The THREE FIRS prospect is located on the Woodjam North property, approximately 10 kilometres south-southwest of the community of Horsefly and 65 kilometres northeast of the city of Williams Lake.
The property is underlain by a succession of Triassic to Jurassic Nicola Group volcanics and sedimentary rocks intruded by the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Takomane Batholith to the south. To the west, these units are overlapped by younger Miocene basalts. In the vicinity of the Woodjam property, the Takomkane Batholith typically consists of medium- to coarse-grained, white, equigranular granite to quartz monzonite. Mineral occurrences on the Woodjam property, including Megabuck, Megabuck East, Deerhorn, Takom, Tisdall Lake and the Southeast zone, consist of near-surface copper-gold±molybdenum mineralization similar to that of large tonnage low-grade alkalic porphyry-type deposits typical of the Quesnel Belt. Deposits on the Woodjam North property are silica-saturated alkalic copper-gold porphyries with mineralization dominated by visible chalcopyrite, minor bornite, rare molybdenum and rare native copper.
Significant results from 2012 drilling include 28 metres of 0.35 per cent copper and 0.43 gram per tonne gold, 40 metres of 0.34 per cent copper and 0.59 gram per tonne gold, and 213.5 metres averaging 0.2 per cent copper and 0.2 gram per tonne gold, including 25 metres of 0.37 per cent copper and 0.59 gram per tonne gold and 83 metres of 0.26 per cent copper and 0.35 gram per tonne gold (Press Release, Woodjam Copper Corporation, August 7, 2012; January 21, 2013). Hole MAG12-03 represents the newly discovered mineralized zone at Three Firs: 152.00 metres (from 149 to 301 metres) of 0.231 gram per tonne gold and 0.213 per cent copper. This intersection was followed by 37.78 metres (335.9 to 373.68 metre) of 0.161 gram per tonne gold and 0.215 per cent copper, and 15.91 metres (391 to 406.91 metres) of 0.070 gram per tonne gold and 0.148 per cent copper (Assessment Report 33805).
In 2024, drill holes TF24-123 and TF24-126 intersected a new zone of polymictic breccia approximately 500 metres northwest of the Three Firs copper-gold target. The breccia contained common intrusive clasts with quartz-chalcopyrite± bornite stockwork. Assays from the breccia returned up to 0.35 per cent copper and 0.50 gram per tonne gold, with mineralization hosted mainly in the clasts.
WORK HISTORY
Exploration first began in the area in the 1800s. The first mineral occurrence discovered on the Woodjam property was the Megabuck zone, discovered in the late 1960s in a small hand trench on the northern slope of a small knoll. Between 1966 and 1967, Helicon Exploration Limited and Magnum Consolidated Mining Company completed induced polarization and geological surveys in the area. From 1973 to 1977, Exploram Minerals Limited conducted an exploration program consisting of induced polarization and magnetic geophysical surveys, soil samplings and 1056 metres of drilling on the Megabuck and Takom zones.
In 1983, Placer Development Company optioned the claims in the Megabuck zone and conducted surface geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys and completed 15 diamond drill holes totalling 1266 metres. At the same time, Archer Cathro & Associates Limited staked the Ravioli claims adjacent to those held by Placer Development and conducted soil sampling to the west and south of the Megabuck occurrence. In 1984, Rockridge Mining Corporation optioned the claims from Archer Cathro and completed a soil and rock sampling program. In 1986, Big Rock Gold Limited optioned the claims from Rockridge as well as claims over the Takom zone and southern portion of the Megabuck zone. Big Rock carried out a trench sampling program, completing two trenches in the Megabuck zone and three in the Takom zone. In 1990, Auspex Gold Limited carried out a soil geochemistry program over the Takom zone. The claims were reassembled by Noranda Exploration Limited in 1991 and an exploration program carried out the following year consisted of airborne geophysical surveys, reconnaissance mapping and excavator test-pitting over the Megabuck and Takom zones; however, Noranda terminated the options later that year.
In 1998, Wildrose Resources Limited (now known as Cariboo Rose Resources Limited) began acquiring property in the area. The following year, the property was optioned to Phelps Dodge Corporation of Canada Limited, who further expanded the property and conducted reconnaissance mapping and prospecting and completed four diamond drill holes totalling 198 metres before withdrawing from the project for corporate reasons. In 2001, Cariboo Rose granted Fjordland Exploration Incorporated a 60 per cent option on the property, forming the Woodjam Joint Venture. That same year, 23 line kilometres of induced polarization and magnetic geophysical surveys were carried out over the Megabuck, Deerhorn and Megabuck East zones. Exploration the following year consisted of five diamond drill holes totalling 1009.4 metres drilled to the north, northeast and southwest of the Megabuck zone. In 2003, three diamond drill holes totalling 460.85 metres were drilled to test the Megabuck East mineralization corridor and the periphery of an induced polarization anomaly identified during the 2001 exploration program. In 2004, 11 diamond drill holes were completed in the Megabuck zone, totalling 3967.6 metres. The drilling was designed to test the Megabuck zone to depth and delineated a large, irregular, complex pipe-like intrusive body hosting copper and gold mineralization, trending northeast and dipping approximately 45 degrees to the southeast. In 2005, soil sampling over an area stretching from the Megabuck East zone south to the Southeast zone identified copper anomalies coincident with induced polarization chargeability anomalies over the Megabuck East and Southeast zones. Additional exploration included six diamond drill holes totalling 2017.6 metres and 907.4 metres of reverse circulation drilling over 10 drillhole, zone in the western portion of the Megabuck zone, one in the Megabuck East zone and eight in the Takom zone, targeting the copper soil anomalies identified by the soil sampling program.
Fjordland Exploration staked additional ground surrounding the existing claims in 2006, effectively doubling the size of the property. Exploration work that year consisted of one diamond drill hole totalling 526.4 metres in the Takom zone, one diamond drill hole abandoned at 136.3 metres in the Megabuck East zone and 21 diamond drill holes totalling 7654.7 metres, intended to test the southern down dip extension of known mineralization in the Megabuck zone. In 2007, Fjordland and Cariboo Rose carried out induced polarization and ground magnetic geophysical surveys, expanding the existing grids to the south and outlining a large induced polarization chargeability anomaly. Drill testing of the anomaly led to the identification of the Southeast zone mineralization on the Woodjam South property. Four drillholes were completed on the Southeast zone, totalling 1157.07 metres, in addition to one drillhole (370.9 metres) on the Megabuck zone and three drillholes (859.9 metres) on the Takom zone. In 2008, work continued with induced polarization and ground magnetic geophysical surveys and a three-phase diamond drill program of 20 drillholes totalling 7574.6 metres. Four drillholes totalling 1176.6 metres were completed in the Takom, Deerhorn and Megabuck East zones on the Woodjam North property.
In 2009, the Woodjam property was divided into the Woodjam North and Woodjam South properties. Gold Fields Horsefly Corp. optioned the Woodjam North property, followed by the Woodjam South property in 2010. The property is now jointly held by Gold Fields and Woodjam Copper Corporation, an amalgamation of the Woodjam interests held by Fjordland Exploration and Cariboo Rose Resources Limited.
The Three Firs (formerly Magalloy) occurrence was confirmed during Gold Fields Horsefly Exploration Corp.'s 2012 diamond drilling program, following the targeting of a central 200 by 500 metre magnetic anomaly and coincident anomalous copper and gold values from the 2011 exploration surveys (Assessment Report 33010). Twenty-five holes totalling 8,973.92 metres were drilled over the Three Firs target in 2012 (Assessment Report 33805).
Drilling in 2013 included an additional 921.11 metres of exploration drilling of geophysical targets around the Three Firs South area, located south of the Three Firs target. Holes intersected intervals of weak potassic alteration, and locally anomalous gold and copper values. In 2016 and 2020, Consolidated Woodjam Copper Corp. carried IP/Resistivity surveys over four areas of the their large consolidated property. One of these was the area south of the Three Firs zone (Assessment Report 39382).
In 2022, a soil sampling program south of Horsefly road and a 2,999 line-kilometre, high resolution, helicopter-borne magnetic survey was conducted over the main mineralized corridor at Woodjam (Assessment Report 40993).
In December 2022, Consolidated Woodjam Copper Corp. became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vizsla Copper Corp. (PR REL Vizsla Copper Corp. Dec. 13, 2022). Vizsla's 2024 exploration program included the drilling of three holes northwest of the Three Firs zone.
