The Pete occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 1200 metres on a northeast-facing slope, west of Pooley Creek, east of Needlepoint Mountain and approximately 4 kilometres south of the Cusac mine site (MINFILE 104P 070).
In the area, Mississippian to Upper Triassic Slide Mountain Complex greenstones and argillites are cut by northeast- to east-trending quartz veins and adjacent quartz-carbonate alteration zones.
The Pete quartz vein is reported to range from 0.9 to 1.8 metres in width and consist of white quartz and minor grey and blue quartz with graphitic stringers, tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, galena, arsenopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite and gold. The gold is associated with finely disseminated to blebby tetrahedrite and less commonly with chalcopyrite. In a few samples, free gold was found associated with galena (Grant, 1981). The vein has been traced over 90 metres along a 070-degree strike and dips steeply. A large body of listwanite occurs near the showing. The hostrocks are silicified and malachite has been noted in the veins. Two shallow shafts are located west of the vein.
The Cabin quartz vein has a strike of 088 degrees with a dip of 83 degrees and has been traced along strike for 45 metres in a listwanite zone in chloritized basalt. The quartz-carbonate vein hosts pyrite, chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite.
Work History
During 1942 through 1946, Pete Hamlin exposed a series of quartz veins in trenches and two shallow shafts.
During the 1979 field season, Cusac Industries Ltd. conducted an exploration program on a five-unit area of their Cordoba and Pete claims; a VLF-EM survey on both areas was also carried out. A bulldozer road was constructed to the Pete claims to assist in moving a drill to the Presunka's fault area. The 1979 exploration program included geological mapping, rock sampling, trenching and eight diamond drill holes, totalling approximately 600 metres. Surface and drillcore samples from the Pete vein yielded an average16.2 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 8634).
In 1984, Erickson Gold Mining Corp. completed a program of geological mapping, trenching and percussion drilling on the Cordoba and Pete claims. A sample from the collar of a shaft near the Pete vein assayed 8.3 grams per tonne gold and 125 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 13800).
In 1985, Erickson Gold Mining completed seven diamond drill holes, totalling 273.4 metres, on the downdip extension of the Pete vein. Drilling yielded intercepts of up to 1.4 grams per tonne gold and 26.6 grams per tonne silver over 0.9 metre in hole C85-103 (Assessment Report 14844).
In 1987, two holes with a combined total of 368.9 metres were drilled on the Pete claim by Erickson Gold Mining Corporation. The program objectives were to follow up earlier work, which displayed gold mineralization in quartz veins to determine the thickness of the listwanite and to explore for vertical quartz veins below the listwanite. Trenching with a bulldozer was conducted in an attempt to expose the strike extension of the Pete Vein.
In 1990 and 1991, Erickson Gold Mining completed a program of trenching, 56 diamond drill holes, totalling 9822.0 metres, and a 48.0 line-kilometre induced polarization on the Nu-Tara property. Two drillholes were completed on the Pete vein.
More recent exploration programs, during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, were completed by Cusac Gold Mines Ltd., Hawthorne Gold Corp. and later China Minerals Mining Corporation and a complete exploration history can be found in the Table Mountain (MINFILE 104P 070) occurrence.
During 2008 through 2010, Hawthorne Gold Corp., later China Minerals Mining Corp., completed regional programs of geological mapping, geochemical (rock and soil) sampling and 11 657 line-kilometres of airborne magnetic, radiometric and electromagnetic surveys on the area as the Cassiar Gold property. Sampling of trench TR09-003 on the extension of the Cabin vein yielded up to 1.39 grams per tonne gold over 1.4 metres (Assessment Report 31396).
In 2013, China Minerals Mining Corp. completed a program of rock, silt and soil sampling on the area.
In 2019, Margaux Resources completed a program of prospecting, geological mapping and rock sampling on the area as the Cassiar Gold property. A sample (667568) from the Pete trench assayed 6.21 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 38989).
In 2020, Cassiar Gold Corp. completed a program of regional photogeological interpretation, prospecting and rock sampling on the Cassiar Gold property.
