The Blue Hawk occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 960 metres on an east-facing slope overlooking Okanagan Lake, approximately 2.3 kilometres southwest of Wilson Landing and 12.5 kilometres north of Westbank.

The area is underlain by a sequence of andesitic volcanic rocks of the Eocene Marron Formation (Penticton Group). The Marron Formation volcanics are underlain by a pendant of metasedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks of the Carboniferous to Permian Harper Ranch Group. To the north granodioritic intrusive rocks of the Middle Jurassic Okanagan Batholith are exposed.

Locally, at least four quartz±calcite±sericite veins, referred to as the main Blue Hawk vein, the F (No.1) vein, the D (No.6) vein and the E (No.2, E5, No.5 and/or Galena) vein, have been identified. The veins seldom persist for more than 6 metres on strike without displacement and dissipation into the country rocks by northeast-southwest–trending fault/shear zones. Many of the veins are en echelon and are separated by shears, which also run parallel to the veins. The veins vary from narrow fractures to 1.2 metres thick and average 0.75 to 0.90 metre in width. The veins trend west to northwest (320 to 352 degrees) along fractures and shears in a hornblende diorite and dip steeply to vertically. Mineralization consists of pyrite, minor galena and dark oxidation products. Traces of chalcopyrite, sphalerite and arsenopyrite are also noted in the veins, and disseminated chalcopyrite has been found in the diorite. Binocular examination of mineralized and assayed samples has identified microscopic free gold associated bismuth tellurides. Bulldozer trenching has exposed the Blue Hawk vein system along strike to the northwest for approximately 180 metres.

Work History

The Blue Hawk property was explored and operated by the Blue Hawk Syndicate during the 1930s. Development work consisted of shallow pits, trenches and opencuts, a short shaft and three adits, totalling 180 metres, being driven to the northeast. In 1934, 4.5 tonnes of ore were mined, which yielded 156 grams of gold and 560 grams of silver (Minister of Mines Annual Report Index No. 3, page 190). Production was entirely from the adit. By 1938 a crosscut had been driven approximately 150 metres to a vein. Drifting was reported to be in progress along the vein.

In 1967, Dawood Mines Ltd. of Kelowna acquired the property and over the next seven years carried out 400 metres of trenching, 1400 square metres of extensive stripping, geological mapping, line cutting and 18 kilometres of grid preparation, magnetometer surveys, and rock and soil geochemical surveys. Silver, copper and mercury soil geochemical anomalies were found in the vicinity of the Blue Hawk veins and the diorite intrusions. Magnetometer anomalies were not coincident with soil geochemical anomalies.

In 1967, Sampling of the D vein exposed in a short drift of the shaft is reported to have yielded 34.2 grams per tonne gold and 136.8 grams per tonne silver over 0.72 metre, whereas a chip sample from the same vein collected the previous year yielded 92.3 grams per tonne gold and 307.8 grams per tonne silver over 0.21 metre (Assessment Report 12519).

In 1972, sampling of trenches yielded up to 30.1 grams per tonne gold and 87.2 grams per tonne silver in trench 6, which was believed to have exposed the northwest extension of the D vein, whereas sampling of trenches to the south of the adit yielded up to 1.7 grams per tonne gold, 8.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.30 per cent copper in trench 12, which exposed an altered diorite and pyritic sediments (Property File 000910).

In 1978, Mountain Minerals Co. Ltd. completed a program of geological mapping, geochemical (water and soil) sampling and a 30.0 line-kilometre scintillometer survey on the area as the Active claims. This work centred on potential uranium exploration in the area.

In 1980, N.C. Lenard re-sampled and evaluated the property for its similarity to the gold-bearing quartz veins of the Bralorne camp. Chip sampling of a surface exposure of a 0.40-metre wide sericitized and sheared quartz vein with pyrite, located near an inferred air shaft for the underground workings, yielded up to 130.6 grams per tonne gold and 476.1 grams per tonne silver over the most pyritic 0.2 metre of the vein and 15.7 grams per tonne gold with 58.8 grams per tonne silver over the full 0.40-metre-wide vein (Assessment Report 9074).

In 1981, a program of geochemical (rock and soil) sampling, trenching and a ground electromagnetic survey was completed. Samples (F1 and E5) from the northwesternmost and southwesternmost trenches, located northwest and west of the main adit, yielded 14.4 and 13.7 grams per tonne gold with 111.2 and 268.5 grams per tonne silver over 1.3 and 0.4 metres, respectively (Assessment Report 9414).

Additional studies were carried out in late 1983 and 1984 by Tillicum Gold Mines Ltd. on the area as the Dawn 100 claim. Their work confirmed the presence of auriferous pyrite in the Blue Hawk quartz veins, but they concluded that gold values are erratic and mineralized zones lack continuity. A sample (AB-4) from trench no.5 on the E5 vein is reported to have yielded 8.3 grams per tonne gold and 22.9 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 12732).

Also, in 1984 and 1985, N.C. Lenard completed a program of prospecting and geological mapping on the area.

In 1987 and 1988, Parkwood Resources Ltd. excavated and mapped 600 metres in trenches. They identified four directions of shearing and quartz vein mineralization. The best gold assays were associated with the north and northwest shear systems, and three areas were identified that produced gold assays greater than 34 grams per tonne (Property File - Dasler P.G., 1989). These were the old original Blue Hawk adit, Old Trench #5 located approximately 150 metres to the west of the adit, and Trench #1 approximately 75 metres north of the adit, which yielded 154.9 grams per tonne gold and 403.6 grams per tonne silver over 0.1 metre (Assessment Report 17501). The average assay of 10 channel samples from Trench #1, all of which assayed greater than 3.4 grams per tonne gold, was 19.39 grams per tonne gold and 67.98 grams per tonne silver (Property File - Dasler P.G., 1989). Gold assays correlated well with sulphides, especially pyrite.

In late 1988, Parkwood Resources Ltd. funded an induced polarization and resistivity survey over 7.1-line kilometres in the Blue Hawk area. Anomalous zones were identified, including one subparallel to Jennie Creek with a minimum strike length of 1 kilometre. In 1989, Parkwood carried out trenching and a three-hole diamond-drill program, totalling 244.8 metres, to explore the 1988 geophysical anomaly. The drill program found that the geophysical anomaly was caused by the presence of graphitic sediments and, locally, andesite, with weak disseminated pyrite and pyrrhotite mineralization. In 1991, Pinewood extended a soil sample grid to the north of known mineralization; however, it was unsuccessful in identifying new exploration targets. Drilling (five holes, totalling 610 metres) in 1993 attempted to intersect down dip extension to surface veins; results were poor, yielding a maximum of 0.565 gram per tonne gold over 1.00 metre in hole K93-02 (Assessment Report 23811).

In 2004 and 2005, Southern Pacific Development Corp. completed programs of geological mapping and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as the Quail claims. A grab sample (4304) from the northwest-trending shear, taken approximately 1 kilometre northwest of the adits, yielded 0.239 per cent copper (Assessment Report 27447).

In 2012, Juan De Fuca Resources Ltd. completed a program of rock and soil sampling on the area. A sample (no. 1) from a quartz vein proximal to the historical workings yielded 4.24 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 34142). In 2015 and 2016, further geological mapping programs were completed.