s.sea i LAURIE 010 CORPORATE OIL AND GAS LIMITED REPORT ON SHABAQUA CLAIMS THUNDER BAY MINING DIVISION by H,D.B. WILSON and B. GABOURY THUNDER BAY MINING DIVISION RECEIVED APR 3 O 1984 MINING LANDS SECTION EXPLORATION RATIONALE The company has been developing a rationale for explora tion for gold deposits in areas where geological factors are favorable, but where outcrops are rare so that traditional prospecting for gold showings by examination of outcrop and trenching to follow showings is impractical because of over burden. In essence, we;are attempting to emulate the explora tion explosion developed so rapidly for base metal exploration during the ©forties decade 1 . New geological concepts and new geochemical and geophysical techniques being developed at that time resulted in the discovery of great new ore bodies such as Kidd Creek, Thompson and many others where the ore bodies did not outcrop. Geological concepts are used to select areas, and geochemical and geophysical techniques are used to locate chemical or physical parameters which may lead to discovery of ore deposits by drilling. The techniques are not specific for the location of metal ore deposits so that all the methods, possibly excepting drilling, are indirect methods which are affected by many geologic factors other than ore deposits. Methods used for the discovery of base metal deposits are not directly applicable to gold exploration because gold deposits in the Canadian shield are not commonly associated ..tit i (2) with particular rock types such as copper-zinc with rhyolites, copper-nickel with norites and ultramafic rocks, or lithium with pegmatites. Gold mines occur in ultramafic rocks, rhyolites, tuffs and sediments, granites and, in fact, in almost any rock association. Gold does not usually occur associated with electrical conductors, so that many electro magnetic techniques are unsuccessful. Older geochemical techniques have usually been considered to be largely negated by the recent Canadian glaciation. All these postulates need continual re-examination in the light of new evidence and new techniques when trying to arrive at a rationale for gold exploration for hidden ore deposits. It is necessary to select a relatively large area where we suspect gold deposits may occur but where actual showings may not be known. A relatively large area is desirable to give a greater chance that a gold ore body may occur within it. We cannot use present airborne survey methods directly because they are not specific enough for gold exploration. The most probable approach seems, therefore, to use the newly developed methods of analyzing for gold where sensitivity and producibility are of the order of 2 ppb. Au. This gives us a direct method of searching for the metal of interest. We have usually considered geochemical exploration in the Canadian shield as largely a problem of secondary distri- * t * t * -5 (3) bution by glaciation. However, new experimental evidence of the upward migration of gold caused by growing plants presents hope that provided overburden is not too deep, gold may migrate almost vertically upward producing anomalies closely related spatially to the bedrock deposits. We are still faced with the problem of scale. A moderately large area of ground such as a 400 claim block precludes the possibility of preliminary ground exploration using cut lines and closely spaced sampling intervals. Cost of such a program would be astronomical and certainly unwarranted considering the probability of discovering an ore deposit. We decided, therefore, that the first stage must be a more reconnaissance type of survey including geological mapping and geochemical sampling for gold. A traverse system with traverses controlled by aerial photographs seemed reasonable. Traverses spaced at approximately 400 meter intervals with soil samples collected at 300 meter intervals were selected after an orientation survey around known gold deposits on the nearby Dawson Road Lots indicated a reasonable chance that this spacing could locate a moderate sized deposit. The cost of such a survey appeared within reason, at least for an experimental survey. This survey with assaying cost and a moderate amount of follow up could be expected (4) to provide enough man days to satisfy the first year©s assessment work. It was, therefore, decided to use this large block of claims as an experimental area while concurrently exploring the gold showings on Dawson Road Lots 68 and 69 in a much more thorough fashion using geological, gold soil geochemistry, magnetic, and induced polarization surveys to define drilling targets, LOCATION AND ACCESS The two claim groups are centered around Shabaqua which is a railroad siding (station) on the C.N.R, approximately 35 miles west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, The village of ; Shabaqua Corners on the Trans-Canada Highway lies about one half mile from both claim groups. Locations of the claims and topographic features are shown on the accompanying claim map prepared by Corporate Oil and Gas Ltd. Road access to the area is via Ontario Highways 17 and 11, the latter highway crossing the north group, A gravel road leads southward across the central part of the south group of claims. Claim access has been improved by construction of a skidder road running westward from Shabaqua for a distance of 3.5 km. An east-west picketed (5) baseline, 4 km. in length, was cut easterly and westerly from the northwest corner of claim TB 678354, The baseline was cut to provide both access and geographic control for the traverses in this portion of the area. A horse trail extends westward from Shabaqua to Sand Lake on the west boundary of the south claim group. Access to some parts of the more remote claims at the west and north east ends of the south claim groups still creates considerable problem so that exploration of these parts had to be deferred to the 1984 field season. The C.N.R. line from Thunder Bay to Fort Frances crosses both claim groups so tha©t rail transport is available in the event an ore body is discovered. Hydro transmission lines cross the area in the vicinity of Highways 11 and 17, The Shebandowan River flows through both the north and south claim groups. It provides some access by canoe but in general it is fast flowing and rapids are numerous so that its usefulness is limited. It also provides a barrier to access to the northwestern portion of the south claim group. The accompanying claim map has been drafted to the scale of the geological and geochemical map so that it can be used as an overlay or underlay for relating geology and geochemistry to the claim positions. The detail of the maps s t * t t t O (6) precludes putting claims directly cm the geological and geo chemical maps. NAMES AND ADDRESSES t The claims are held and the assessment work is submitted by: Corporate Oil and Gas Ltd. 201 - 52 Donald Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3Z6 NUMBER OF CLAIMS A total of 148 claims were covered by the geological and geochemical surveys, and 20 days assessment work is being recorded for each of these claims. A request for an exten sion of time is being made for an additional 204 claims where some work has been completed on access roads but where geo logical mapping and geochemical sampling are too meager for recording. DATES OF THE SURVEYS The geological and geochemical surveys were carried out concurrently from June l to September 16, 1983 and between (7) October 7 to November 9, 1983. Chemical analyses were com- ; l l : pleted and picket line grids were cut during the interval and during October and November, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DESCRIPTION OF FORMATIONS The present stage of the geological map is essentially a lithologic map showing the distribution of the various lithologic types. Outcrops are not abundant although they are widely distributed. Exposure is poor, in general, out crops are commonly covered with moss, lichens and dead humus material or a few inches of drift. Lithologies are placed in a table largely for convenience because volcanism and sedimentation appear to be of diverse character with considerable interbedding or interlayering of volcanic lithologic types as well as clastic and chemical sedimentary horizons. The distribution of the lithologies is shown on the accompanying map but for many outcrops only the cominant types of lithology can be shown. The age relations of various volcanic and sedimentary lithologies is not established so t * t * * O (8) that the table should not be construed to be in the order of formation, The order from basic to felsic volcanics, or volcanics to sediments is only that of conventional usage and should not be interpreted in any other way because deposition and geologic structure may be complex and are not well known. The lithologies are as follows: 1) Mafic-meta volcanic rocks, 1.a), fine grained basalt, 2) Felsic to Intermediate Metavolcanic Rocks, 2.a) grey to greenish grey tried, gr. felsic to intermediate fragmental (tuffs) with fine grained rhyolite bands with green to dark grey fissile pelitic interbands. (Very similar to 3a) 2.b) grey green to green cherty siliceous rhyolite, 2.c) grey to green or reddish fine grained dacitic to andesitic fragmental with minor flow rock inter bands or arkosic sections, 2.d) felsic to intermediate flow rock. grey to greenish fine grained dacite to andesite, 2.d ) porphyritic version of 2,d. 2.e) intermediate grey to greenish fine grained volcanic flow rock (andesitic - basaltic), 2.e ) porphyritic version of 2.e. 3) Metasedimentary Rocks with a Dominant Volcanic Component. 3.a) interbedded light and dark grey psammitic and (9) 3.a) pelitic metasedimentary rocks, 3.b) a coarser version of 3,a (a volcanic breccia or conglomerate), 3.c) jasper - magnetite (or maghemite) iron formation, 3.d) very dark colored fine grained pyritic metapelite.