The Hellroaring Creek pegmatite stock occurrence is located on a north-trending ridge separating Hellroaring and Angus creeks, approximately 20 kilometres southwest of Kimberley and 31 kilometres west-northwest of Cranbrook. The stock has been explored for feldspar, quartz, mica and, in the 1960s, beryllium.
The area is underlain by quartzite and argillite of the Creston Formation and argillite, quartzite and mica schist of the Aldridge Formation, both of the Mesoproterozoic (Helikian) Purcell Supergroup. These metasediments are intruded by sills and dikes of granodiorite of the Proterozoic Moyie Intrusions, which are in turn intruded by pegmatite of the Middle Proterozoic Hellroaring Creek stock. The east-trending St. Mary fault separates this area from the area underlain by Creston Formation metasediments to the south. The Aldridge Formation is folded into an open northwest-plunging anticline with the Hellroaring Creek stock emplaced in the core.
The pegmatite stock trends north-northwest for 4 kilometres within the Aldrige Formation and is up to 1.5 kilometres wide. The stock appears to be a series of large dike swarms. Most of the sampling and diamond drilling is concentrated in an area at the north end of the stock, where drilling encountered thicknesses of up to 150 metres.
The stock is comprised of medium- to coarse-grained, white to light grey pegmatite typically containing 60 to 70 per cent feldspar, 20 to 30 per cent quartz, 0 to 10 per cent muscovite and 0 to 10 per cent tourmaline. Beryl, garnet, pyrite, pyrrhotite, galena and arsenopyrite occur in minor to trace amounts. The feldspar occurs in distinct microcline and albite rich zones. Quartz occurs in massive lenses several metres thick that are free of feldspar. Muscovite forms fine flakes along fractures and books, up to 13 centimetres across, in irregular patches. Thin needle-like tourmaline crystals (3 by 10 millimetres) and blades up to 3 centimetres long occur in patches. Beryl forms erratically scattered very pale bluish green and white crystals and irregular masses up to 7.5 centimetres in diameter and 15 centimetres in length that tend to be associated with plagioclase, quartz and muscovite. Garnet is present as pink to red grains 1 to 2 millimetres across in addition to occasional veinlets of pyrite, pyrrhotite, galena and arsenopyrite. Iron and manganese staining is common on outcrops and in drillcore.
Work in 1965, by Richfield Oil Corporation, indicated the north end of the stock contains 450 000 tonnes of 0.1 per cent beryllium oxide (Assessment Report 13415, p. 21). Diamond drilling in 1985 and 1986 by Lumberton Mines Ltd. encountered zones containing in excess of 1 per cent tourmaline (Assessment Report 15760, p. 12). Nineteen samples of feldspathic pegmatite analyzed as follows in per cent (Exploration in B.C. 1987, p. B111):
------------------------- SiO2 64.86 to 76.72 Al2O3 12.61 to 19.00 K2O 0.45 to 12.45 Na2O 1.95 to 6.44 CaO 0.05 to 0.64 Fe2O3 0.05 to 4.24 ------------------------- |
Tests carried out by CANMET indicate that the pegmatite can be processed to produce feldspar and mica concentrates that meet industry standards with full liberation at 50 mesh.
Work History
The occurrence area was first staked in 1958 as a beryllium prospect. Subsequent exploration, by various operators in the 1960s and by Lumberton Mines Ltd. in 1984 and 1985, failed to discover beryllium reserves of sufficient grade to warrant further development as a beryllium prospect at this time. However, this work combined with further sampling and diamond drilling by Lumberton Mines in 1986 indicates that the pegmatite stock contains a considerable amount of glass and ceramic grade feldspar.
In 1958, H. Bennett of Cranbrook located the Linda and Linda No. 1 claims on a pegmatite showing in which he found beryl crystals. International Beryllium Corporation was formed in 1961 to prospect the property, which had been expanded to 32 claims. Some 1219 metres of trenching was done before the project was abandoned.
The property was acquired by Canuck Beryllium Corporation, and a small amount of stripping and opencutting was reportedly done by the company in 1963. An agreement between Canuck Beryllium, a subsidiary of Peace River Petroleum Ltd., and Richfield Oil Corporation of California for prospecting and development work on the property was announced on August 1, 1965. Under the terms of the agreement, Richfield Oil had control over operations. Work in 1965 was limited to blasting and sampling some 365.7 metres of trench. This work is reported to have indicated 500 000 tons averaging 0.1 per cent beryllium oxide (Bearcat Explorations Ltd. News Release., 1/02/1984).
In 1971, Kerr Addison Mines Ltd. conducted a regional program of geological mapping and geochemical (soil and silt) sampling on the are as part of the Dewar Creek project.
Some 4550 acres of mineral claims covering the occurrence area were acquired in early 1984 by Bearcat Explorations Ltd. (80 per cent) and Colt Exploration (Western) Ltd. (20 per cent). A joint venture agreement that same year with Fairholme Development Ltd. and Barnwell industries, Inc. provided financing for an initial stage of exploration. Work carried out in 1984 by Lumberton Mines Limited, Bearcat’s 100-per cent–owned subsidiary, included trenching and 500 metres of diamond drilling in seven HQ drillholes; subsequent joint venture interests were: Colt (15 per cent), Fairholme (5 per cent), Barnwell (25 per cent) and Bearcat (55 per cent). Further work in 1985 and 1986 included 2584 metres of diamond drilling in 29 holes, trenching and bulk sample flotation tests. This work delineated three surface areas with significant high-grade ceramic feldspar; potential byproducts are high-grade mica, high-grade silica, and a minor amount of beryllium in the form of beryl. Drillcore samples (4101 to 4106) are reported to have yielded values of 0.099 to 0.135 per cent rubidium (Property File –Schlanz, J.W. (1987-06-22): Re: Results obtained on the last set of samples submitted)
In 1991 and 1992, Minnova, in conjunction with Kokanee Explorations, completed a regional program of prospecting, geological mapping, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and a 12.0 line-kilometre electromagnetic survey on the area immediately north as the Horn and Darlin claims.
Surface prospecting by Chapleau Resources Ltd. in 2000 revealed a number of new untested outcrops of beryl-rich pegmatite. The work is reported to have extended "the old Richfield zone south for 500 metres and 500 metres east". Values high in beryllium and rubidium are reported from grab samples taken by Chapleau (George Cross Newsletter, August 1, 2000 (No. 147). Later that year, a single diamond drill hole, totalling 451.5 metres, was completed. The drillhole yielded elevated values of up to 297 parts per million beryllium, 62 parts per million tantalum, 31 parts per million cesium, 431 parts per million rubidium, 5228 parts per million zirconium and 25 parts per million yttrium, whereas two 1.0-metre sections (191 to 192 and 314 to 315 metres down hole) contained quartz veins with sphalerite and galena mineralization which assayed 0.240 and 0.405 per cent lead with 0.245 and 0.014 per cent zinc, respectively (Assessment Report 26501).
In 2000 and 2001, Super Group Holdings Ltd. directed the exploration and Chapleau Resources Ltd. performed the work on the property, which included an 18-hole diamond drilling program, totalling 3994.0 metres. Drilling yielded intercepts of up to 0.075 per cent beryllium oxide over 23.0 metres, including 0.190 per cent beryllium oxide over 8.0 metres in hole HL00-6 and 0.017 per cent bitantalum pentoxide over 1.0 metre in hole HL00-8 (Assessment Report 26693).
In 2019, a minor rock sampling program was conducted by Andris Kikauka on the area as the Hellroaring property. An outcrop sample of pegmatite (19HR-3) assayed 0.798 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 38334). In 2023, a further minor program of geochemical (rock, silt and soil) sampling was conducted on the Hellroaring property by A. Kikauka.
