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File Created: 24-Jul-1985 by BC Geological Survey (BCGS)
Last Edit:  24-Mar-2022 by Nicole Barlow (NB)

Summary Help Help

NMI 104B8 Au9
Name GOLDWEDGE, GOLD WEDGE, CATEAR, GOLDEN ROCKET, GOLDRIDGE, DISCOVERY Mining Division Skeena
BCGS Map 104B049
Status Developed Prospect NTS Map 104B08E
Latitude 056º 29' 04'' UTM 09 (NAD 83)
Longitude 130º 12' 16'' Northing 6260649
Easting 425826
Commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Zinc, Lead Deposit Types H05 : Epithermal Au-Ag: low sulphidation
G07 : Subaqueous hot spring Ag-Au
I02 : Intrusion-related Au pyrrhotite veins
Tectonic Belt Intermontane Terrane Stikine
Capsule Geology

The initial discovery of gossan, sulphides and visible gold on the Discovery Vein is credited to E. Ostensoe and E. Kruchkowski in 1978. The veins are located on a rolling plateau at 1550 metres elevation, just to the northwest of a tiny lake. The Goldwedge deposit consists of 3 veins, the Golden Rocket (current producer), Discovery and Goldridge.

The deposit is hosted in massive, green chloritic andesite tuffs and lapilli tuffs of the Lower-Middle Jurassic Unuk River Formation, Hazelton Group. The deposit consists of a quartz vein and veinlet stockwork cutting strongly chloritized to strongly sericitized and weakly silicified massive tuffs. The sericitic alteration includes significant amounts (up to 5 per cent) of euhedral, fine-grained pyrite and the rock is pale grey (bleached) and has a schistose foliation (but is not a true "sericite schist"). The wallrock can locally host massive, fine-grained pyritic seams and veinlets up to 2 centimetres wide. Minor amounts of disseminated euhedral arsenopyrite have been noted within the altered rocks and one large bleb of fuchsite has been noted in the underground works.

The gold occurs as abundant grains, blebs and seams of visible gold in quartz veins and in fault gouge where minor faults cut the ore zone. Gold most often occurs as spongy, arborescent masses but fine crystalline forms have also been noted. Gold values are also associated with pyrite from quartz veins, from pyrite veins and from disseminated pyrite in the sericite-altered wallrock. The general control on the vein stockwork is thought to be a paleofault or shear zone that is all but obscured by the pervasive hydrothermal alteration that accompanied ore deposition. The quartz stockwork also hosts electrum, tetrahedrite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena and pyrargyrite.

Mineralogy and alteration patterns suggest a mesothermal to epithermal vein type deposit associated with Jurassic syenodiorite intrusions.

Indicated reserves of the Golden Rocket zone are 289,500 tonnes grading 38.3 grams per tonne silver and 27.4 grams per tonne gold; indicated reserves of the Discovery zone are 34,451 tonnes grading 37.0 grams per tonne silver and 21.5 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 18679, page 8).

A pilot milling was expected to commence in mid-May of 1988.

An unpaid 45-dollar annual rental fee required to keep a mining lease in good standing triggered a chain of events that resulted in Catear Resources forfeiting the Goldwedge property (The Northern Miner, March 25, 1991). The mining lease reverted back to the Crown and was open for staking. As a result, in 1990, the property ended up in the hands of Exponential Holdings, a private Vancouver-based company.

Refer to West (104B 193) and Snowfield (104B 1079) for details of related mineralization.

Bibliography
EMPR ASS RPT *10533, 15370, 16744, 18679, 36214, 39314
EMPR BC METAL MM00132 (nil production)
EMPR EXPL 1981-319
EMPR FAME RPT #0513, 1987
EMPR FIELDWORK 1987, pp. 199-209; 1991, pp. 517-520
EMPR MAP 65 (1989)
EMPR OF 1988-4; 1992-1; 1998-10
EMPR PF (Bridge, D.A., Ferguson, L.J., Brown, M.G., (1981): 1980 Exploration Report on the Sulphurets Property by Esso Minerals Canada Ltd. (unpublished); Bridge, D., Melnyk, W., (1982): 1981 Exploration Report on the Sulphurets Property; Bridge, D., Melnyk W., (1983): 1982 Exploration Report on the Sulphurets Property by Esso Minerals Canada Ltd. (unpublished); Britten, R.M., (1983): Regional Geological Assessment of the Stewart-Sulphurets Area and Geology and Alteration of the Sulphurets Prospect Area by Esso Minerals Canada Ltd. (unpublished); Lomenda, M.G., (1983): Geology, Alteration and Mineralization of the Mitchell-Sulphurets Ridge and Snowfields Gold zone, Sulphurets Property by Esso Minerals Canada Ltd. (unpublished); Melnyk, W., (1983): 1983 Canada Ltd. (unpublished); Geology Map - 1:31,250 Scale - Newmont Exploration of Canada Ltd., 1960's; Catear Resources Ltd.: Statement of Material Facts, 1987; Catear Resources Ltd.: *Annual Reports 1985, 1986, 1987, (D.J. Alldrick File))
GSC MAP 9-1957; 1418A
GSC P 89-1E, pp. 145-154
GCNL #58,#158,#209,#219,#225, 1986; #66, 1987; #26,#38,#45,#60,#76, #91,#110,#138,#217, 1988; #3(Jan.6),#49(Mar.10),#161(Aug.22), #180(Sept.19), 1989; #227(Nov.23), 1990
N MINER Nov.17, 1986; Aug.15, Oct.3, 1988; Mar.27, 1989, Mar.25, 1991
N MINER MAG *Jan., 1989
NW PROSP Aug/Sept 1988, p. 15
V STOCKWATCH Jul.4, 1987
Catear Resources Ltd.: *Annual Report, 1987, 1986, 1985
Equity Preservation Corp. (Stewart-Sulphurets-Iskut Compilation, Dec. 1988, Showing No. B62)
Kirkham, R.V., (1963): The Geology and Mineral Deposits in the Vicinity of the Mitchell and Sulphurets Glaciers, M.Sc. Thesis, University of British Columbia
Simpson, T.M., (1983): The Geology and Hydrothermal Alteration of the Sulphurets Deposits, Northwest British Columbia, M.Sc. Thesis, University of Idaho
Armstrong, T.A. (2010-01-14): Technical Report and Resource Estimates on the West, Bridge, Galena Hill, Shore, SG & Gossan Hill Gold & Silver Zones of the Brucejack Property
Ghaffari, H. (2010-09-10): Technical Report and Preliminary Assessment of the Snowfield-Brucejack Project
Ghaffari, H. (2010-10-28): Technical Report and Preliminary Assessment of the Snowfield-Brucejack Project
Armstrong, T.A. (2011-03-04): Technical Report and Updated Resource Estimate on the Brucejack Property
Armstrong, T.A. (2011-04-04): Technical Report and Updated Resource Estimate on the Snowfield-Brucejack Property
Ghaffari, H. (2011-06-03): Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Brucejack Project
Armstrong, T.A. (2012-01-12): Technical Report and Resource Estimate on the Brucejack Property
Ghaffari, H. (2012-02-20): Technical Report and Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Brucejack Project
Jones, I. (2019-04-04): Technical Report on the Brucejack Gold Mine
Pretium Resources Inc. (2020-03-09): Technical Report on the Brucejack Gold Mine, Northwest British Columbia

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