The Amethyst (Mist) occurrence is located 2.3 kilometres north of Oxide Peak on the south face of a prominent, steep, east-trending ridge. It lies within the Omineca-Cassiar mountains in the north-central portion of the Toodoggone gold camp, about 310 kilometres north of the community of Smithers.
The showing 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 intrusives bounded to the east by the Omineca Belt and to the west and southwest by the Sustut and Bowser basins.
Devonian-Permian Asitka Group crystalline limestones are the oldest rocks exposed in the region. They are commonly in thrust contact with Upper Triassic Stuhini Group andesite flows and pyroclastic rocks. These Stuhini rocks have been intruded by plutons and other bodies of the mainly granodiorite to quartz monzonite Early Jurassic Black Lake Suite 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 Mist showing lies immediately west of the western contact of a fault bound wedge of Stuhini Group, within the Toodoggone Formation volcanics. The Stuhini volcanics at this locality are described as dark green augite porphyry basalt flows and breccias with minor interbedded siltstone, tuffaceous sediments and chert. It contains limestone lenses that may be part of the Asitka Group (Assessment Report 15412). The Toodoggone volcanics are part of the McClair Member consisting of lavender and grey, crowded, fine to medium grained, plagioclase porphyritic flows with lesser lapilli tuffs, breccia and minor epiclastic beds (Assessment Report 15412).
The Mist showing consists of a series of silicified zones within a gossan that trends 160 degrees over a length of 700 metres. Thin galena and sphalerite stringers in quartz veinlets occur in the centre of the zone. This silicified and pyritized zone is up to 50 metres wide and occurs directly against propylitic altered volcanics, which in turn rest against a major shear (Assessment Report 17683). The largest lens is approximately 100 metres long by 4 metres wide and consists of blue-grey quartz in an argillic altered andesite hostrock (Assessment Report 15412). A 25-metre argillic zone, in contact with the hangingwall zone, displays dense 5- to 15-centimetre-thick silicified lenses with no pyrite, barite in quartz veining and chalcopyrite at or near the contact with the silicified zone (Assessment Report 17683).
In 1981, three rock samples from an area of pyritic gossan with malachite staining associated with a shear zone, located approximately 1.3 kilometres to the north-northeast on the On claim, yielded from 5.7 to 22.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.384 to 0.720 per cent copper (Assessment Report 9411).
In 1985, chip samples from a series of silicified zones in a gossanous andesite host yielded values of up to 0.211 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 15412).
In 1986, assay results from rock sampling of this showing were poor. Some of the better values were 0.4 gram per tonne silver (sample ED-72), 0.211 per cent zinc (sample ED-74), 0.028 per cent copper (sample DY-29), 0.026 per cent lead (sample ED-51) and 0.332 per cent barium (sample DY-30) (Assessment Report 15412). The silver assay results from a program conducted in 1988 were slightly more encouraging. Sample L-159 analyzed 3.3 grams per tonne silver and sample L-160 analyzed 5.0 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 17683).
In 1989, a grab sample (18419) of andesite porphyry, located approximately 2 kilometres to the northeast, yielded 8.0 grams per tonne silver, 0.147 per cent lead and 1.455 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 18338).
Work History
In 1980, the Oxide Peak property (094E 181) was acquired by Serem Inc. and reconnaissance geology and geochemistry was conducted on the Lou and Oxide claims. Work on the Poo and ON claims adjoining to the north, was conducted over the next two years. Reconnaissance sampling of Oxide Peak drainages produced anomalous base metal values and spotty precious metal highs. Sampling of drainages from the eastern part of the Lou claim (later East Ridge area of Amethyst Valley claim) produced consistent copper anomalies, but only spotty base metal values were found in limited soil sampling. A more limited effort in 1981 saw soil sampling of the 1700-metre contour on Oxide Peak and quartz breccia rock chip sampling along the East Ridge area (094E 179).
In 1984, C. Kowall mapped silicified and pyritized zones on the East Ridge but soil and rock chip sampling over leached areas did not yield anomalous precious metal values. In 1985, 134 rock samples were collected by Geostar Mining Corp. in the Oxide Peak and Amethyst Valley areas. In 1987, Shayna Resources Inc. conducted soil, stream and rock sampling, VLF-electromagnetic and magnetometer surveys, and, primarily on the Amethyst Valley claim, geological mapping.
In 1994, resistivity and an induced polarization (IP) survey was carried out along one line over the Mist Vein located within the Amethyst Valley claim owned by Robert Card. In 1996, resistivity and IP surveys along with some soil sampling were carried out on behalf of Matrix Energy Corp., over a part of the Oxide Peak property (the Mist area). Soil sampling consisted of 17 samples picked up along the base line and line 100N.
In the mid- to late 2002s, Starfire Minerals Inc. held the Mist and East Ridge showing areas as part of their Porphyry Pearl property (094E 084) but did not report any work there.
See Oxide Peak (094E 181) for related information.
