Location
The road accessible Dewdney Trail Property is located 30 km northeast of Cranbrook, British Columbia and covers more than 10,000 hectares (100 Km²) over a 15 km strike length of favourable geology with gold, copper, cobalt, zinc, lead and/or silver deposit potential.
History
IIn 1864, placer gold was discovered in Wildhorse Creek and started a gold rush to the Cranbrook area. Anecdotal information suggests at least 1.5 million ounces (46.7 million grams) of gold have been recovered from the creek; however, no corresponding lode gold deposits of any size have been discovered in the rock, suggesting the Wildhorse Creek Area has undeveloped potential for gold deposits. The Dewdney Trail Property is located upstream from placer deposits in Wildhorse Creek and may host the source of the placer gold.
Since 2010, PJX has consolidated 100% ownership of the mineral rights to claims comprising the Dewdney Trail Property.
In December 2010, RIT Minerals Corp. completed a 43-101 Technical Report (the “43-101”) on the Dewdney Trail Property for the PJX. A copy of the Technical Report was filed on SEDAR in 2011 and is available in the Company’s filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
PJX has since compiled historical data and infilled data gaps with prospecting, mapping, geochem soil, silt and rock sampling, geophysics, and targeted trenching and drilling to help identify the most promising areas to host potential gold and base metal (copper, cobalt, zinc, lead) deposits.
In 2021, PJX optioned the right to acquire a 100% interest in the historical Estella Mine from Imperial Metals over a 5-year period. The Estella Mine closed in the 1960s. The mine produced zinc, lead and silver in concentrate from a vein. The small Estella Mine Property is located within the outer boundary of PJX’s large Dewdney Trail Property.
Exploration Potential
Exploration has identified 3 target areas with the potential to host large deposits.
• Estella Bains target area - intrusive related gold-copper-silver-molybdenum deposit potential.
• Lewis Ridge target area - Sullivan type (zinc, lead, silver), and/or Black Butte or Mt. Isa copper-cobalt deposit potential.
• Tackle Basin target area - Orogenic and/or intrusive related gold deposit potential.
Property map shows PJX’s target areas in the Sullivan Mining District and Vulcan Gold Belt, including Estella Basin, Lewis Ridge and Tackle Basin.
Dewdney Trail target areas all occur within the hinge and/or limb of a large regional north-south oriented overturned anticline fold structure.
Mineralization also occurs in sediments similar in age (Proterozoic) and/or type (turbidites, quartzites) to other deposits such as Telfer, and Sukoi-log.
Sediments have been intruded by felsic intrusives (syenite/alkalic) possibly similar in age (Cretaceous to possibly Eocene) to deposits such as Pebble in Alaska or the Butte mining district in Montana.
PJX contracted Expert Geophysics to fly an 895 km airborne survey with a tight flight-line spacing of 100m to be able to identify and define shallow and deep targets across the entire Dewdney Trail Property. The survey has helped identify numerous potential intrusive related and sediment hosted type deposit targets to test.
Estella Basin, Lewis Ridge and Tackle Basin Target Areas
Estella Basin target area (approximately 2.5 km x 3 km). Possible magmatic center with multiple phases of porphyritic syenitic/alkalic intrusions that are believed to be Cretaceous to possibly Eocene in age.
• Gold, silver, and copper mineralization occur in multi-phased, variably altered, and veined syenitic/alkalic porphyritic intrusions. • Vancouver Petrographic (Van Petro) analyzed thin and polished sections of porphyritic intrusions (syenite to granodioritic porphyries, felsitic rhyolite, trachylatite), breccias, meta-sediments, carbonates, plus quartz-filled veins from the Estella Basin. • Van Petro determined that typical porphyry deposit alteration assemblages (Ca-Mg-Fe-carbonates, pyrite, epidote, sericite, chlorite) as well as disseminated and vein copper minerals were identified and are similar to those that characterize alkalic porphyry copper-gold deposits. • Photo A is of an intrusive phase containing disseminated pyrite and chalcopyrite in the groundmass. A separate grab sample (numbered MS22-57) of this intrusive phase with quartz veining analyzed 6.9 g/t gold, 447 g/t silver and 1.108% copper (Estella Basin Geology Map and Table 1) • Hydrothermal breccias occur throughout the basin Photos B to D. Three grab samples from the margin of a brecciated and quartz flooded area contained 8.79 %, 3.35 %, and 2.01% copper (see Table 2). • Geophysical airborne survey has identified magnetic highs and donut shaped magnetic anomalies that are known to be geophysical signatures for intrusion related, such as porphyry, copper-gold type deposits (Figure 1). • Ring features (5 km across) in airborne magnetic and Mobile-MT (EM) surveys outline the possible margins of collapsed plutons at depth. Copper-gold porphyry type deposits are known to occur along pluton margins. (Figures 2, 3) • Gold, copper, silver, molybdenum, arsenic and other elements occur in soils in vicinity of mapped intrusions and magnetic anomalies (Figures 4-9).
Erosion has only exposed part of the tops of the intrusions (photo E). Therefore, there is potential for deposits to occur near surface and at depth as they would not have been eroded.
Cluster of differentiated intrusions occur for more than 600 metres along strike (photo E).
Gold, copper and silver mineralization occur with alkalic intrusions that have characteristics somewhat similar to calc-alkalic systems, such as copper-gold-silver mineralization at the top of the system and the presence of breccias. (see Sillitoe calc-alkalic model, 2010, with relative locations of rocks in photos A, B, C, D).
Estella Basin is part of the Sullivan Mining District that has geological similarities to other intrusion related copper-gold mining districts, such as the Butte and Bingham Canyon districts located to the south in Montana and Utah, respectively.
• All 3 districts occur along continental scale transverse structures, the Uinta arch/lineament at Bingham Canyon, Great Falls tectonic zone at Butte, and the Vulcan tectonic zone at the Sullivan District (see Regional Geology and Deposits Map with Sullivan and Butte Mining Districts) • Sulphide rich Proterozoic age sediments in the Butte mining district are similar to the Estella Basin and across the Dewdney Trail property. Proterozoic sediments are also considered to occur at depth beneath Bingham Canyon. • Sulphide mineralization in sediments can provide a source of sulfur to assist with the formation of copper, gold, silver, and other mineralization in the intrusives. • Silty carbonate sediments on the Dewdney Trail property may be good host rocks for the formation of potential gold, copper, zinc, lead, and/or silver skarn, CRD, or other deposit types that can occur proximal to magmatic centers. • Proterozoic age gabbro sills in the area may form impermeable rock layers (aquitards) which can help enrich copper, gold, silver, and other mineralization by impeding and concentrating rising fluids that transport the metals.
Drilling is required to test mineralization in the mapped intrusions, breccias, and magnetic anomalies near surface and at depth.
Lewis Ridge target area (approximately 3 km x 2 km) Potential sediment hosted massive sulphide mineralization (zinc-lead-silver and/or copper-cobalt)
Four holes were drilled late in 2022 to test airborne Mobile-MT (EM) and Magnetic anomalies. (see Leapfrog models of geophysics and geology)
• Hole LR22-02 intersected massive sulphide mineralization consisting of fine to coarse grained pyrite that has a somewhat net-textured appearance and is fractured or brecciated possibly due to folding (Lewis Ridge Photo A). • The 1.42 m wide (drill width) zone with 60% massive sulphide in quartz-dolomite gangue was intersected from 125.87m to 127.29 m down hole, and analyzed 644 ppm (0.06%) Co, 819 ppm (0.08%) Cu, 144 ppm Ni and 2.66 ppm (2.6 g/t) Ag. • Massive sulphide and overlying locally graphitic and/or calcareous sediments are conductive.
Mineralization appears somewhat conformable with sediments that are Proterozoic in age possibly similar to Black Butte copper-cobalt deposit in Montana and possibly similar to copper mineralization with cobalt at Mt. Isa in Australia.
Lewis Ridge and Black Butte massive sulphide mineralization both occur;
•as pyrite mineralization containing Co, Cu, with anomalous Ni and Ag in quartz dolomite gangue, • with Proterozoic age black to grey locally calcareous silts or shale, • in shallow water environment on the east side of the Belt-Purcell rift basin, and • with east-west oriented transverse basin faults,
Large airborne EM conductivity anomaly and magnetic anomalies occur along a 3 km trend with gold, copper, silver, arsenic, zinc, lead, bismuth and molybdenum soil anomalies.
More drilling is needed to test targets near surface and at depth along the large overturned anticline fold.
Video 1 and Video 2 showing the Lewis Ridge location can be found on PJX’s web site.
Tackle Basin target area (approximately 2 km x 2 km)
Orogenic and/or intrusive related gold deposit potential.
Gold is the dominant element in soils in the Tackle Basin area. (see geology maps with various soil analyses).
Tackle Basin is located in the headwaters of the Wildhorse placer gold creek. It is a large basin with placer gold in the creeks draining the basin.
One favourable gold bearing quartzite-argillite unit ranges from 75 to over 200 m true width. Gold occurs with quartz veins or quartz stockwork zones and silica, sericite and carbonate alteration in the sedimentary unit.
Next Steps
Two new potential deposit types were identified by exploration during 2022.
•Sediment hosted copper-cobalt at Lewis Ridge target area. •Intrusive related gold-copper-silver at Estella Basin target area.
Geological mapping, geochem sampling, and airborne geophysical surveys have defined over 10 km with deposit potential.
Next steps will be to explore and test the drill ready Estella Basin and Lewis Rudge targets, and advance the Tackle Basin and other targets to a drill ready stage.
Estella Basin Geology Map with rock grab sample gold analyses from alkalic (syenite) intrusions. The location of a diatreme breccia and photos A to E are also shown.
Table 1 – Rock Grab samples of Syenite intrusions with quartz veins in Estella Basin
Photo A – Rock grab sample of intrusive phase similar to MS22-57.
Vancouver Petrographic’s assessment indicates that pyrite (iron sulphide), chalcopyrite (copper sulphide) blebs and hematite (iron oxide) are scattered in the groundmass. The rock is a micro-fractured porphyritic quartz-bearing syenite dominated by fine to very coarse, subhedral to euhedral K-feldspar phenocrysts (in places, replaced by calcite), intergrown with accessory plagioclase phenocrysts and quartz, floating within a groundmass that is dominated by K-feldspar, intergrown with plagioclase, quartz, muscovite flakes, plus minor apatite and scattered calcite spar. Discontinuous veinlets, crosscutting phenocrysts and groundmass are filled with calcite and quartz. A separate rock grab sample (numbered MS22-57) of this phase of porphyry with quartz veins analyzed 6.9 g/t gold, 447 g/t silver, 1.1% copper.
Photo B – Diatreme breccia with round to elongated rock fragments (clasts) aligned in the same orientation.
Photo C – Breccia with magnetite (black mineral) matrix.
Photo D – Puzzle or jigsaw in appearance breccia with quartz veining cutting a gabbro sill on margin of diatreme. Grab samples of malachite and/or chalcopyrite with veining analyzed 8.7%, 3.3%, and 2.0% copper.
Table 2 – Rock grab samples of quartz veining with chalcopyrite and/or malachite (copper mineralization) in an irregular brecciaed gabbro on the margin of the diatreme breccia.
Photo E – Estella Basin Target Area. Drill ready targets to test. Cluster of syenite/alkalic intrusions with gold, copper, silver and molybdenum mineralisation potential. Erosion has only exposed the top of the intrusions on mountain sides below the peaks. Porphyry copper-gold deposits are known to have donut shaped magnetic signatures. A large donut shaped magnetic anomaly occurs with the peak in the distance. This anomaly and soil geochem anomalies (Figures 2-6) suggest potential for porphyry copper-gold type mineralisation at depth beneath the mountain ( that has not been exposed by erosion).
Figure 1 – Airborne magnetic map. Estella Basin’s First target to test is the syenite/alkalic intrusion with quartz veins and gold, copper and silver mineralisation discovered last year. Intrusion appears as a magnetic high (red colour). Additional targets are the Donut shaped magnetic anomaly and a syenite/alkalic porphyry with limited access at the base of a cliff. Porphyry copper-gold deposits are known to have a magnetic high and/or a donut shaped magnetic signature.
Figure 2 – Airborne magnetic map.
• Estella Basin’s First target to test is the syenite/alkalic intrusion associated with gold, copper and silver mineralization discovered last year. Intrusion appears as a magnetic high (red colour). • Additional targets are the Donut shaped magnetic anomaly and a syenite/alkalic porphyry with limited access at the base of a cliff. Porphyry copper-gold deposits are known to have a magnetic high and/or a donut shaped magnetic signature. • Two large ring features in the magnetic data (approximately 5 km across) outline what may be the outer margins of multiple collapsed plutons at depth that could generate porphyry copper-gold type deposits. • The possible plutons (magmatic centers) are aligned along a major north trending overturned anticline fold axis that would provide loci for plutons. • Note how the syenite/alkalic porphyry intrusions and donut shaped magnetic anomaly occur along the ring features. Porphyry copper-gold deposits are known to occur along the margin of plutons.
Figure 3 – Airborne Mobile MT – EM map.
• Mapping suggests that the more conductive areas (pink to red colours) are related to sedimentary rocks containing iron sulphide, carbonaceous material, and possible massive sulphide mineralization. • The more conductive areas appear to disappear in the centre where a large area of lower conductivity (diffuse red) may represent a pluton at depth. • The lower conductivity area may have been created when the pluton absorbed the conductive iron sulfides and carbonaceous material that are often required to form copper-gold porphyry type deposits. • The ring feature, about 5 km across, represents the outer margin of the possible pluton. • Alkalic/syenite porphyry intrusions and the donut shaped magnetic anomaly occur along the ring feature.
Figure 4 – Gold in soil geochem on geology map for Estella Basin target area. Gold in soil anomalies occur with and/or proximal to the First target to test (syenite/alkalic intrusion with gold, copper, silver) and the location of the Donut shaped magnetic anomaly. Porphyry copper-gold deposits are known to have magnetic high and donut shaped magnetic signatures.
Figure 5 – Gold in soil geochem on geology map for Lewis Ridge, Estella Basin, and Tackle Basin target areas.
Figure 6 – Copper in soil geochem on geology map for Lewis Ridge, Estella Basin, and Tackle Basin target areas.
Figure 7 – Molybdenum in soil geochem on geology map for Lewis Ridge, Estella Basin, and Tackle Basin target areas.
Figure 8 – Silver in soil geochem on geology map for Lewis Ridge, Estella Basin, and Tackle Basin target areas.
Figure 9 – Arsenic in soil geochem on geology map for Lewis Ridge, Estella Basin, and Tackle Basin target areas.
Sillitoe calc-alkalic model, 2010, with relative locations of rocks in photos A, B, C, D. The alkalic intrusive type system at the Estella Basin has a number of similar characteristics to Sillitoe’s calc-alkalic model, such as gold-silver and copper mineralization at the top of the system and the presence of diatreme breccias.
Regional Geology Map with Sullivan and Butte Mining Districts. Intrusion related copper-gold-silver mineralization at the Estella Basin in the Sullivan Mining District occurs in a similar regional structural and geological environment to intrusion related copper-molybdenum-silver deposits in the Butte Mining District. Sullivan and Butte Mining Districts occur where continental scale structures intersect. The Rocky Mountain Trench Fault intersects the Vulcan tectonic zone in the Sullivan District and the Great Falls tectonic zone in the Butte District.
Lewis Ridge Target – drill hole LR22-02 Massive sulphide (pyrite) with anomalous cobalt, copper, nickel and silver mineralization in a quartz-dolomite gangue (white mineralization). On the right is an enlarged photo of the massive sulphide to display the fine to coarse pyrite texture.
• 1.42 m wide (drill width) zone with 60% massive sulphide intersected from 125.87m to 127.29 m down hole, analyzed 644 ppm (0.06%) Cobalt, 819 ppm (0.08%) Copper, 144 ppm Nickel and 2.66 ppm (2.6 g/t) silver.
• Possible sediment hosted mineralization similar to the Black Butte copper-cobalt deposit that also occurs with anomalous nickel and silver in quartz-dolomite gangue.
Dewdney Trail Geology map draped on topography. Lewis Ridge (cobalt-copper) and Estella Basin (gold-copper-silver) target areas occur along the same anticline fold axis as the historical Estella and Kootenay King Mines. The Lewis Ridge target occurs at or near a geological horizon that is equivalent in depositional time to the Sullivan Deposit located about 25 km to the west. The Jackleg Fault may be the eastern extension of the Kimberley Fault that influenced the formation of the Sullivan deposit.
Apparent Conductivity Map draped on topography. Conductive Anomaly defines a large area, over 2.5 km long and 1.5 km wide. Massive sulphide (pyrite with anomalous cobalt and copper) and locally graphitic/calcareous sediments intersected in hole LR22-02 are conductive. The large Magnetic anomaly at depth may represent an area with greater sulphide content containing copper and cobalt that has been folded along the east limb of the wide overturned anticline fold.
2-Dimensional modelling of six of the 30 flight lines over the Lewis Ridge Target display a potentially more conductive area at depth (400 to 800m) that appears to correlate with the magnetic anomaly defined by 3 Dimensional modelling. Conductive and magnetic anomalies support the potential for sulphide mineralization. Sulphide zone intersected in LR22-02 and the magnetic anomaly at depth will be a focus of future drilling.
Belt-Purcell basin geology map. Lewis Ridge target and Black Butte deposit both occur on the east side of the basin and were formed in shallower water environments and in similar age rock.
Sullivan Mining District geology map with Dewdney Trail Property target areas. The Kimberley Fault influenced formation of the Sullivan Deposit. The Jackleg Fault may be the eastern extension of Kimberley fault.
Gold in Soil Samples
Copper in Soil Samples
Zinc in Soil Samples
Lead in Soil Samples
Bismuth in Soil Samples
Molybdenum in Soil Samples
Arsenic in Soil Samples
Silver in Soil Samples
Placer Gold Tackle Basin Area
Typical vein morphology and spacing within quartzite. Bedding is horizontal in photograph, most veins are perpendicular to bedding. Note the close spacing (Cdn penny for scale) of veins, and vein widths from millimeter to centimetre scales.
Gold Bearing Rock Comparison
View southeast at quartzite forming the headwall of Lewis Creek. Intense sericite-quartz-pyrite-Fe-carbonate alteration imparts orange weathering color. Rock and soil samples are anomalous in gold.
Anticline Fold Dewdney Trail
Dewdney Trail Property map with Estella Crown Grants and road/trail access