The Golden Lion prospect is located on the southwestern flank of Claw Mountain approximately 3.5 kilometres southwest of the south end of Moosehorn Lake. It has been classified as an adularia-sericite type epithermal mineral occurrence (Bulletin 86).
The Golden Lion prospect 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 Golden Lion prospect is underlain by Toodoggone Formation crystal and lapilli tuffs. To the east the tuffs are in a northwest- striking fault contact with Takla Group fine-grained andesite flows. To the north, the Takla Group is intruded by coarse-grained granodiorite of the Black Lake stock.
Within the tuffs, adjacent and parallel to the fault, discontinuous areas of silicification occur along a 3 kilometre strike length. Associated with the silicification is an increase in disseminated pyrite and hematite. Quartz and quartz-barite stockwork with associated sericitic and argillic alteration locally flank the silicification. The silicification has been divided into three zones.
Zone 1, centred on grid coordinates 7+00S:0+70W (Assessment Report 10900), is a barren 75 by 25 metre zone of intense silicification and brecciation. Manganese is common and the zone exhibits occasional vuggy texture. Four drillholes, for a total of 249.7 metres, were placed on this zone.
Zone 2, which had 841.6 metres drilled in seven holes, is centred on grid coordinates 1+50S:0+25E (Assessment Report 10900). Erratic silicification and veining occurs over a 300 by 200 metre area Crystal and lapilli tuffs are cut by a number of subparallel east-dipping faults. Pinch and swell zones of intense silicification and brecciation occur within the faults. Adjacent to the faults local areas of quartz stockwork is developed. Quartz veins within and adjacent to the faults carry varying amounts of pyrite, acanthite, and occasional chalcopyrite and galena. A 1-metre drill core interval of quartz-carbonate stockwork assayed 629.69 grams per tonne silver and 4.11 grams per tonne gold (Sample 3250, Hole 84-16, Interval 31-32 metres, Assessment Report 13324).
Zone 3, centred at grid coordinates 6+00N:1+70E (Assessment Report 10900), is exposed over a 400 by 50 metre area. Nine drill holes, for a total of 1224.2 metres, were completed on this zone. Drilling intersected a feldspar pyroxene porphyry subvolcanic intrusion. The intrusion and the tuffs are potassically and argillically altered and host quartz stockwork and disseminated pyrite of variable intensity. The quartz veinlets carry coarse- grained sphalerite and galena with lesser chalcopyrite, pyrite and acanthite. Pods of massive sulphides up to 1 metre across, in quartz gangue, occur within the porphyry. A 1-metre drill intersection of porphyry-hosted massive sulphide assayed 26.6 per cent zinc, 6.5 per cent lead, 24.69 grams per tonne silver and 2.6 grams per tonne gold (Sample 2981, Interval 39-40 metres, Hole 84-7, Assessment Report 13324).
A fourth area of silicification (with minor chalcopyrite, pyrite and malachite), occurs 500 metres to the southeast of zone 1. This zone covers an area of 20 by 10 metres and contains a 1.5-metre core interval of massive quartz. Adjacent to the silification is 50 metres of montmorillonite alteration cut by barren quartz and quartz-carbonate veins.
A potassium-argon age determination yielded 176 +/- 6 Ma from relatively pure adularia from vein selvages at the Golden Lion prospect. This age reflects that of hydrothermal activity, which postdates the youngest volcanism of the Toodoggone Formation.
In 2004, rocks taken by Stealth Minerals from the Golden Lion and Yellow Dog (094E 041) areas on the Claw claims displayed argillic -propyllitic alteration. Mineralization at the Golden Lion zone appears to be related to a northwest trending structure that can be traced for up to 3 kilometres. Mineralization occurs along the southern limit of the structure, in its central parts (Mirko claims) and its northern sector, at the head of small creek hosting an anomalous gold in silt sample (Assessment Report 27635).
Work History
The original Golden Lion Claims were located in 1981 and optioned by Newmont in 1982 when reconnaissance geochemical sampling, geological mapping and prospecting were undertaken. Three areas (zones 1, 2 and 3) of anomalous precious and base metal geochemistry containing visible silicification with copper, lead and zinc mineralization were outlined.
Additional detailed follow up work including geophysical surveys, magnetometer, VLF Resistivity, and induced polarization and backhoe trenching in 1983, defined areas of coincident anomalous gold-silver mineralization and lead, zinc, copper mineralization associated with silver.
In 1984 Newmont Exploration completed 2474.9 metres of BQ diamond drilling in twenty-two holes to explore three zones of anomalous mineral response.
Recent exploration undertaken during July and August 1996 by Entourage Mining Ltd. consisted of prospecting, geology, diamond drill core examination and re-assaying, rock sampling of a quartz-barite showing on the Age south units, and magnetometer and V.L.F.-E.M. surveys in the area of previous diamond drilling. A core specimen taken from drillhole 84-20, between 72.0 and 75.0 metres, contained tiny specks of visible gold and pyrite within a thin silicified cross cutting filament.
In 2004 and 2005 the Breccia-Claw property of Stealth Minerals Ltd contained previously discovered occurrence such as Golden Lion (094E 077), Yellow Dog (094E 041), Gord Davies East (094E 199) and Gord Davies West (094E 198) showings and Har (094E 053) prospect.
The 2004 field program completed on the Breccia-Claw claims by Stealth Minerals consisted of rock and soil sampling. Alteration identification via PIMA spectrographic analysis was done on 95 selected rock samples. A total of 349 surface rock samples were taken as float or outcrop samples.
In 2005, Stealth Minerals collected a total of 37 surface rock samples from float or outcrop samples.
Refer to Har (094E 053) for related information on work done in the 2000s on the Breccia-Claw claim group, which also covered the Golden Lion.
n 2013, C.J. Greig & Associates completed a program of prospecting and rock and soil sampling on the area. Five rock samples were collected from boulders located in historic trenches and yielded values ranging from 0.029 to 1.205 grams per tonne gold and 4.5 to 7000 grams per tonne silver (Tupper, D.W. (2019-08-12): NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Golden Lion Property).
In 2017 and 2018, Evergold Corp. completed programs of prospecting, geochemical (soil and rock) sampling and an airborne geophysical survey on the area as the Golden Lion property. Rock samples (D005110 an D005155) from the Zone 2 area yielded values of up to 75.5 grams per tonne gold, 5560 grams per tonne silver, 0.335 per cent copper, 12.450 per cent lead and 9.310 per cent zinc (Tupper, D.W. (2019-08-12): NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Golden Lion Property).
