The Churchill copper occurrence is situated in the former Jed 1 and 3 claims in very rugged terrain, on a ridge 2 kilometres west of Churchill Creek, 4 kilometres east of Falaise Mountain in the Muskwa Ranges of the Northern Rocky Mountains approximately 154 kilometres west-southwest of Fort Nelson (Assessment Report 6471). A related occurrence, the Toro developed prospect (MINFILE 094K 050), is roughly 3 kilometres to the north (Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 1971, page 94).
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).
The Churchill showing is in the Aida Formation of the Muskwa Assemblage, which here consists of interbedded dolostone and slate (Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 1971; Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 373). The rocks are strongly folded about a northwest axis. Bedding strikes approximately 315 degrees and dips moderately southwest or locally northeast. The western part of the property is underlain by gently west dipping clastics of the Cambrian Atan Group. The Aida Formation is intruded by a number of diabase dikes, clearly Proterozoic because they are truncated by the sub-Cambrian unconformity. The dikes strike just west of north and dip steeply.
The mineralization is hosted in quartz-carbonate veins, most of which follow the margins of the dikes, and is probably a continuation of that at the Toro occurrence to the north, as suggested by malachite traceable in the intervening cliffs (Assessment Report 6471). Few details are available. Chalcopyrite is reported to be present over a width of approximately 1.5 metres and is locally massive over narrower widths. A channel sample taken over 1.5 metres from a trench was assayed at 3.91 per cent copper (Assessment Report 6471).
Work History
In 1976, J.E. Irwin carried out prospecting on the area as the Jed 1 and 3 claims. In 1979 and 1980, Halferdahl & Associates Ltd. completed a regional program of soil sampling on the area as the Tuchodi property.
In 1983, Halferdahl and Associated Ltd. carried out a regional reconnaissance exploration program consisting of 150 soil samples taken along 10 traverses totalling 5 line-kilometres, and regional geological mapping at a scale of 1:250 000.
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. In 2006, Aries Resource Corp. completed a minor program of prospecting and rock sampling on the area as the Toro-Churchill property.
In 2011 and 2012, geophysical data interpretation, remote sensing satellite interpretation and infrastructure and logistics surveys were conducted on the large Northern IOCG Project claims on behalf of tenure owners A. Raven, P.A. Walker and D. Pugh.
In 2014, a remote sensing study was undertaken for Aida Minerals Corp. to assess the mineral exploration potential of the Toro-Churchill property which covers the John (MINFILE 094K 076), Toro (MINFILE 094K 050), Churchill (MINFILE 094K 009, this description) and HO (MINFILE 094K 029) occurrences. The claims are held by Aida under an option to purchase agreement with the owner, Mr. A.R. Raven. The study utilized digital elevation models (DEMs) and RapidEye satellite imagery and was, in part, follow-up work to satellite imagery analysis performed in 2012. The objectives of the study were to prepare image maps suitable for future field work and, if possible, provide information on the occurrence of areas enriched in iron oxides.
In 2016, geological remote sensing and structural study was undertaken on behalf of A.R. Raven who is currently assessing the mineral exploration potential of mineral tenures making up the Toro property. The study utilized digital elevation models (DEMs), Landsat 7 ETM, ASTER1, WorldView2 and PALSAR2 satellite imagery and was, in part, follow-up work to satellite imagery analysis performed in 2012. The following year, a minor program of prospecting and rock sampling was completed on the property. A float sample (838820) of chalcopyrite-bearing quartz vein in limestone, taken downslope of the Churchill occurrence, assayed 7.43 per cent copper (Assessment Report 37263).
In 2018, Fabled Copper Corp. completed a minor program of geological mapping, rock sampling and petrographic analysis on the Toro property. In 2020, a further program of prospecting, rock sampling and image analysis was completed on the property.
In 2021, Fabled Copper Corp., on the behalf of High Range Exploration Ltd., completed a minor program of prospecting, rock sampling and ASTER image analysis on the Toro property.
