The COPPER KING adit is located in the eastern headwaters of Rusty Creek, approximately 2 kilometres west of Moore Peak and 12 kilometres east-northeast of Lillooet, B.C.
The area is underlain by Lower Cretaceous rhyolitic to dacitic volcanic rocks of the Pimanus Formation, (Spences Bridge Group). These host an area of intensely silicified quartz breccia and rhyolite breccia intruded by two small syenitic plugs and several feldspathic dike swarms. Superimposed over these rocks is a large clay-sulphide alteration zone with a silica-rich core.
Locally, historic open-cuts have exposed kaolinitic-argillic-silicic altered dacites near the contact with siliceous rhyolites hosting quartz veins and minor calcite with chalcopyrite and sphalerite. The mineralization has been traced by trenches for a length of 12 metres, a depth of 4.5 metres and an average width of 0.9 metre. Outcrops stained with secondary copper carbonates indicated mineralization that strikes about north 60 degrees west and dips from 35 to 45 degrees northeast.
Three types of mineralization and silica flooding have been identified in the Rusty Creek area: 1) Quartz breccia with vugs and intense silicification of included wall rock - low fine-grained pyrite content; 2) Dark grey 2 millimetre wide quartz veins in parallel bands developed in a 50 to 100 metre wide by 200 to 300 metre long area; 3) rhyolite breccia with moderate clay alteration and less than 3 per cent void space.
In 1949, a sample (No.2) of vein material assayed 61.6 grams per tonne silver, 4.10 per cent copper and 2.1 per cent zinc over 1.05 metres (Assessment Report 31935).
In 2010, a float sample (RCRXS-022) discovered approximately 2 kilometres downstream of the Copper King adit, assayed 4.508 grams per tonne gold and 39.9 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 31935).
Work History
The area was originally explored in the late 1920’s with a number of open-cuts and an adit located 120 metres down slope of the open-cuts. In 1935 and 1936, the claims were re-staked as the Rusty Creek and Bell claims. In 1956, Highland Valley Mining Corp. Ltd. held the claims and completed a program of road building and extended the historic open-cuts. In 1979, Kerr Addison Mines examined the property. A separate (more recent?) adit was noted at road level exposing minor copper stain. In 1983, Ryan Explorations completed a program of geological mapping and geochemical sampling on the area. In 1987, Kangeld Resources Ltd. conducted programs of soil sampling and airborne VLF-EM and magnetometer surveys.
During 2004 through 2014, programs of prospecting, soil and rock sampling, geological mapping and 3D-induced polarization surveys, totaling 31.8 line-kilometres, were coordinated by geologist J.T. Shearer on the area referred to as the Rusty claims, Blustry Mountain property. In 2016 the Moore Peak area was prospected by Hume Exploration Services, noting two primary rock types in the area as a feldspar-phyric dacite and a brown-weathered basalt.
Much of the exploration has been over a 12 kilometre area from Moore Peak (Copper King occurrence area) in the north to Blustry Mountain (Top Hat occurrence area) in the south. For more exploration history and geological inventory on this area, refer to the TOP HAT occurrence (Minfile 092INW105).
