The LG showing is located about 31 kilometres east-northeast of Stewart, midway between Nelson and Del Norte Creeks. The LG vein is possibly the extension of the NMG vein discovered in 1992 (104A 077) near the Bullion zone.
In 1988, Teuton Resources Corp. staked the Bond 1-7 claims over the area. The following year Goodgold Resources Ltd. entered into an option agreement with Teuton and flew a heli-borne VLF-EM and magnetometer survey over the southern part of the Bond claims. In 1990, Goodgold conducted reconnaissance geological mapping and prospecting on the property. The showing was reported at that time on the Bond 2 claim.
The area is underlain by north-striking(?) Lower Jurassic Betty Creek Formation(?) rocks (Hazelton Group) (Bulletin 63). These rocks comprise predominantly plagioclase porphyry andesites that are interbedded with intermediate tuffs and volcaniclastics. Argillite, sandstone and siltstone form thin bands in the volcanics. Northwest-trending, northeast-dipping plagioclase and hornblende porphyritic dikes of the Portland Canal dike swarm intrude all rock types, especially in the area north of the Del Norte Glacier. Northeast, north to north-northwest and east-northeast trending faults have been reported in the area (Assessment Report 21535).
The showing consists of a north-trending, 60-centimetre wide, quartz vein that dips 80 degrees west and is exposed over a length of 8 metres. The vein occurs near the contact between volcanics and sediments and is hosted in argillite at the eastern contact of a north-trending(?) silicified felsic dike. Quartz forms subparallel stringers and crosscutting stockworks in the footwall and hangingwall argillites and overlying dike. The quartz is well mineralized with galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite; malachite and azurite have also been reported. A chip sample collected in 1990 assayed 30.3 grams per tonne gold, 1,428.0 grams per tonne silver, 2.12 per cent lead, 0.45 per cent copper and 0.38 per cent zinc across 1 metre (Assessment Report 21535).
Drilling in 2004 by Lateegra has identified a package of felsic volcanogenic rocks situated between a thick succession of intermediate composition volcanics of the upper Hazelton Group and a siliciclastic succession or either the Salmon River Formation and/or Bowser Basin Group. This unit is thought to correspond stratigraphically to the Mt. Dilworth Formation. The felsic package consists predominantly of lapilli tuffs; felsic tuffs and tuff breccias appear less frequently.
Records indicate that the property was originally staked as the "Bullion" claim, sometime prior to 1913. Between this first staking and 1922, when the property was restaked as the Delnorte Group by Green and Ficklin of Hyder, Alaska, a small adit was driven on the north side of Del Norte creek to test a zone of quartz veining paralleling the contact between Bowser sediments and Hazelton volcaniclastics.
In 1939, Owen McFadden of Stewart, backed by a syndicate, explored the ground by a series of fifteen open-cuts and some small “popholes”. At this time the property was known as the "'Meziadin Group". In the same year, the property was visited by Dr. Mandy of the B.C. Department of Mines; Mandy examined and sampled several of the showings. Samples results indicated erratic low-grade gold mineralization associated with copper and occasional zinc values. According to extant records, most of this sampling was from the north side of Del Norte Creek.
In the 1960s, the area was explored again by companies searching for porphyry copper deposits. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, renewed exploration efforts concentrated on precious metals.
In 1987, Teuton Resources Corp. acquired the Croesus claims and carried out a program of rock and silt sampling. In 1988 Teuton followed up on the discovery of a gold-bearing sulphide lens with a limited program of geological mapping, prospecting, rock sampling and soil sampling in the Bullion and Hardpan Creek areas. Two zones, one featuring lead-zinc mineralization, the other copper-gold, were discovered in the Hardpan Creek drainage.
Teuton was able to option the property to Goodgold Resources Ltd. in 1989. During 1989, Goodgold contracted Aerodat to carry out an airborne EM and Magnetometer survey over the property. In 1990, Goodgold mounted a major $500,000 plus program focusing mostly on the Hardpan Creek portion of the property and consisting of a preliminary phase of grid construction, mapping/prospecting, blasting/trenching, soil geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveying, followed by a second phase of diamond drilling entailing 12 holes totaling 1,119 metres. Highlights include the discovery of the gold-copper "O" zone, the gold-silver- (copper, lead, zinc) “Humdinger" zone, the lead-zinc-(gold-silver) "Grizzly" zone as well as several minor zones of precious and base metal mineralization. In 1991 Goodgold carried out another $100,000 of work before relinquishing its option. During this phase, which concentrated on the north side of Del Norte Creek, geochemical sampling, prospecting and mapping was carried out. The NMG vein yielded significant gold and silver values. A zone of quartz calcite stringers, some highly auriferous, was also discovered north of the toe of Del Norte Glacier. Soil sampling over this area, named the "Crackle 1” zone, disclosed widespread elevated to anomalous copper values. Alteration patterns suggested a porphyry environment.
Teuton carried out a modest 1993 work program which included rock geochemical sampling at four sites within the Del Norte property. Sampling in the Crackle zone and vicinity resulted in the discovery of several new clusters of Au-Ag-As-(Zn-Cu) quartz sulfide stringers some with high gold values. These stringers are now known to occur over an area roughly 700 metre square encompassing both sides of Del Norte Glacier. Little work occurred from 1994 to 2001.
In 2002, crews investigating the area north of the Bullion zone, in the Nelson creek drainage, discovered a 3 to10 metre wide, quartz carbonate-sulfide cemented breccia in argillites carrying gold and silver values. The zone was exposed at the edge of a wasting icefield and called the Kosciuzsko or "K" zone (104A 176).
In 2003, the property was optioned to Lateegra Resources Corp and nine holes were drilled along the LG vein. In 2004, Lateegra Resources Corporation continued to drill the LG gold-silver vein. Thirty-six holes totaling 4519 metres were completed in a series of two to four-hole fans targeting a one-meter-thick quartz-calcite breccia vein. Sulphosalt minerals occur in the vein with pyrite, sphalerite and galena. The intersection in hole 2004-01 is representative of the tenor: 9.25 grams per tonne gold and 958 grams per tonne silver over 0.7 meters. Drilling in 2004 in-filled the area tested in 2003, delineating the LG vein over a horizontal distance of 750 meters, but a series of step-out holes along strike to the north did not locate the structure. Lateegra believes the vein may be faulted and plans to continue a search for the offset. Exploration is also planned to the south across an icefield where the LG vein likely correlates with the wider Kosciuszko vein (104A 176).
In 2005, Sabina Silver Corporation acquired the Del Norte property from Teuton Resources Corporation and drilled on the K-LG gold-silver vein. Ten holes totaling 1400 metres were completed along the southern 500 metres of the 1.2-kilometre-long vein. Drilling between 2002 and 2004 indicates the vein is usually less than 1 metre thick, but a 15.5 metre intercept was reported in drillhole DN05-02 that assayed 6.58 grams per tonne gold and 350 grams per tonne silver (Exploration and Mining in BC 2005, page 34). True thickness of the intersection is not known. In 2005, a helicopter-borne AeroTEM II electromagnetic and magnetic survey was carried out on behalf of Teuton Resources Corp. over the Del Norte-Midas property and a total of 1299.5 line-kilometres was flown.
In 2006, Sabina Silver Corp. completed six diamond drill holes on the LG and Kosciuzsko (MINFILE 104A 167) occurrence.
In 2016, Teuton Resources completed 13 diamond drill holes, totalling 1822.4 metres, on the Del Norte property. During 2017 through 2019, Teuton Resources completed programs of geochemical (rock and soil) sampling, an airborne geophysical (ZTEM and magnetic) survey and four diamond drillholes on the Del Norte property.
In 2019, several grab samples collected from semi-stockwork and satellite veins close to main LG vein returned up to 19.6 grams per tonne gold and 3920 grams per tonne silver (Mastalerz, K., Walus, A. [2020-03-31]: National Instrument 43-101 F-1 Technical Report on Del Norte Property).
