Ontario Mineral Inventory

Ontario Geological Survey
Permanent Link to this Record: MDI42A11NE00034

Record: MDI42A11NE00034

General

Commodities

Primary Commodities: Gold, Silver

Location

Township or Area: Tully

Latitude: 48° 43' 26.3"    Longitude: -81° 11' 6.72"

UTM Zone: 17    Easting: 486379.319   Northing: 5396788.318    UTM Datum: NAD83

Resident Geologist District: Timmins

NTS Grid: 42A11NE

Point Location Description: Point plotted on OBM topo map from information in Assessment File T-3208.

Location Method: Based on Assessment

Access Description: Access to the property is from the west via a gravel road that passes through the southern part of Prosser Twp and departs from Hwy 655.

Exploration History

1964: Nickel Offsets, Ltd. - property acquisition 1968-69: Noranda Exploration Company Ltd. - airborne geophysics, ground geophysics, DD-5 1968-79: McIntyre Mines Ltd. and Cromarty Exploration Company Limited - property acquired, DD-25-14,675 ft 1980: Nickel Offsets, Limited - DD-33-21,303 ft. 1987: Noranda Exploration - ground geophysics, DD-45-34,530 ft 1996-97: Black Pearl Minerals Inc. - optioned the property 61 ddh (46 636 ft.), ground geophysics; 2003-2006 Argent Resources Ltd. optioned the property and in 2004 completed 13 ddh totalling 4657 m. 2010-2011: San Gold Corporation and SGX Resources Inc. - property acquired, ground geophysics, DD-100-30,000 m.

Assessment Work on File

Geology

Province: Superior

Subprovince: Abitibi

Terrane: Wawa-Abitibi

Belt: Abitibi

Tectonic Assemblage: Kidd-Munro

Geological Age: Neoarchean  

Metamorphism Type: Regional

Metamorphism Grade: Greenschist

Geology Comments

May 13, 2008 (G Seim) - From Harron (2004): The Nickel Offsets Property is completely covered by Quaternary sediments and Holocene organic deposits. Cochrane Till overlies varved silts and clays of the Barlow-Ojibway Formation, which overlie the older Matheson Till. Details of the Quaternary geology of the area are described by Richards (1983). There are no outcrops on the Property. The description of the bedrock geology is derived from drill core descriptions, geophysical interpretations and geological compilations. These studies suggest that the property is underlain by the Kidd-Munro assemblage and the Porcupine assemblage. Komatiites and lesser amounts of mafic volcanic rocks underlie the extreme northwestern corner and the central portion of the property. Porcupine assemblage clastic sediments underlie the balance of the property. Historical and Black Pearl drill logs refer to the mafic volcanic rocks as 'tuffs' due to the well developed schistosity imparted by shearing.

Lithology

Lithology Comments

May 13, 2008 (G Seim) - From Harron (2004): Porcupine assemblage rocks consist of fine-grained, grey to black, carbonaceous argillites, siltstones and greywackes occurring in the structural hanging wall (north side) of the deposit. Carbonaceous argillites containing layers of semi-massive to massive pyrite commonly occur at the sedimentary/volcanic contact and account for the electromagnetic response associated with the deposit. Thin units of sericitic schistose sediments containing appreciable amounts of pyrite also occur within 10-40 feet of the sedimentary/volcanic contact. Kidd-Munro assemblage volcanic rocks host the bulk of the gold-bearing quartz-carbonate veins. The upper portion of the volcanic stratigraphy (approx. 125 feet) is typically light grey green and moderately foliated tuff, with a discontinuous cataclastic texture. The lower part of the stratigraphy is dominated by dark green massive basalt and pale green pillow structures with chloritic selvedges. The transition from tuff to massive and pillowed basalt is often the loci of the main zone of gold mineralization. A thin discontinuous graphitic argillite layer marks the contact between the mafic volcanic rocks and the underlying komatiites. This unit is highly altered by carbonate minerals, silica and pyrite, and contains anomalous gold values. Basaltic komatiite flows occur as a thin layer stratigraphically below the graphitic argillite. The flows are dark green to black with a medium-grained texture. The komatiite and the overlying graphitic argillite host the 'Footwall Zone' gold-bearing quartz-carbonate veins. Blue-black peridotitic komatiites are separated from the overlying basaltic komatiites by either a sharp contact or a talc-chlorite fault zone. These rocks are variably altered to serpentine, talc-chlorite rock and contain 2-4% disseminated magnetite and minor amounts of pyrite and pyrrhotite. Several drill holes intersected narrow dykes of siliceous porphyry composed of 5-15% euhedral feldspar porphyroblasts.

Mineralization

Mineralization Comments

May 13, 2008 (G Seim) - From Harron (2004): Lode gold mineralization, typical of gold deposits found in the Timmins area has been found on the property. The gold-bearing vein structure is hosted in a sheared tuffaceous facies of a mafic volcanic sequence, as described in section 7.2 of this report. Native gold is associated with quartz carbonate (ankerite, dolomite) veins with 3-5% subhedral to euhedral pyrite along vein margins. Accessory minerals include sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tellurides, arsenopyrite, siderite fuchsite and hydromuscovite. Vein system geometry is interpreted from vertical sections spaced 25 feet apart. Several primary structures and vein orientations are recognized, which have been modified by subsequent brittle fracturing and ductile shearing. Within the east-trending shear zone the most economically important veins (Main Zone) are generally northwest to west-northwest striking and dip 55-80 to the northeast or north-northeast across the width of the tuff unit. Other gold-bearing vein sets include the Hanging Wall Zone developed parallel to the hanging wall of the shear zone, and the Foot Wall Zone parallel to the change from tuffaceous to massive and pillowed basalts defining the footwall of the shear zone. Mineralized drill intercepts are classified as Hanging Wall Zone, Main Zone and Foot Wall Zone, based on their position relative to this spatial scheme. Drilling along the shear structure indicates that the economically interesting mineralization is arranged as shoots displaying pinch and swell, undulating and anastomosing characteristics. The four shoots defined to date occur over a 1,500 ft strike length. Individual shoots are up to 200 ft long, up to 150 ft thick and extend to at least 900 ft vertically, with a variable steep plunge to the east. The shoots appear to be dextrally offset by up to 25 ft by post- mineralization, shallow, northwest dipping to flat faults.

May 13, 2008 (R Pressacco) - Passages in a Status Report by R. Lynn Moxham in 1982 (Assessment File T-1468) describes the mineralization: Mineralization occurs only in the tuff sequence (mafic volcanic). The gold-bearing structures consist of several sets of quartz-filled fracture zones, carrying lesser carbonate. ...The quartz is white vein-quartz and varies from hairline veinlets to extensive stock-works to massive sections several feet thick. These stock-works are not continuous nor easily extrapolated from hole to hole, as their orientations are at variance with the structure of the tuff horizon and in places appear to be almost randomly distributed within the tuff block. ...The gold occurs in the quartz, with pyrite and lesser chalcopyrite and rarely, galena, sphalerite and arsenopyrite. About 50-70% of the gold is free-milling (est. by McIntyre); the remainder is intimately associated with pyrite, and some possible gold telluride minerals have been observed.

Alteration Comments

May 13, 2008 (G Seim) - From Harron (2004): Hydrothermal alteration varies systematically across the sedimentary and volcanic sequence. The Porcupine sediments are essentially unaltered except for a few barren quartz carbonate veins enveloped by silicification and minor sericite. The upper tuff hosted in the sediments is intensely pyritized, sericitized and locally silicified, imparting a bright green colour and a waxy texture to the unit. The graphitic argillite at the top of the volcanic sequence is associated with intense silicification and carbonatization hosting quartz veins and foliation parallel quartz stringers. The tuffaceous and massive/pillowed mafic volcanic rocks exhibit pervasive cabonatization (ankerite, dolomite), chloritization and silicification. Komatiitic volcanics are pervasively carbonatized (ankerite, dolomite) and often exhibit some silicification and chlorite development. Fuchsite alteration occurs in the eastern end of the vein system and appears to correlate with higher gold values (Polk, 1998). Alteration minerals associated with quartz carbonate veins also vary across the shear zone, Hanging wall veins adjacent to the sedimentary rocks show varying degrees of 'grey alteration' imparted by reduced carbon included in the quartz. Main zone veins are mainly white quartz with pyrite, ankerite, chlorite and minor sericite. Footwall veins are dominantly white quartz with pyrite, ankerite, dolomite and minor hematite.

Mineral Record Details

Mineral Zones - Size and Shape

Rank: 1       Structure Type: Vein

References

File - Resident Geologist files T-3242

Publication Number: Date:

Author:

Publisher Name:

Location: Timmins RGP office

Map - Timmins data series, Tully Township, District of Cochrane

Publication Number: P0699 Scale: 1:15,840    Date: 1997

Author: Hunt D.S., Richard J.A., Carey E.R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Map - Precambrian Geology of Tully and Little Townships

Publication Number: P3351 Scale: 1:20,000    Date: 1996

Author: Berger B.R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Publication - Sudbury Timmins Algoma Mineral Program, Project 1: mineral inventory of the Sudbury-Timmins-Sault Ste. Marie region, Ontario

Publication Number: GSC OF 1087 Page: 42A-279  Date: 1985

Author: Rose, D.G.

Publisher Name: Geological Survey of Canada

Location: https://doi.org/10.4095/129999

Book - Northern Miner 69-05-01, p. 475-476

Publication Number: NMINER Date: 1969

Author:

Publisher Name: Northern Miner

Location:

Book - Northern Miner 70-02-12, p. 141

Publication Number: NMINER Date: 1970

Author:

Publisher Name: Northern Miner

Location:

Book - Northern Miner 81-02-19, Offsets, p. 25

Publication Number: NMINER Date: 1981

Author:

Publisher Name: Northern Miner

Location:

Article - Timmins District

Publication Number: MP035.002 Page: 22-24  Date: 1997

Author: Bright E.G.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines

Location:

Mono - Gold deposits of Ontario, part 1, districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay

Publication Number: MDC013 Page: 109-110  Date: 1971

Author: Ferguson S.A., Groen H.A., Haynes R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs

Location:

Article - 1981 report of the Timmins Resident Geologist

Publication Number: MP101.005 Page: 74  Date: 1997

Author: Luhta L.E., Sangster P.J.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Mono - Report of Activities 1998, Resident Geologist Program, Timmins Regional Resident Geologist Report: Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie Districts

Publication Number: OFR5990 Page: Table 10  Date: 1999

Author: Atkinson B.T., Hailstone M.H., Pressacco R.E., Wilson A.C., Hope P., Morra P.M., Draper D.M., Egerland D.C.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Article - Geology of Tully and Little Townships, District of Cochrane

Publication Number: MP164.008 Page: 34-35  Date: 1995

Author: Berger B.R.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Article - Porcupine North and Porcupine South Resident Geologists' area - 1987

Publication Number: MP138.010 Page: 225  Date: 1997

Author: Luhta L.E., Sangster P.J., Draper D.M., Ireland J.C., Bradshaw M.P., Hamblin C.D.

Publisher Name: Ontario Geological Survey

Location:

Publication - Technical report Geological potential, mineral resource estimate, and preliminary assessment, Tully Gold Property, unpaginated

Publication Number: Date: 2010

Author: P.T. George

Publisher Name:

Location: Timmins RGO

Publication - SGX Resources Inc.

Publication Number: clippings Date: 2010

Author:

Publisher Name:

Location: Timmins RGO

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For detailed information regarding this mineral record please contact the Timmins Resident Geologist District Office