The Metsantan occurrence is located 5.2 kilometres east of Metsantan Lake approximately 300 kilometres north of the community of Smithers. This area lies within the Omineca-Cassiar Mountains in the west-central portion of the Toodoggone Gold Camp.
The Metsantan prospect is situated within a Mesozoic volcanic arc assemblage which lies along the eastern margin of the Intermontane Belt, a northwest-trending belt of Paleozoic to Tertiary sediments, volcanics and intrusions bounded to the east by the Omineca Belt and to the west and southwest by the Sustut and Bowser basins. Permian Asitka Group crystalline limestones are the oldest rocks exposed in the region. They are commonly in thrust contact with Upper Triassic Takla Group andesite flows and pyroclastic rocks. Takla volcanics have been intruded by the granodiorite to quartz monzonite Black Lake Suite of Early Jurassic age and are in turn unconformably overlain by or faulted against Lower Jurassic calcalkaline volcanics of the Toodoggone Formation (Hazelton Group).
The dominant structures in the area are steeply dipping faults which define a prominent regional northwest structural fabric trending 140 to 170 degrees. In turn, high angle, northeast-striking faults (approximately 060 degrees) appear to truncate and displace northwest-striking faults. Collectively these faults form a boundary for variably rotated and tilted blocks underlain by monoclinal strata.
The Metsantan prospect is underlain by northwest trending volcanic units of the Metsantan Member and crosscut by major and minor fault systems. The prospect consists of three zones defined by a series of subparallel quartz-barite veins and breccias. The main northwest fault is possibly correlative with the Cliff Creek structure at the Lawyers mine (094E 066), 14 kilometres to the southeast. A ring and radial fracture system converges on nearby Metsantan Mountain peak. The oldest unit of the Metsantan Member is composed of trachyte and trachyandesite flows and tuff. Within this unit is a distinctive quartz-eye andesite characterized by a pink aphanitic groundmass and clear quartz phenocrysts. Minor ferruginous siltstone and volcanic sandstone also occur within this unit (Assessment Report 14498).
The Ridge zone, overall, has been traced over a strike length of 600 metres and 18 metres width. In August 1985, five trenches in the Ridge zone were cleaned and re-sampled by Lacana Mining Corporation. Quartz and/or barite were observed in four of the trenches with the strongest development in Trench L-82-16. Four irregular quartz-barite zones were exposed in an area between two converging faults, which mark the outer boundary of a zone of intense fracturing, siliceous alteration, and quartz-barite vein development; the hostrock is trachyte. Quartz-barite zones consist mainly of barite-rich mud containing numerous angular quartz fragments. A quartz-barite vein was locally found at depth. Contacts with intensely altered wallrock are sharp or transitional. Better gold values are restricted to barite-rich zones (Assessment Report 14412). Trench L-82-15 exposed a narrow zone of quartz stringers, representing the north most traceable vein development of this zone. Quartz stringers are 2 centimetres wide and silicified fractures occupy a 0.5-metre zone cutting highly sheared trachyte and trachyandesite hostrock at 150 degrees and dipping 52 degrees (hangingwall) and 38 degrees (footwall). A quartz-barite zone 30 metres to the east, in trenches L-82-11 and L-82-14, may be a fault displacement of the main Ridge zone. Two of three trenches dug by Golden Rule Resources also exposed mineralized material. Trench 11 cut through siliceous and pyritic trachyandesite porphyry. Weak mineralization is found in leached, argillically altered trachyandesite and in hematitic, vuggy, pyritic trachyandesite porphyry. Trench 13 exposed similar materials including minor barite breccia.
The best precious metal assay values from the Ridge zone come from Trench L-82-15. Gold values range up to 11.18 grams per tonne and 12.1 grams per tonne, both over 2.0 metres (Assessment Report 14412).
The Central Silver zone consists of two narrow, subparallel quartz breccia veins composed of quartz fragments with up to 2 per cent galena and pyrite, and minor chalcopyrite, hosted in purple to grey trachyandesite, locally trachyte. The veins are moderately silicified throughout the central part and enclosed by a strong argillic alteration (clay) envelope (Assessment Report 14412). The zone is approximately 75 metres long and individual veins two metres wide.
In contrast to the Ridge zone, the Central Silver zone is high in silver. The best interval, exposed by trenches L-82-17 and B85-12 of precious metal enrichment, averages 0.62 gram per tonne gold and 80.58 grams per tonne silver over 3.0 metres (Assessment Report 14412).
In 1985, trenches T-85-5 to T-85-11 were excavated by Lacana to evaluate quartz-barite veins, thought to be the possible north extension of the Central Silver zone. Trenches intersected up to three subparallel, narrow (up to 2 metres) quartz-barite veins. The zone is roughly 250 metres long and is known as the North Silver zone. Golden Rule Resources also reported a trench on the North Silver zone. Trench 10 intersected propylitically altered trachyandesite porphyry and a well silicified and brecciated fault zone. The fault zone consisted of vuggy, brecciated, and silicified trachyandesite porphyry, with up to 10 per cent manganese oxide as fracture filling and coating, over 1 to 2 metres. The fault strikes 314 degrees and dips 80 degrees northeast.
The North Silver zone, as for the Central Silver zone, is also enriched in silver rather than gold. Elevated silver was noted in quartz-barite veins and for up to 4.5 metres in altered wallrock. Samples from Trench T-85-8 yielded some of the better gold and silver including 3.39 grams per tonne gold and 20.91 grams per tonne silver over 2.0 metres (Assessment Report 14412). Assay samples from Trench 10 yielded a high of 27.0 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 14498).
The Metsantan property was staked in 1980 and explored by Lacana Mining Corporation on behalf of the Canadian Minerals Joint Venture. The early discovery of precious metals-bearing epithermal vein systems on Metsantan Ridge led to exploration being concentrated on this sector of the property. From 1981-84, prospecting, geological mapping, soil geochemical sampling, trenching, and diamond drilling were conducted by Lacana.
In 1985, Bart Resources Ltd. optioned the property and conducted trench re-sampling, backhoe trenching, soil geochemical sampling, and geological mapping. Re-sampling of Lacana's trenches confirmed previous results. The structural trend hosting the Ridge zone was traced for at least 600 metres on strike. Soil geochemical sampling defined new target areas, while new trenching yielded several high-grade values.
In 1987, Taiga Consultants Ltd., on behalf of American Ore Limited, conducted trenching, prospecting, geological mapping, soil geochemical sampling, and one diamond-drill hole. The program delineated several new mineralized zones. In 1988, Taiga Consultants Ltd., on behalf of Prolific Resources Ltd., undertook extensive exploration work consisting of geological mapping, soil and silt geochemical sampling, prospecting, backhoe trenching, and 1098 metres of diamond drilling in seven locations. This work identified a number of quartz-breccia systems with associated intense argillic alteration haloes. The soil geochemical sampling clearly identified known mineralized zones and outlined areas requiring further detailed evaluation. The 1990 property exploration by Taiga Consultants, on behalf of Skeena Resources Limited, consisted of grid-controlled soil geochemical sampling and prospecting, directed at investigating previously established geochemical trends.
In 2006-08, Paget Resources held the new Mandusa showing area (094E 277) as part of its large Met property and visited the Surprise showing (094E 192), which they called the Cirque zone. In 2006, 21 rock and 25 soil samples were collected, mostly in the Ridge (Metsantan) area. In 2008, Paget collected 25 rock samples which are plotted in the Metsantan (Ridge) showing area and in the BT, BT North areas. Traverses extended to the North zone and to the Camp zone, the latter of which is located about 500 metres north-northeast of the Metsantan (Ridge) zone and about 500 metres east of the North zone. The North zone is the plotted location of the Border occurrence. The Border occurrence (094E 197) includes the BT, BT North, North and Camp zone. At the Camp zone, two samples were collected from drillhole DDH 88-7 including one sample of grey vuggy textured quartz and one sample of clay-pyrite altered volcanic rock. The samples yielded gold values of less than 100 parts per billion (Assessment Report 30413).
See Surprise (094E 192) and the new Mandusa showing (094E 277) southwest of Surprise for other Mets property work.
In 2013, on behalf of owner R. Billingsley, a structural analysis was completed on the Metsantan claim group which covers the showing. The purpose of the program was to delineate cross-structures which may be integral in geological controls to potentially economic mineral zones that may occur on the property.
