The Ringarooma copper occurrence is situated on the informally named Ringarooma Creek, in the approximate centre of the John claim group, 3 kilometres west of upper Magnum Creek and 10 kilometres northwest of Mount Roosevelt in the Muskwa Ranges in the Northern Rocky Mountains (Assessment Report 1892, Map 3).
The occurrence is in a region known as the Muskwa Anticlinorium, a major north-northwest–trending structure characterized by moderate folding and thrust faulting. The structure consists of Middle Proterozoic (Helikian) rocks of the Muskwa Assemblage, as well as Paleozoic rocks (Geological Survey of Canada Map 1343A; Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, Volume G-2, pages 111, 639). All belong to Ancestral North America (Geological Survey of Canada Map 1713A). Northeast- to northwest-trending Proterozoic diabase dikes are common in the region.
The area is underlain predominantly by the Aida Formation of the Muskwa Assemblage (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 373). Locally, this unit comprises calcareous and non-calcareous shale, siltstone and argillite (Assessment Report 1892). These rocks are strongly folded and are intruded by Proterozoic diabase dikes.
Mineralization is hosted in a few quartz veins that are restricted to a small area in a diabase dike. These structurally controlled veins strike 030 degrees and dip steeply. They are parallel and range in width from 1 to 3 metres. Inclusions of dike rock are common, and there is some silicification around the veins. The veins consist of quartz and coarse-grained carbonate and are erratically mineralized with blebs and disseminations of chalcopyrite, and locally with minor bornite. Massive chalcopyrite may reach 10 centimetres in width. Pyrite may be present in places but is only approximately 10 per cent of the volume of the chalcopyrite. A chip sample from Vein 1 assayed 5.57 per cent copper over 2.44 metres (Assessment Report 1892).
In 2005, four 1.0-metre-long chip samples (190093 through 190096) of quartz-carbonate veins associated with a mafic dike from the Ringarooma occurrence yielded from 2.45 to 4.85 per cent copper with up to 0.22 per cent cobalt, 32.5 grams per tonne silver and 0.42 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 28243).
Later work, in 2006, describes two parallel quartz-carbonate veins, approximately 20 metres apart and referred to as the John (west) and Janet (east) veins, hosting chalcopyrite with minor pyrite and bornite. The veins occupy parallel shear/fault zones within and adjacent to a basic dike along an approximate 030-degree strike. The veins are exposed along the steep bank of a creek for at least 25 metres and have an inferred strike length of at least 600 metres.
Diamond drilling, in 2006, yielded intercepts including 7.06 and 6.51 per cent copper over 0.87 and 0.57 metre, respectively, in holes SX06-06 and SX06-07, both on the Janet vein and located approximately 70 metres apart (Assessment Report 29149).
Work History
In 1968, Churchill Copper Corp. Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping, rock sampling, a single diamond drill hole, totalling 117.0 metres, and a 3.7 line-kilometre ground electromagnetic survey on the area as the John claims. The drillhole is reported to have been abandoned before fully testing the target.
In 2005, Twenty-Seven Capital Corp. completed a regionally extensive program of geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling and a 9002.0 line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey on the area as the Muskwa property. Also at this time, Aries Resource Corp. and Action Minerals Inc. completed a program of prospecting and sampling on the area as the Trident Copper project.
In 2006, Bradford Mineral Explorations Ltd. conducted 4467.0 line-kilometres airborne magnetic and electromagnetic surveys on the area as the Trident property. Also at this time, Action Minerals Inc. completed seven diamond drill holes, totalling 380.4 metres, and a ground electromagnetic (VLF) survey on the Sox claims.
