This occurrence is located in the approximate centre of the Saint 3 claim, 19.5 kilometres west-southwest of the confluence of the Gataga and South Gataga rivers in the mountainous Muskwa Ranges of the Northern Rocky Mountains (Assessment Report 14904, Figure 3).

The occurrence is in the Gataga mineral district, in a belt of Paleozoic basinal-facies sedimentary strata known as the Kechika Trough, part of Ancestral North America (Exploration and Mining Geology, Volume 1, page 1; Geological Survey of Canada Map 1713A). The Gataga mineral deposits are characterized by stratiform sedimentary-exhalative barite-sulphide mineralization, which occurs at certain Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian stratigraphic horizons. The last are the most economically significant and are represented in the area by the important Driftpile Creek developed prospect, 8 kilometres along strike to the southeast of the Saint occurrence. Structurally, the region is deformed into a series of a northwest-trending folds and imbricate thrust faults.

Like the Driftpile Creek deposit, the Saint claims are underlain mainly by the Middle to Upper Devonian Gunsteel Formation (informal name) of the Devono-Mississippian Earn Group (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 373, Paper 88-1E, page 1; Insley, M.W. (1990) - thesis). This unit comprises bluish-grey weathering carbonaceous cherty argillite, siliceous shale and bedded chert, with subordinate mudstone, siltstone and coarser siliciclastics. Important nodular (around 1 centimetre), laminated or massive lenticular barite intervals occur at a number of horizons (Insley, M.W. (1990) - thesis). Regionally they may host lead-zinc sulphide mineralization, although in the Saint area the barite intervals (between 8 and 45 metres thick) are virtually barren and the only sulphide generally present is disseminated or laminated pyrite, up to 5 per cent by volume (Assessment Report 14904). The rocks are thrust faulted and tightly folded into a series of northeast-overturned anticlines and synclines, and the baritic horizons are repeated on the surface. The strata generally strike northwest and dip moderately to steeply southwest. In the southwest corner of the claim group, a thrust places dolomitic siltstones of the Ordovician to Devonian Road River Group onto the Earn Group.

Limonitic gossaneous zones and ferruginous seeps occur in the property locally, but are not associated with the baritic horizons (Assessment Report 14904). They are geochemically anomalous, especially with respect to zinc (some over 1 per cent). Apart from these, there is no record of bedrock mineralization despite the prospective stratigraphy, except for rare sphalerite and galena in the pyritic barite intervals (Assessment Report 14904). Assessment Report 10508 refers to a mineralized quartz vein just south of the Saint 3 claim but gives no details.

In 1977, sampling of a weakly mineralized quartz vein along a steeply dipping fault zone yielded 2.2 per cent zinc over 2.0 metres (Assessment Report 6666).

Another zone of minor mineralization is reported on the Rift 16 claim, approximately 1.5 kilometres north-northwest of the plotted location of the Saint occurrence, and comprises a zone, greater than 200 metres long and 5 metres wide of coarse, crystalline, white vein barite hosting minor malachite and chalcopyrite.

In 1995, a rock sample (ROEN-19) from the Rift 16 zone assayed 0.177 per cent copper (Assessment Report 23800).

Work History

In 1977 and 1978, Welcome North Mines Ltd. completed programs of geological mapping, geochemical (soil and water) sampling, trenching and nine diamond drill holes, totalling 1016.2 metres, on the area as part of the Goof, Knot, P, Bob, Pig, Saint and Sol claims of the Gataga Joint Venture property. Also during 1977 through 1980, SEREM Ltd. completed programs of geological sampling and geochemical (soil and silt) sampling on the area as the Roen 1-2 claims. In 1981, Getty Canadian Metals Ltd. completed a soil sampling program on the area immediately north of the occurrence as the Pig 1 and ET 2 claims.

In 1995 and 1997, Ecstall Mining Corp. completed programs of geological mapping and geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling on the surrounding area as the Rift claims.