite crystal boundaries. Most of the gold, however, is in the order of 10-100 microns in diameter. Surface mineralogy is dominantly comprised of quartz and barite. Trace amounts of pyrite, hematite, or limonite are also present.

Historic ore reserves (all categories, undiluted) are 121,551 tonnes grading 8.50 grams per tonne gold (Property File - Energex Minerals Ltd. Annual Report 1986).

In 1986, Energex processed 209 tonnes of ore (through a 5.5-tonne pilot mill) from the Thesis III zone, resulting in 71,694 grams of gold.

In 1991, Cheni Gold Mines Inc. mined approximately 60,000 tonnes from the AL deposit and milled it at Lawyers mine (094E 066).

Drilling on the Thesis III consisted of 4667.0 metres in 70 holes. About 60 per cent of this drilling was completed mainly by Energex from 1985 to 1988; it tested the Thesis III zone over a northwest-southeast strike length of about 200 metres down to vertical depths of about 100 to 125 metres. Two separate diamond drilling programs were carried out in the Thesis III zone by AGC Americas Gold Corporation (1997) and Christopher James Gold Corp. (2006-07).

In 2007, Micromine Consulting calculated a post-mining resource estimate at the Thesis III zone of 49,170 tonnes grading 8.03 grams per tonne gold (using a 3.5 grams per tonne gold cut-off) (Bowen, 2012).

In summary, as of 2012, the Thesis III deposit has been extensively trenched and drill tested over a strike length of about 300 metres down to, on average, vertical depths of about 100 metres. At its widest, the alteration zone exceeds 100 metres in width. It is comprised of three distinct core zones of silicification (known as A, B and C) separated and surrounded by haloes of intense argillic alteration developed in a porphyritic andesite hostrock. Moderate to high-grade gold mineralization is directly associated with barite and is hosted by silicified, brecciated and micro-fractured rock with a characteristic porous, vuggy texture, resulting from the leaching.

See Bonanza (094E 079) for further geological and work history details of the Thesis III prospect. This prospect is presently (2021) contained within the Ranch (AL) property, along with a number of other prospects.

Bibliography
EMPR BULL 86
EMPR EXPL 1975-E163-E167; 1976-E175-E177; 1977-E216-E217; 1978-E244-E246; 1979-265-267; 1980-427; 1982-15,336,337; 1983-xx,485; 1984-353,354; 1985-A20,A21,C355; 1986-A12,A44,A45, C403,C404,C407,C408; 1987-A44,C337; 1988-A16,C185-C194; 1991-29; 1997-25; 1998-36
EMPR FIELDWORK 1980, pp. 124-129; 1981, pp. 122-129, 135-141; 1982, pp. 125-127; 1983, pp. 137-138, 142-148; *1984, pp. 139-145, 291-293; 1985, pp. 167-169, 299; 1986, pp. 111-121; *1988, pp. 409-415; 1990, pp. 207-216
EMPR GEOLOGY 1977-1981, pp. 156-161
EMPR GEM 1969-103; 1971-63-71; 1972-483; 1973-456-463
EMPR INF CIRC 1998-1, p. 27
EMPR MAP 61 (1985); 65 (1989)
EMPR PF (News Report, 12 pp., Multinational Resources Inc.; Claims map of the Toodoggone Gold Camp, Duke Minerals Ltd.; Photogeologic Interpretation Map of the Northern Omineca area, Oct. 1964, Canadian Superior Exploration Limited-in 94E General File; News Release, (July 17) 1986, Energex Minerals Ltd.; Annual Report, 1986, Energex Minerals Ltd.; Annual Report, 1986/87, Energex Minerals Ltd.; News Release, (July15;31; Aug.19) 1986, Energex Minerals Ltd.; Second Quarter Report, (Nov.30) 1987, Energex Mineral Ltd.)
GSC BULL 270
GSC OF 306; 483
GSC P 76-1A, pp. 87-90; 80-1A, pp. 27-32; 80-1B, pp. 207-211
ECON GEOL Vol.86, pp. 529-554, 1991
GCNL #174(sept.10), 1982; #243(Dec.15), 1983#123(June26); #145(July27); #147(July 31); #163(Aug.23); #183(Sept.21); #192(Oct.4), 1984; #23,(Feb.1); #128(July 5); #137(July 17); #141(July 23); #144(July 26); #154(Aug.12); #166(Aug.28); #169(Sept.23); 1985; #22(Jan.31); #148(Aug.5); #162(Aug.22); #165,(Aug.27); #169(Sept.3), 1986; #19(Jan.28), 1987
IPDM Nov/Dec 1983
MIN REV September/October, 1982; July/August, 1986
NAGMIN Nov.8, 1985
N MINER Dec.24, 1981; July 12; Aug.2; Aug.23; Sept.9; Sept.20, 1984; Feb.21; June 27; July 25; Aug.1; Sept.9, 1985; May 12; June 16; Aug.4; Sept.15; Oct.6;13, 1986; Feb.2;9, 1987; June 13, 1988
N MINER MAG March 1988, p. 1
PR REL Bishop Resources Inc. Feb.18, 2003
V STOCKWATCH Jul.28, Aug.12,26,29, 1987
WIN Vol.1, #7, June 1987
W MINER April, 1982
Bilki, F. et al. (2007): QA/QC Analysis and Resource Estimation of the Ranch Gold Project, by Micromine Consulting Ltd. for Christopher James Gold Corp., October 2007
*Bowen, B.K., Technical Report on the Ranch Project, for Guardsmen Resources Inc., May 18, 2012
Diakow, L.J. (1990): Volcanism and Evolution of the Early and Middle Jurassic Toodoggone Formation, Toodoggone Mining District, British Columbia, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Western Ontario
Falconbridge File
Forster, D.B. (1984): Geology, Petrology and Precious Metal Mineralization, Toodoggone River Area, North-Central British Columbia, Unpub. Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia
Chinapintza Mining Corp. (2020-09-18): NI 43-101 Technical Report, Geological Introduction to Chinapintza Mining Corp.'s Ranch Gold Project, Toodoggone Region, British Columbia, Canada
Chinapintza Mining Corp. (2021-06-22): Amended Technical Report: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Geological Introduction to Chinapintza Mining Corp.’s Ranch Gold Project, Toodoggone Region, British Columbia, Canada

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