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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  21-Nov-2012 by George Owsiacki (GO)

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NMI 104A5 Au1
Name MOONLIGHT, MOONLIGHT 1, NAPCO 1, NAPCO 1-2, SKEENA Mining Division Skeena
BCGS Map 104A021
Status Prospect NTS Map 104A05W
Latitude 056º 16' 38'' UTM 09 (NAD 83)
Longitude 129º 53' 04'' Northing 6237286
Easting 445235
Commodities Silver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc Deposit Types I05 : Polymetallic veins Ag-Pb-Zn+/-Au
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Stikine
Capsule Geology

The Moonlight prospect lies about 350 metres west of Kimball Lake, near the headwaters of American Creek.

The Moonlight showing occurs on the western flank of the north plunging American Creek anticline. The American Creek fault trends north-northeast along the valley. Other faults are parallel and oblique to the major fault; they trend north-northeast, northwest, northeast, and approximately east. An assemblage of Lower Jurassic Hazelton Group rocks underlie the west valley wall. These rocks strike north to northeast and dip west. Lowermost argillites and an overlying siltstone-tuff assemblage (Unuk River Formation) are succeeded upwards by a green, maroon and reddish fragmental assemblage (Betty Creek Formation). Green felsic and granodiorite porphyry dikes are locally conspicuous.

The showing comprises a north-northwest trending, westdipping (35 degrees) fault zone. The fault zone is about 7 metres wide and is exposed over a length of approximately 25 metres. The mineralized fault lies oblique to a north-northeast trending extensive zone of faulting (and attendant silicification and carbonatization) that can be traced for more than 2 kilometres to the north. This zone of faulting and alteration lies at, or close to, the contact between the argillic rocks and the overlying volcanics.

Mineralization is formed by two narrow veins on the hangingwall and footwall of the fault zone, respectively. The hangingwall vein, up to 0.4 metre wide, comprises quartz-calcite with galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and argentite. The footwall vein comprises a 0.2 centimetre wide mylonite, mineralized with galena and argentite. The veins are separated by about 6 metres of silicified rhyodacite which is cut by quartz, calcite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and argentite veinlets. A chip sample from the hangingwall of the zone assayed 378.5 grams per tonne silver, 0.55 gram per tonne gold, 0.13 per cent copper, 5.86 per cent lead and 0.13 per cent zinc across a width of 2.0 metres (Assessment Report 7833).

An adit has been developed on a narrow limonitic fault in the zone of faulting and alteration, approximately 400 metres north-northeast of the Moonlight 1 showing. This is assumed to be the location of the 2 to 10 centimetre wide, quartz-calcite stringers that were reported to carry spectacular arborescent gold (Minister of Mines Annual Report, 1937, page 24, Location B). In 1937, 27.8 kilograms of selected vein material assayed 13,296 grams per tonne gold and 5637 grams per tonne silver. A further shipment of 1728.5 grams yielded 305.6 grams of bullion with a fineness of 667.4 parts gold and 287.6 parts silver (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1937, page 24).

Three quartz stringers, 2 to 8 centimetres wide, also occur on the Moonlight 1 claim, about 275 metres east of the Moonlight 1 showing. The stringers, mineralized with blebs and patches of tetrahedrite, galena and chalcopyrite, strike northeast and dip northwest in a narrow band of tuff. Another concordant stringer, 2 to 5 centimetres wide and traced by opencuts for about 30 metres, strikes northeast and dips northwest. The stringer is hosted by a 10 metre wide band of limy tuff which is intercalated with calcareous argillite. A combined sample of the stringer from two opencuts, mineralized with tetrahedrite, pyrite and galena, assayed trace gold and 2441.2 grams per tonne silver across 3.8 centimetres (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1937, page 22, Location E). In 2006, a drillhole (2006-FR-6) on the Moonlight vein intersected 1.83 metres of 0.19 gram per tonne gold, 1412 grams per tonne silver, 0.303 per cent copper, 0.09 per cent lead and 0.44 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 28726).

On the Moonlight claim, about 70 metres south of the Moonlight 1 showing, a northwest(?)striking brecciated quartz vein, mineralized with sphalerite, galena and chalcopyrite, outcrops in argillite. The vein has been traced for about 50 metres (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1937, page 22, Location D).

The prospect was known in 1930 and has been intermittently prospected since. Spectacular native gold was discovered about 400 metres north of the showing in 1936 (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1937, page 23). Two shipments, totalling 31 kilograms, of high-grade material picked up from several properties were shipped to Trail from this showing in 1937. From this material, 591 grams of gold and 249 grams of silver were recovered. Northwestern Aerial Prospectors Limited discovered several other showings in the area during 1930-37. These were on the Moonlight, Moonlight 1, Camp and Northern (104A 114) claims (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1937, page 21). In 1938, Napco Gold Mines discovered several other showings, especially further northeast on the Pass 3 and 4 (104A 112) claims. In 1955, Great North Mining held the Skeena, American Belle, Ricadonna, AB and RJ claims in the area and drilled several short holes near the Moonlight showing and others on the Pass claims. In 1966, Frontier Exploration carried out further prospecting. In 1979, Tournigan Mining conducted mapping and sampling, especially on the Napco 1 and 2 claims (covering the Moonlight and immediately adjacent showings) and the Liliane (104A 112) claim (covering the previously known showings on the Pass claims). The Moonlight vein was leased for high grading in 1984 (Assessment Report 18430). During 1986-88, Komody Resources and Square Gold Explorations (later renamed Glacier Resources and then Golden Glacier Resources) performed further work, primarily near the Bugnello prospect (104A 112). The latter work included drill testing of two gold-silver veins in 1988. In 2006, Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd. and Pinnacle Mines Ltd. conducted an exploration program on the FR 1 and 4 claims consisting of geochemical sampling along the Lilianne vein (104A 112) and diamond drilling to test the silver tenor of the Moonlight and Coates showing (104A 114). A total of 1307.61 metres of BTW drill core was completed in 15 separate drillholes fiom two different pads.

Bibliography
EMPR AR 1930-110; 1931-45; 1932-60; 1935-29; *1937-20; 1938-25; 1939-66; 1955-17; 1966-41
EMPR ASS RPT *7833, 15145, 15365, 16888, 17665, 18430, 20074, 20256, *28726
EMPR BULL 58, p. 139; 63
EMPR EXPL 1979-277
EMPR OF 1987-22; 1994-14
EMPR MAP 8
EMPR PF (Golden Glacier Resources Inc., Prospectus, August 22, 1988; Fest Resources Corp., Prospectus, March 18, 1988; Napco Gold Mines Ltd., Map by J.T. Mandy, 1938)
EMR MP CORPFILE (Northwestern Aerial Prospectors, Limited; Napco Gold Mines, Limited; Frontier Exploration Limited)
GSC MAP 307A; *315A; 9-1957; 1418A
GSC MEM 175, p. 134
GSC OF 2582; 2779
GSC SUM RPT 1931, Part A, p. 21A

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