The Porcupine occurrence is located near the eastern shore of McDame Lake, approximately 117 kilometres north of the community of Dease Lake.
The area is underlain by grey-green, aphanitic to sandy-textured basalt flows and tuffs of the Upper Paleozoic Sylvester Allochthon (Slide Mountain Complex). The volcanics locally exhibit a sub-brecciated or crackle texture.
Locally, white quartz veins up to 2.0 metres wide strike northeast and dip steeply southeast, along the dominant joint trend. Vein walls may be poorly defined, with adjacent greenstone being strongly silicified and pyritized. The Porcupine vein contains a refractured centre zone with dark glassy quartz. The veins contain tetrahedrite, minor chalcopyrite, pyrite and gold. The Porcupine vein (or its alteration zone) can be traced for 600 metres along strike and has been tested to a depth of at least 50 metres where it pinches down to 0.1 to 0.2 metres in width.
The Porcupine East (McDame Creek zone) system examined by Cusac Gold Mines in 2005 comprises several previously known, east-striking, mineralized quartz veins previously explored by drilling. The veins are east of McDame Lake on the south side of McDame Creek next to the west side of Mystery Lake and appear to be the eastern extension of surface exposures known as the Davis Porcupine area.
In 1977, drillhole 77-46 on the McDame Creek zone yielded intercepts of 9.7 and 16.6 grams per tonne gold over 2.7 and 0.8 metres, respectively (Assessment Report 6641). Later reports indicate that drillhole 77-46 yielded intercepts of 24.8, 9.7 and 8.9 grams per tonne gold over 0.2, 1.4 and 1.4 metres (Assessment Report 11074).
In 1979, a sample (1021) from the vein assayed 3.5 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 7816).
In 1980, the Porcupine vein assayed 106.97 grams per tonne silver and 3.77 grams per tonne gold across 2.1 metres (Assessment Report 9116).
In 1981, drillhole MBC 81-4, located on the western strike extension of the Porcupine vein, yielded 15.2 grams per tonne gold and 32.2 grams per tonne silver over 1.9 metres (Assessment Report 10249).
In 1982, drilling on the eastern strike extent of the Porcupine vein yielded 1.3 grams per tonne gold over 24.6 metres in hole 82-21, whereas drilling on the McDame Creek zone, located approximately 300 metres east of the Porcupine vein system and near the south bank of McDame Creek, intercepted at least eight narrow vein/stringer zones and two silicified shear zones hosting gold values. Intercepts included 1.5 and 2.4 grams per tonne gold over 2.2 and 7.5 metres in holes 82-20 and 82-22, respectively (Assessment Report 11074).
In 2005, drilling the eastern extension of the Porcupine vein (Porcupine East-McDame Creek zone) yielded 1.88 and 7.52 grams per tonne gold over 4.05 and 0.60 metres (94.20 to 98.25 and 155.40 to 156.00 metres downhole), respectively (Assessment Report 28314).
Work History
In 1977, Nu-Energy Development Corp. completed five diamond drill holes, totalling 324.0 metres, and a 29.0 line-kilometre ground electromagnetic (VLF) survey was completed on the BB, Up, Top 1-5, Nora, FG 1, Mill, Val, Ned and Jennie Ext. claims.
During 1979 through 1982, Esso Resources Canada Ltd. completed programs of geological mapping, geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling, 1261.3 metres of diamond drilling, trenching and ground electromagnetic (VLF) surveys on the area as the McDame property.
In 1986, Erickson Gold Mines completed a trenching and soil sampling program on the area immediately east as the Go claim.
In 1995, the area was held and examined by Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. as the Table Mountain Gold property.
In 2005, Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. drilled a total of 2444 metres in 13 drillholes on their Taurus II property, in three areas: the Backyard system (MINFILE 104P 121), with six holes totalling 1140.1 metres; the Somerville system (MINFILE 104P 016), with six holes totalling 1122.5 metres, and the Porcupine East (MINFILE 104P 077), with one hole totalling 181.4 metres. Hole 05PE-01 was drilled on the Porcupine East to look for extensions to a vein swarm intersected in hole 83M-21. Only one narrow higher-grade zone was intersected.
In 2007 and 2008, Hawthorne Gold Corporation and Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. entered into a merger agreement whereby the two companies would continue to operate under the corporate entity of Hawthorne Gold Corporation. Hawthorne became the owner and operator of Cusac’s Table Mountain (MINFILE 104P 070) and Taurus (MINFILE 104P 012) properties and proceeded to form a private subsidiary company, Cassiar Gold Corporation, to retain assets acquired from Cusac. The entirety of this land package became known as the Cassiar Gold property. The exploration program comprised field reconnaissance, soil sampling (606 samples), rock and chip sampling (365 samples), airborne magnetic and VLF-EM surveying (6567 kilometres), geophysics ground truthing, and diamond drilling (15 holes totalling 2536.5 metres on the East Bain vein, MINFILE 104P 070).
In 2009 and 2010, China Minerals Mining Corp. completed regional programs of geological mapping, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and a 5090.0 line-kilometre airborne magnetic, radiometric and electromagnetic survey on the area as the Cassiar Gold property.
In 2019, Margaux Resources completed a program of prospecting, geological mapping and rock sampling on the area as the Cassiar Gold property. In 2020, Cassiar Gold Corp. completed a program of regional photogeological interpretation, prospecting and rock sampling on the Cassiar Gold property.
