The Elan occurrence is located slightly northwest of the confluence of Quartzrock and Troutline creeks, approximately 95 kilometres north of the community of Dease Lake.
The area is underlain by the Upper Paleozoic Sylvester Allochthon located on the northeastern margin of the Lower Cretaceous Cassiar Batholith. The Sylvester Allochthon is a fault bound imbricate assemblage of Mississippian to Upper Triassic Slide Mountain Complex regionally metamorphosed (greenschist) oceanic rocks thrust over the sediments of autochthonous North America. The assemblage contains basaltic to andesitic flows, pyroclastics, argillites, limestones, greywacke, chert, listwanite and quartz veins.
Locally, greenstones (pillow andesites or basalts of the Upper Paleozoic Slide Mountain Complex) with listwanite (quartz-carbonate alteration) zones, contain the mainly silver-bearing Elan vein. An altered diabase dike 1 to 2 metres wide crosscuts the greenstones adjacent to the main quartz vein, with an attitude trending 080 degrees and plunging 85 degrees south. Mineralization occurs in a quartz vein between 1 and 5 metres thick. Silver-bearing tetrahedrite occurs as coarse crystals up to 1 centimetre long, and as seams and disseminations along with pyrite, sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Visible gold occurs in small amounts. Quartz-carbonate-pyrite and sericitic alteration envelopes extend several metres from the main vein.
The main vein has been traced intermittently by trenching and diamond drilling along strike for approximately 100 metres and to a depth of greater than 105 metres with economic mineralization to a depth of 58 metres. The vein structure is reported to be open along strike and at depth.
A mineralized quartz stringer vein or zone is located approximately 50 metres south (in the hangingwall) of the main vein and contains fine-grained disseminated pyrite and tetrahedrite. A single speck of native gold is also reported to have been identified in samples from the vein. The stringer vein or zone has been traced for at least 20 metres down dip by diamond drilling.
In 1980, a sample from a trench exposing the mineralized vein assayed 0.84 per cent copper, 0.55 per cent antimony and 643.8 grams per tonne silver, whereas diamond drilling yielded intercepts of 1.31 per cent copper, 0.76 per cent antimony, 855.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.94 gram per tonne gold over 1.55 metres in hole 80-E1; 0.50 per cent copper, 325.0 grams per tonne silver and 0.50 gram per tonne gold over 4.1 metres in hole 80-E4; 0.55 per cent copper, 356.3 grams per tonne silver over 2.2 metres in hole 80-E5 and 20.9 grams per tonne silver with 8.53 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 metre in hole 80-E9 (Assessment Report 8879).
In 1983, drilling on the main vein yielded up to 0.377 gram per tonne gold and 154.26 grams per tonne silver over a 5.2 metre interval in hole 83-E22, whereas a drillhole (83-E32) on the southern stringer vein yielded 9.10 grams per tonne gold and 14.1 grams per tonne silver over 0.3 metre (Assessment Report 12490).
Work History
The area has been explored in conjunction with the nearby Taurus (MINFILE 104P 012) occurrence and a complete regional and property exploration history can be found there.
In January 1980, the Elan 2 claim was staked by prospectors John Hope and Stanley Case. After successful trenching of a silver-bearing quartz vein, the Elan 2 and Dee 1-4 claims were optioned by the Agnes and Jennie Mining Co. Ltd. The Mary, Greg, Moses, Moses 2 and Cape 1-4 claims were staked in August 1980 for The Agnes and Jennie Mining Co. Ltd. and the El 1 Fr. was staked in October 1980 for A.J.M. Explorations Limited. In September and October of 1980, 931.9 metres of BQ diamond drilling was completed on the silver-bearing zone in the quartz vein on the Elan 2; a soil grid, 400 by 100 metres, was concurrently sampled. In 1981, A.J.M. Explorations Ltd. soil sampled the area immediately west of the occurrence as the Angus and Murray claims. The Julia claim was staked in the spring of 1982 for AJM Explorations Limited, and a program of soil sampling was completed on the property. Also in 1980, the Dekalb Mining Company staked the Dekalb 1-6 claims immediately east of the occurrence. Prospecting, geological mapping, trenching, geophysical and geochemical surveys were conducted during the 1980 and 1981 field seasons.
In 1983, AJM Explorations Limited and Agnes and Jennie Mining Co. Ltd. became part of Erickson Gold Mining Corp. In 1983, before the diamond drilling program started on the Elan 2 claim, an extensive trenching program was carried out to expose the vein so assays could be taken. A total of 12 holes numbered 83-E22 to 83-E33 were drilled, totalling 721.81 metres of BQ core. In 1984 and 1985, Erickson Gold Mines Ltd. completed programs of geological mapping, trenching and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling program on the area. In 1986, Erickson Gold completed four diamond drill holes, totalling 313.0 metres, on the Joab and Dee 2 mineral claims.
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. In 2018, Cassiar Gold Corp. completed a program of rock and soil sampling on the area.
In 2019, Margaux Resources completed a program of prospecting, geological mapping and rock sampling on the Cassiar Gold property. In 2020, Cassiar Gold Corp. completed a program of regional photogeological interpretation, prospecting and rock sampling on the Cassiar Gold property.
