The North Ward occurrence is located in the southern head waters of a creek flowing north into Ranger Lake, at an elevation of approximately 1350 metres.
The area is underlain by Proterozoic (Helikian) Belt–-Purcell Supergroup sediments, mainly clean quartzite, siltstone, and argillite of the Creston Formation in contact on the east with dolomite and dolomitic siltstone of the Kitchener Formation. These have been intruded by gabbro-diorite Moyie sills and dikes that are locally associated with mineralized base and precious metal veins. Structure in the area is mostly east- west–trending, as evidenced by veins and cleavage; bedding tends to undulate but is mostly shallow-dipping.
Locally, stratabound lead-zinc-copper mineralization is hosted by calcareous siltstone in the Lower Kitchener Formation. Mineralization occurs as disseminations, stringers, and massive veins over a stratigraphic thickness greater than 2.6 metres and scattered outcrops hosting mineralization can be traced over 1.6 kilometres. Sulphide mineralization was not described. In 2011 a sample (SK11-141) of vein material assayed 67 per cent lead and 832 grams per tonne silver, while individual beds assayed up to 1.6 per cent combined lead-zinc (Assessment Report 32807).
During 2007 through 2013, Kootenay Gold completed a program of geological mapping, hand trenching, rock, soil and silt sampling, a 500-line-kilometre airborne magnetic survey and a 500-line-kilometre seismic survey on the area as the KRL claims, Silver Fox property.
In 2016, Kootenay Silver Inc. collected 304 rock samples and conducted geological mapping, a 94-kilometre ground magnetic survey and a 38-kilometre ground electromagnetic (VLF) survey in the Yahk Mountain and Ward area. Rock sampling occurred in the Barkshanty Creek, 2.7 kilometres northeast of North Zone (082GSW086), along Yahk Mountain ridge (082GSW072), the Ranger Lake/Gilnockie Creek area, and the Ward area southeast of the North Ward showing (Assessment Report 36545). Diamond drill hole SFW-17-01 was drilled about 2 kilometres west-southwest of the North Ward occurrence.
WORK HISTORY
In the late 1980s, Kokanee Exploration staked claims in the northern part of the Silver Pipe area (082GSW058). Work from the 1980s to 2017, has continued over the Silver Fox property from the U.S. border northwest to Moyie Lake.
The Erin claims were staked by L. Stephenson in 1992 to locate and evaluate the projected trend of the Pipeline showing (082GSW058) and soil sampling, mapping, and prospecting were subsequently carried out (Assessment Report 25799). Considerably more work was done by Stephenson in the mid to late 1990s on the Erin and Dek claims; the Dek claims, staked in 1997 covered both the KRL (Sara) and Silver Pipe veins. Work in 1998 included geological mapping, additional prospecting and ground VLF and magnetometer surveys (Assessment Reports 25799 and 26018).
In 2005, D. Lavoie and S. Kennedy staked the area around the Jake and Silver Pipe veins and optioned them to Grandeur Resources Ltd. who conducted a program of prospecting and rock and soil geochemistry, mainly in the vicinity of the KRL (renamed Sara, 082GSW087) showings (Kennedy, 2005, 2006, and 2007: Assessment Reports 28069, 28623, 29609).
In 2009, detailed mapping by Pighin (Assessment Report 30660) in the vicinity of the Sara vein differentiated the Creston Formation, outlined areas of intense alteration, defined structural controls and better defined and delineated the Sara vein.
In 2010, Kootenay Gold Inc. (later Kootenay Silver Inc.) collected 42 rock samples from the KRL (Silver Fox) claims of the Silver Fox property (Assessment Report 32181). Reconnaissance style prospecting had discovered a stratabound copper occurrence hosted in the strata. The KRL claim block was expanded to include the newly discovered showing as well as prospective stratigraphy along a favourable horizon south to the U.S. Border. The KRL (Sarah) veins were subsequently renamed to Sarah (082GSW087). Prospecting discovered several stratabound copper showings including Blacktail Creek (082GSW099), Borrow Pit (082GSW073), Jake Creek (082GSW070), Skarn Zone (082GSW103), Upper Gilnocke (082GSW100, 101), and Yahk Mountain (082GSW072).
Work during the 2011 field season by Kootenay Silver included a reconnaissance silt geochemical program (Assessment Report 32638), additional prospecting by Kennedy (Assessment Report 33261) and geological mapping by Hoy (Assessment Report 32645). Mapping at 1:20,000 scale started at the south end of the property and continued north in 2012 and 2013 by Anderson (Assessment Report 33379 and 34631). Results by Anderson from 2013 mapping in the St. Eugene area were sufficiently encouraging to initiate a more detailed program in 2014 when geological mapping at 1:10000 scale was completed over about a 40-square kilometre area southeast from the St. Eugene Mine (Assessment Report 34965).
In 2012, 96 soil samples and 11 rock samples were collected in the Ward Creek area of the property where an area of anomalous copper and lead with some coincident silver values was partially defined (Assessment Report 34086). Sampling occurred just west of the North Ward showing (082GSW089) to almost 2 kilometres northwest and southwest of the occurrence.
In 2013, 28 kilometres of ground electromagnetic (VLF) and magnetic surveying were completed by Kootenay Silver over three grids on their Silver Fox claim block (Assessment Report 34146). Grid 1 covered an area over the Jake Copper occurrence (082GSW070), Grid 2 covered and area immediately east of the Silver Pipe occurrence (082GSW058) and Grid 3 data was acquired in area between the Jake Copper and Silver Pipe occurrences. Evidence of significant zones of high electrical conductivity from the three areas was found.
In 2014, Kootenay Silver conducted more detailed geological mapping on its Silver Fox claim block (Assessment Report 35034). Work was focused on three principal areas, two of these being to the south around Ward and Gilnockie creeks, with the third being at the St. Eugene mine. Additional mineralization was not identified in the 2014 mapping, excepting the weak mineralization located within the fault complex in North Ward. Detailed geology is shown around Jake, KRL (Sarah, 082GSW087), Silver Pipe (082GSW058), and Sara-Ann zones.
In 2015, Kootenay Silver Inc. continued mapping in the Jake Ridge (082GSW109), KRL (Jake (082GSW070) and Snake), Oke Creek areas; the Middle block which included Yahk Mountain to Haller Creek; and the South block which included the Gilnockie (creek) to North Ward (082GSW089) area (Assessment Report 36022). Prospecting and mapping identified some alteration zones where sufficient outcrop enabled recognition to the north at Silver Pipe (082GSW058), KRL (Sarah, 082GSW087), and Jake Ridge (082GSW109). Copper mineralization was previously recognized at Jake Ridge (082GSW109), Yahk Mountain (082GSW072), Haller Creek north (082GSW103), and Ward Creek (082GSW105). Also in 2015, Kootenay Silver collected 229 rock samples and conducted prospecting. Prospecting was focused on three areas during the program, from north to south they were the Jake Ridge (082GSW109), Yahk Ridge (082GSW072), and Ward Creek (082GSW105) areas (Assessment Report 35769 and 36064). Several small copper showings were documented and subsequently added to MINFILE (see 082GSW099 to 110).
In 2016 Kootenay Silver Inc. collected 304 rock samples and conducted geological mapping, a 94-kilometre ground magnetic survey and a 38-kilometre ground electromagnetic (VLF) survey in the Yahk Mountain and Ward area. Rock sampling occurred in the Barkshanty Creek, 2.7 kilometres northeast of North Zone (082GSW086), along Yahk Mountain ridge (082GSW072), the Ranger Lake/Gilnockie Creek area, and the Ward area southeast of the North Ward showing (082GSW088) (Assessment Report 36545). Rock sampling indicated an enrichment of copper in the Ward Creek. Samples from the Ranger Lake area indicated widespread copper with some elevated lead and silver in thin quartzitic intervals. The Barkshanty area shows an enrichment for copper and lead within a relatively thick quartzitic sequence. Fracture copper mineralization (chalcopyrite/bornite) was found south of the Sunrise Creek Fault in association with northwest trending quartz veins which cut mauve quartzites, argillites and siltstones. Geological mapping was continued in 2016 by Kootenay Silver covering an area near the headwaters of Farrell Creek (Golden Burp showing (082GSW085) (northwest end of the Silver Fox property), southeast over the Tepee Creek area occurrences and further south covering Burrow Pit (082GSW073) and North Ward (082GSW089) occurrences.
In 2017, Kootenay Silver Inc, completed 2727 metres of diamond drilling in five drill holes on the property across a distance of approximately 26 kilometers (Assessment Report 37418). Drilling was intended to target the down-dip stratigraphic extension of surface showings of low-grade copper-silver-lead mineralization in the Middle and Upper Creston Formations near the Tepee Copper (082GSW088), Jake Copper (082GSW070), Sarah (082GSW087), Yahk Mountain (082GSW072), Burrow Pit (Gilnocke Creek drillhole) (082GSW073), and North Ward (082GSW089) areas.
