The PJ 105 copper occurrence, also referred to in this property as the Northeast Zone, is located approximately 5 kilometres north of the Gataga River and 8 kilometres south-southwest of Churchill Peak in the mountainous Muskwa Ranges of the Northern Rocky Mountains (Assessment Report 2837, Map 3).
The occurrence is in a region known as the Muskwa Anticlinorium, a major north-northwest–trending structure characterized by thrust faults and moderate folding. Rocks as old as Middle Proterozoic (Helikian) outcrop in the structure, along with Paleozoic rocks (Geological Survey of Canada Map 1343A; Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, Volume G-2, page 639). All belong to Ancestral North America (Geological Survey of Canada Map 1713A). The Middle Proterozoic rocks are pre-Windermere Supergroup and are known as the Muskwa Assemblage (Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, Volume G-2, page 111).
Northeast– to (more commonly) north-northwest–trending, steeply dipping diabase or gabbroic dikes are common in the region. These Proterozoic intrusions were structurally controlled; their presence and orientation are closely related to regionally important fault and fracture zones in the Proterozoic sedimentary rocks.
The PJ claim group is underlain mainly by the Aida Formation of the Muskwa Assemblage, comprising dolomitic siltstone, dolostone, argillaceous limestone and slaty argillite (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 373, Paper 67-68; Assessment Reports 2837, 5777, 10960). Slate, argillite and siltstone of the overlying Gataga Formation outcrop locally in the claim group. The strata strike northwest and dip moderately northeast or, mainly, southwest. Some isoclinal folding is present (Assessment Report 5777). Slaty cleavage strikes northwest and dips moderately southwest. A number of diabase dikes are present; most strike northeast to northwest and dip moderately to steeply west. Fault and fracture zones in the sedimentary rocks also strike northeast to northwest.
The mineralized zone at this occurrence consists of an en echelon fissure vein of quartz and carbonate (mainly ankerite), containing massive or disseminated chalcopyrite (Assessment Reports 2837, 5777). The zone trends 025 degrees and is exposed for 60 metres before being covered by ice and talus to the southwest. Float suggests its total length may be 120 metres or more. The vein within the zone trends approximately north. Its maximum thickness is 2 metres. Five chip samples taken across the vein ranged from 5.6 per cent copper over 2.1 metres to 12.4 per cent copper over 1.37 metres (Assessment Report 2837).
A short distance west of the vein, malachite was noted in dolostone with a rock sample yielding 0.37 per cent copper (Sample 4498; Assessment Report 10960).
More recent work, in 2021, identified two veins in the PJ 105 occurrence area. The western vein is 0.6 metre wide, strikes 120 degrees and contains abundant malachite. Approximately 8 metres east of the previous vein, a flatly dipping (40 degrees west), 1.5-metre-wide vein strikes 140 degrees in sheared sediments and hosts up to 3 per cent chalcopyrite. Grab samples (D723529 and D723532) from the West and East veins yielded 0.35 and 0.67 per cent copper, respectively (Assessment Report 39912).
Work History
In 1970, Windermere Exploration Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping, hand trenching and rock sampling on the area as the Bronson, PJ and Book groups of claims. The following year, Bralorne Can-Fer Resources completed a program of soil sampling and ground electromagnetic and induced polarization surveys on the PJ claims. In 1975, Bralorne Resources completed a program of geological mapping and geochemical (silt and soil) sampling on the Andrew, PJ and Sybil claims.
In 1981 and 1982, Coppex Syndicate completed a program of geological mapping and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as the BE and MO claim groups.
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 2012, a remote sensing and geophysical data interpretation program was completed on the area as part of the regionally extensive Northern IOCG property.
In 2020, Fabled Copper Corp. completed a minor program of rock sampling and historical data review on the area as the Bronson property. The following year, a program of photo-geological interpretation, rock sampling and 1.6 line-kilometres of combined airborne magnetic and ground electromagnetic (VLF) surveys were completed on the property.
