The Rock of Ages showing is located in the southeastern part of the Rock of Ages Fr. claim (Lot 4940) on the east side of the Bear River Ridge, about 1.7 kilometres east of Mount Shorty Stevenson and approximately 750 metres west of the Bear River, 14 kilometres north of Stewart.
The area is underlain by north striking, west dipping andesitic tuffs, breccias and flows of the Lower Jurassic Unuk River Formation (Hazelton Group) (Bulletin 58; 63). Northwest trending quartz diorite dikes occur near the showing (Assessment Report 16082).
The mineralization occurs just above a contact with a stratigraphically lower unit of rhyolitic to dacitic flows. It comprises a siliceous magnetite-pyrite vein, about 2 metres wide and 25 metres long, that trends east and dips 80 degrees south. Pyrite and quartz each form about 5 per cent of the magnetite vein; chalcopyrite forms up to 1 per cent. In 1979, a sample assayed 2.1 grams per tonne gold, 13.7 grams per tonne silver and 0.52 per cent copper across 1.5 metres (Assessment Report 7841). A nearby sample across a section of mineralized andesitic flow yielded 0.86 gram per tonne gold, 93.9 grams per tonne silver, 1.69 per cent copper and 1.10 per cent zinc over a width of 2.0 metres (Assessment Report 16082).
The showing may correspond to the No. 2 Iron Vein referred to in the Minister of Mines Annual Report for 1926 (page 94).
In 2019, a float sample (032032) taken from the Rock of Ages occurrence area assayed 4.91 per cent copper, 0.16 per cent zinc, 424 grams per tonne silver and 0.75 gram per tonne gold (Moose Mountain Technical Services [2020-08-01]: Summary of Exploration Work on the MC Project).
Work History
The Dalhousie Mining Company Limited acquired the Rock of Ages claim group and conducted work during 1925 through 1928. The showing was probably discovered during this time. It is not clear what type of work was done. Assessment Reports 15581 and 16082 indicates an adit at the showing, but another report (Assessment Report 7841) does not show the presence of an adit. No further work was reported until 1979 when Tournigan Mining Explorations Ltd. carried out geological mapping, prospecting, trenching, sampling and a limited magnetometer survey over the showing. In 1986, Moche Resources Inc. acquired the Rock of Ages claims and conducted a program comprising airborne and ground VLF-EM and magnetometer surveys, soil and silt geochemical surveys and geological mapping. In 1993-94, a program of geological mapping, rock (21) and stream sediment (20) sampling, and VLF-EM and magnetometer surveying (6.3 kilometres) on the MC 1-5 claim group was carried out. The MC claims cover the Dalhousie and Rock of Ages (104A 135) showings. In 1999-2000, exploration work on the MC and MC 2 claims comprised geological mapping over a 3.5 square kilometre area, stream sediment sampling and 1 kilometre of ground magnetometer surveying. In 2003, geological and geochemical surveys were conducted on the MC and MC 2 mineral claims which cover the Dalhousie and Rock of Ages (104A 135) showings. Geological mapping was carried out over a 0.4 square kilometre area and 12 rock chip samples collected. In 2017 and 2019, Bonanza Mining Corp. completed programs of prospecting, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and ground geophysical (induced polarization, magnetic and gravity) surveys on the area as the MC property.
