The Redwing deposit is located near the headwaters of Tauw Creek, 3.2 kilometres west of Granby Bay on Observatory Inlet. The entrance to the Number 1 adit is located at 594 metres elevation. The property was first staked in 1909 and has been periodically investigated for copper-bearing massive sulphides.
The occurrence is located in a 14.4 by 9.6 kilometre roof pendant within the Eocene Coast Plutonic Complex. The roof pendant, consisting of volcanic and sedimentary rocks, has been correlated with the Middle-Upper Jurassic Hazelton Group and the Middle Jurassic Bowser Lake Group. The volcanics consist of variably chloritized pillow and massive basalt with minor mafic tuffs. The overlying sediments consist of argillite, siltstone and sandstone with minor chert and limestone. There are two observable phases of folding in the area, an initial north-northeast trending phase followed by a later east-northeast trending phase.
The deposit consists of two mineralized bands within a north trending, steeply east dipping, 18 to 30 metre wide zone. The zone, traced for 61 metres along strike, occurs in altered andesitic pillow flows and volcanic breccia located 120 metres west of the volcanic/argillite contact. The zone exposed in the Number 1 adit strikes 173 degrees, dips 60 degrees east and is up to 15 metres wide. The second zone strikes north and dips steeply east.
Mineralization consists of pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and minor sphalerite occurring as disseminations to crude massive bands in chlorite to biotite schist. The shear is cut by two east trending, steeply dipping lamprophyre dikes up to 2.5 metres wide.
Reserves were initially reported as 181,440 tonnes grading 2.0 per cent copper (Northern Miner - April 6, 1967). The grade was revised to 1.84 per cent copper and includes 29.5 grams per tonne silver (Bow River Resources Ltd. Statement of Material Facts, July 11, 1971).
Reserve statistics compiled from original Granby and Cominco files are 181,440 tonnes grading 2.0 per cent copper, 2.7 per cent zinc, 1.2 grams per tonne gold and 85.71 grams per tonne silver (Report by Taiga Consultants Ltd., 1992).
Work History
The property was first located in 1909 by J. McGrath. In 1911, a 36-metre long adit was driven on the mineralization by Pacific Metals Company. At this time, access to the mineralization exposed on the cliff face was accomplished via a trail over snow and ice which then filled the bottom of a box canyon. Since then the permanent snow has all but disappeared, leaving the adit well out of easy access (ca. 1965).
In 1964, three diamond-drill holes were drilled from the old adit by Magnum Consolidated Mining Co. Ltd., but the project was abandoned because of weather and dangerous rock falls. In 1965, two men drove a 55-metre adit, set up a camp, compressor, helicopter platform, and completed trail work. Five diamond-drill holes totalling 174 metres were drilled from the new adit (No. 2) to explore the mineralized shear zone.
In 2006, Kenrich-Eskay Mining Corp. completed a program of airborne electromagnetic and magnetic surveys, stream sediment and rock sampling, geological mapping and 50 diamond drill holes, totalling 14275 metres, on the area as the Coastal Copper project. Four holes, totalling 440.15 metres, were completed on the ridge north of the Redwing occurrence. High-molybdenum, lead and copper values were reported near the southern edge of the property (south of the Redwing occurrence?) and are located within intrusive geology. A molybdenum vein grab sample in this area is reported to have yielded 7.4 grams per tonne gold (Harrison, D., McKinley, S. (2007-06-18): Technical Report on the Coastal Copper Project, Anyox Area).
