The West Kaketsa occurrence is located on the west slopes of Kaketsa Mountain, about 2 kilometres east of the Sheslay River, approximately 54 kilometres northwest of the community of Telegraph Creek.
A number of copper showings occur near the contact of the Late Triassic Kaketsa pluton with Upper Triassic Stuhini Group volcanic and related sedimentary rocks. The volcanic rocks are mainly porphyritic flows with lesser tuffs and tuffaceous siltstones. The flow rocks form massive units and are grey to dark green andesitic to basaltic porphyries with phenocrysts of augite and hornblende. The Kaketsa pluton is an elliptical intrusion 4 by 5.6 kilometres in diameter. Hornblende gave a K-Ar date of 218 +/- 8 million years (Geology, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 1972, page 548). The core of the pluton is medium to coarse grained, equigranular quartz diorite or granodiorite.
Original work described the West Kaketsa showing, as being on the west slopes of Kaketsa Mountain where a series of quartz-carbonate veins are mineralized with pyrite and chalcopyrite along with minor galena and lesser sphalerite.
In 2018, rocks were mapped and sampled by Garibaldi Resources. The outcrop consisted of diorite, quartz diorite and granodiorite with less diorite breccia and narrow bands of rusty weathering quartz carbonate veining in shear zones. Mineralization was sparse with trace pyrite and chalcopyrite (<1 percent) in veinlets and disseminated through alteration bands and fractures in the intrusives. The gossan zone consists of a 10 metre wide sheared interval of quartz diorite with pervasive vuggy quartz-carbonate veining and limonite exhibiting patchy malachite stain.
The 22 rock samples taken at West Kaketsa in 2018 averaged 0.12 per cent copper with a high of 0.64 per cent and a low of 0.002 per cent; 6 of these samples contained greater than 0.1 per cent copper (Assessment Report 37794).
WORK HISTORY
Reports of first discovered copper mineralization in the Sheslay and Hackett river areas date back to the 1950’s. From the 1950’s to the 1970’s much of the exploration was focused north of the Grizzly Property on the Star Property, formerly Copper Creek, with less exploration completed on the current Grizzly property.
During 1971, Skyline Explorations Ltd. conducted a detailed program of geologic mapping, sampling and ground magnetometer surveying. A total of 199 magnetometer readings were taken; 200 reconnaissance silt or soil samples were collected from around Kaketsa Mountain but several samples were lost in transit and only 135 results are available.
Reports of first discovered copper mineralization in the Sheslay and Hackett river areas date back to the 1950’s. From the 1950’s to the 1970’s much of the exploration was focused north of the Grizzly Property on the Star Property, formerly Copper Creek, with less exploration completed on the current Grizzly property.
From the 1960’s to 1980’s work on the Grizzly Property was focused on the west portion in areas known as West Kaketsa and Grizzly West. Kennecott Exploration, Skyline Exploration and Cobre Exploration completed soil geochemical, ground IP, and airborne magnetic surveys throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s which led to the discovery of four copper showings: Grizzly West (104J 004), HO (104J 023) and West Kaketsa 104J 024).
In 1974 Brascan Resources and Ducanex Resources optioned the Project and completed three shallow diamond drill holes at the Grizzly West prospect, intersecting strong potassic alteration and weak copper mineralization.
In 1988 Corona Corporation acquired the Grizzly West ground and completed prospecting, rock sampling and soil sampling producing numerous soil anomalies from 0.5 to 1.0 gram per tonne gold associated with copper mineralization.
In 1990 prospector Alex McMillan worked the AL 9 (104J 060) area and discovered porphyry veins 1.2 to 1.8 metres wide.
Over 1990-1991 Active Minerals also performed a series of soil and stream sediment sampling programs in the current Grizzly Central area, about 5 to 7 kilometres to the southeast of Grizzly West.
The property was dormant from 1991 – 2005 when Garibaldi Resources Corp optioned a consolidated land package from Ram Explorations and continued to expand the property.
In 2006 an airborne magnetic survey was completed that covered the south central part of the Grizzly property known as the Grizzly Central area which encompassed magnetic anomalies and future “Main (copper-in-soil) anomaly”. This area was later (2015) to contain a new Ultramafic-hosted nickel at the Ultra 1 occurrence. The airborne survey coverage consisted of approximately 510.2 line kilometres including 49.3 kilometers of tie lines (Assessment Report 29277).
From 2008 – 2012 a number of reconnaissance soil geochemical surveys were performed, targeting magnetic anomalies identified in the 2006 airborne survey. These geochemical surveys outlined a 350 metre x 1000 metre copper-in-soil anomaly in the Grizzly Central area as well as confirmed copper-in-soil anomalies at the historic Grizzly West area. Approximately 2483 soil samples were taken (including 2015 samples) in the Grizzly Central area (see Ultra 1 prospect (new MINFILE), 274 in the Southwest Anomaly (104J 063) and 800 in the Grizzly West area (104J 004).
A trial geophysical IP survey was completed in 2009 in the Grizzly Central area to test a magnetic anomaly and identified areas of high chargeability flanking the anomaly.
In 2013, a 339 kilometre airborne magnetic and radiometric survey was completed over the northwest part of the property that identified a number of magnetic highs and Th/K lows associated with copper-gold showings (Assessment Report 34492). Interpretations are found in Assessment Report 35011).
In March of 2015 a soil geochemical survey totaling 290 samples was completed to infill areas of the 350 metre by 1000 metre copper-in-soil anomaly in the Grizzly Central area. In the second half of 2015 five drill holes, totaling 1153 metres, were completed at Grizzly Central. No significant copper mineralization was observed but did result in a nickel, scandium and magnesium prospected named the Ultra 1 showing (Assessment Report 36480).
In 2017 Garibaldi Resources worked on the reclamation of the 2015 drill program and no further work was done until this year’s exploration program.
In 2018, Garibaldi Soil conducted geochemical surveys on 4 of the 5 targets: Hat East, Pyrrhotite Creek South (new showing), West Kaketsa (104J 024), and AL 9 (104J 060). In total 192 soil samples were taken. The 26 soil samples at West Kaketsa averaged 280.1 parts per million copper with a high of 1490 parts per million copper and a low of 52.3 parts per million copper. 9 of these soil samples were greater than 300 parts per million copper, including 4 greater than 500 parts per million copper and including 1 greater than 1000 parts per million copper copper (Assessment Report 37794). Rock sampling was completed at 5 targets: Pyrrhotite Creek South (10 rocks), West Kaketsa (22 rocks), Grizzly Prospect (12 rocks), AL 9 (1 rock) and Hat East (1 rock). In total 46 rock samples were taken. Mapping was conducted on all targets except Hat East. From September 21,to October 10, 2018 Geotech flew a Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM plus) and Horizontal Magnetic Gradiometer Geophysical Survey over the Grizzly claims. A total area of 303 square kilometres – or 1705 line-kilometres – of geophysical data were acquired during the survey covering the entire Grizzly property and all its occurrences (Assessment Report 37794). Traverse lines were flown East-West at a 200 metre spacing.
