The Belle South prospect is located 2.75 kilometres east-northeast of Kadah Lake and 5.5 kilometres northwest of the confluence of the McClair Creek and Toodoggone River. Smithers is 310 kilometres south. The occurrence lies within the Omineca-Cassiar Mountains in the north-central portion of the Toodoggone gold camp.
The Belle South 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 rocks surrounding the Belle South prospect consist of fault- bound blocks of the Metsantan and McClair members of the Toodoggone Formation. The Metsantan Member is described as trachyandesite flows with lesser lapilli tuff and lahar; minor volcanic sandstone and conglomerate (Bulletin 86). The overlying McClair Member is described as heterogeneous lapilli to block tuff andesite flows and numerous cogenetic dikes and subvolcanic plugs; minor mudstone and conglomerate (Bulletin 86). At the Belle South prospect, the Metsantan Member consists of porphyritic potassium feldspar flows (Assessment Report 18627).
Propylitic alteration (epidote, chlorite) is pervasive and silicification is present near quartz breccias (Assessment Report 18627). Lapilli tuff of the Metsantan Member is primarily silica with hematite stain. Fragments of quartz breccia and tuff along with feldspar and barite crystals bound by a clay matrix compose the coeval lahar. This unit is argillically altered and the intensity increases as the siliceous breccia core is approached.
In 1982, stream sediment anomalies were found south of the Belle South prospect. Subsequently, grab samples B-TM-14 to 18 (Assessment Report 14489) were taken from a southeastern exposure of an argillic alteration zone 200 metres long by 2 metres wide and striking 300 degrees (Assessment Report 18627). Scattered throughout are rare calcite and quartz veins and up to 5 per cent disseminated pyrite; trench T-B-88-03 uncovered a 0.1-metre wide seam of galena and other massive sulphides. The structure was seen to be anastomosing in character (Assessment Report 18627).
Assay results from the five best grab samples taken in 1985 ranged from 9.14 to 107 grams per tonne gold and 30 to 103 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 14489). A trenching program in 1988 has yielded anomalous assay results along this structure for 30 metres strike length. The best results were from Trench T-B-88-10, towards the northwestern end of the zone. Sample 22185, a 1-metre chip sample from 20.0 to 21.0 metres analysed 6.82 grams per tonne gold and 42.8 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 18627). Trenches T-B-88-1 through to 6 also yielded significant gold and silver assays.
In 2012, a sample (1710239) of oxidized silica in epidote-chlorite-pyrite–altered andesite from a former trench yielded 0.778 grams per tonne gold, greater than 100 grams per tonne silver and 0.224 per cent lead (Assessment Report 33556).
Work History
In 1973, Amax Potash Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping and geochemical (rock, silt, soil and water) sampling on the area as the Dew claims.
The Belle 1 and 2 claims were staked in April 1980 for Golden Rule Resources Ltd. Work carried out in April 1981 consisted of 44.6 km of airborne VLF-EM and magnetic surveys. During the summer of 1981, ground follow-up consisted of helicopter-supported geological mapping and geochemical sampling.
In 1983, Taiga Consultants Ltd (on behalf of Golden Rule Resources) excavated a total of nine manually dug trenches completed on the Belle 1 claim. A total of 49 channel samples were collected from the trenches at one metre intervals. Semi-detailed geological mapping, prospecting, and sampling were carried out over the Belle 1 and 2 claims. A total of 24 rock samples were collected during this program and 368 soil samples were collected on a grid. The Belle 4 claim was staked in September 1983. Taiga continued their work in the summer of 1985. This program consisted of prospecting, geological mapping, grid-controlled soil geochemical sampling and trenching on the Belle 1, 2, and 4 mineral claims.
Work continued in 1986 as Golden Rule conducted a program of geological mapping, lithogeochemical sampling and grid-controlled soil sampling. In 1987, Golden Rule Resources Ltd. investigated previously outlined anomalous showings, with a limited program of lithogeochemical sampling and sampling from hand trenches.
In 1988, Golden Rule Resources (on behalf of Manson Creek Resources Ltd) carried out an exploration program on the Belle 1 claim. Twelve trenches totalling 378 metres were excavated. This was a follow-up to encouraging results obtained in 1987. A linear feature with strike length 150 metres that is associated with gold/silver mineralization was delineated.
The Belle prospect was later encompassed by an expansion of the JD property.
Recent work in the JD property included rock and large scale soil sampling in 2012 by Tower Resources and aeromagnetic surveying by Duran Ventures in 2008. A few rock samples were collected by Tower in the Belle South area to the north of the Belle South structure and the extensive JD soil survey, though very broad, did not quite capture the Belle South structure. The 2008 aeromagnetic survey also just misses the Belle South area.
Refer to JD (Finn) (094E 171) for further JD property work history and geological details.
