The AT occurrence is exposed along the west bank of a creek that flows northward into the south end of Dry Lake, 600 metres southwest of the lake.
The area is underlain by a mass of andesite of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group, surrounded by biotite hornblende granite/granodiorite in the western margin of the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic Allison Lake pluton. The occurrence lies just west of the faulted (?) northwest-striking contact between the andesite and the intrusive. The granite exhibits some chloritization and epidote alteration. The volcanics are chloritized and silicified, and contain pervasive, fine disseminated pyrite in the vicinity of the showing.
Trenching exposes irregular bands and shears mineralized with pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, malachite and azurite. The shears strike 155 to 165 degrees and dip 45 to 60 degrees southwest and 40 to 60 degrees northeast to vertical. Zones of siliceous and strongly fractured andesite are also present and contain white quartz and is mineralized with similar sulphides to those found in the shears.
In 1977, a sample (876K) across a shear zone exposed in trench 2 assayed 6.5 grams per tonne silver, 1.11 per cent copper, 0.06 per cent lead and 2.14 per cent zinc over 0.3 metre, whereas a sample (69002) of a zone of siliceous and fractured andesite also exposed in trench 2 assayed 5.5 grams per tonne silver, 0.14 per cent copper, 0.09 per cent lead and 1.35 per cent zinc over 1 metre (Assessment Report 6697). Also at this time, a sample (69001) from an altered zone exposed in trench 6 yielded 0.56 per cent copper and 0.80 per cent zinc over 1 metre (Assessment Report 6697).
In 2006, two samples of epithermal quartz felsenmeer, located approximately 2.8 kilometres southeast of the occurrence, yielded 0.135 and 0.275 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 28827).
In 2010, grab samples (AT-MAY-009, -007 and -011) from a historical trench (no. 2) yielded values up to greater than 1 per cent copper and zinc each, with 0.354 per cent lead, 0.050 per cent tungsten, 0.028 per cent molybdenum, 8.2 grams per tonne silver and 0.450 gram per tonne gold; whereas a sample (AT-MAY-010) from trench no. 6 yielded 0.53 per cent copper, 0.92 per cent zinc and 0.012 per cent tungsten (Assessment Report 32072).
In 2015, 13 grab and chip samples from the historical trenches yielded an average of 0.586 per cent zinc, 0.401 per cent copper, 0.026 per cent lead and 0.075 gram per tonne gold, with values of up to 1.411 per cent zinc, 1.154 per cent copper, 0.199 per cent lead and 0.140 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 35585).
Work History
The occurrence was first trenched, and soil sampled by Coseka Resources Ltd. (formerly Coin Canyon Mines Ltd.) in 1971. Additional programs of soil sampling, ground magnetometer surveys, trenching and geological mapping were conducted on the area as the AT and Ace claims by Komo Explorations Ltd. in 1972 and Cardero Resources Ltd. in 1977.
In 1980, Nufort Resources Inc. soil sampled the area immediately north of the occurrence as the Dry and Lake claims.
In 2006, Tanqueray Resources Ltd. completed a program of rock, silt and soil sampling on the area immediately west and south of the occurrence as the Otter and McCaffrey properties. In 2007, Condorado Operating Co. Ltd. completed a minor program of rock and soil sampling on the area as the Dry Lake property. In 2008, Fox Resources completed a soil sampling program on the Otter property.
No other work was conducted on the occurrence itself until 2010, when prospecting at the AT occurrence to locate and confirm the existence of historically reported zinc-copper mineralization was undertaken by Paul Hoogendoom. The mineralized shear zones were successfully located, and sampling confirmed the tenor of historical mineralization. Consistent with vein-type mineralization, gold and silver had good correlations with mercury in the AT occurrence samples, suggesting the suitability of this element as a useful pathfinder mineral. The program confirmed the presence of economically interesting grades of polymetallic mineralization and enrichment within a series of narrow shear zones at the AT occurrence, west of Dry Lake (Assessment Report 32072).
In 2011, an exploration program on the Dry Lake property consisted of a small, reconnaissance-scale stream and soil sampling program southeast of the pyritized, quartz-bearing Gossan zone identified during the 2010 field season. The program identified the presence of gold enrichment (soil and stream sediment) in the target area. Results were not inconsistent with the initial exploration hypothesis—that a potentially mineralized trend extends across the west shore of the Allison Creek Valley, projecting through the AT occurrence at approximately 165 degrees (Assessment Report 32777).
In 2012, Paul Hoogendoorn and Peter Palikot completed a program of prospecting and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as the Dry Lake property. In 2013, a further program of soil sampling was completed on the property.
During 2015 through 2019, Paul Hoogendoorn completed minor programs of geological mapping and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as the Ace property.
