Geological Fieldwork 2005 A Summary of Field Activities and Current Research Report 2006-1 Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Mining and Minerals Division Paper 2006-1
GEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK 2005 A Sum mary of Field Ac tiv i ties and Cur rent Re search Min is try of En ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources Brit ish Co lum bia Geo log i cal Sur vey Report 2006-1 Pa per 2006-1
Min is try of En ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources Min ing and Min er als Di vi sion Brit ish Co lum bia Geo log i cal Sur vey Parts of this pub li ca tion may be quoted or re pro duced if source and au thor ship is ac knowl edged. The fol low ing is the rec - om mended for mat for ref er enc ing in di vid ual works con tained in this pub li ca tion: Alldrick, D.J. (2006): Eskay Rift Pro ject (NTS 103O, P, 104A, B, G, H) North west ern Brit ish Co lum bia; in Geo log i cal Field work 2005, Brit ish Co lum bia Min is try of En ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources, Pa per 2006-1 and Geoscience BC, Re port 2006-1, p 1-4. This pub li ca tion is also avail able, free of charge, as col our dig i tal files in Adobe Ac ro bat PDF for mat from the BC Min is try of En ergy and Mines internet website at: http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/min ing/geolsurv/pub li ca tions/cat a log/catfldwk.htm COVER PHOTO: Amy Boulton, a se nior field as sis tant and cur rently at tend ing the Uni ver sity of Man ches ter, United Kingdom, ex am ines an out crop south of Canam Lake, in cen tral Brit ish Columbia, as part of an on go ing re gional map ping pro gram led by Paul Schiarizza. Brit ish Co lum bia Cat a logu ing in Pub li ca tion Data Main en try un der ti tle: Geo log i cal Field work: - 1974 - An nual. Is su ing body var ies Vols. For 1978-1996 is sued in se ries: Pa per / Brit ish Co lum bia. Min is - try of En ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources; vols for 1997-1998, Pa per / Brit ish Co lum bia. Min is try of Em ploy ment and In vest ment; vols for 1999-, Pa per / Brit ish Co lum bia Min is try of En ergy and Mines; vols for 2006-, Pa - per / Brit ish Co lum bia Min is try of En ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Resources. In cludes Bib lio graph i cal ref er ences. ISSN 0381-243X=Geo log i cal Field work 1. Ge ol ogy - Brit ish Co lum bia - Pe ri od i cals. 2. Mines and min eral re - sources - Brit ish Co lum bia - Pe ri od i cals. 3. Ge ol ogy - Field work - Pe ri od i - cals. 4. Ge ol ogy, Eco nomic - Brit ish Co lum bia - Pe ri od i cals. 5. Brit ish Co - lum bia. Geo log i cal Sur vey Branch - Pe ri od i cals. I. Brit ish Co lum bia. Geo log i cal Di vi sion. II. Brit ish Co lum bia. Geo log i cal Sur vey Branch. III. Brit ish Co lum bia. Geo log i cal Sur vey Branch. IV. Brit ish Co lum bia. Dept. of Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources. V. Brit ish Co lum bia. Min is try of En - ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources. VI. Brit ish Co lum bia. Min is try of Em ploy ment and In vest ment. VII. Brit ish Co lum bia Min is try of En ergy and Mines. VIII. Se ries: Pa per (Brit ish Co lum bia. Min is try of En ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources). IX. Se ries: Pa per (Brit ish Co lum bia. Min is try of Em ploy ment and In vest ment). X. Se ries: Pa per (Brit ish Co lum bia Min is try of En ergy and Mines). XI. Se ries: Pa per (Brit ish Co lum bia Min is try of En - ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources). VICTORIA BRITISH COLUMBIA CANADA JANUARY 2006 ii British Columbia Geological Survey
FOREWORD The Brit ish Co lum bia Min is try of En ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources and Geoscience BC pres ent the re - sults of 2005 geoscience sur veys and stud ies in this thirtyfirst edi tion of Geo log i cal Field work: A Sum mary of Field work and Cur rent Re search. Many ar ti cles are con - tri bu tions from staff of the BC Geo log i cal Sur vey. Geoscience field sur veys and the pro vi sion of re sult ing geoscience data have led to claim stak ing and en hanced min eral ex plo ra tion ex pen di tures, which may ul ti mately lead to new mines and eco nomic sup port for BC com mu ni - ties. As in pre vi ous years, the vol ume also pub lishes stud ies by uni ver sity and in dus try au thors. This vol ume also in cludes 13 ar ti cles pro vided by Geoscience BC, a new, not-for-profit, nongovernment or - ga ni za tion man dated to pro vide geoscience in for ma tion to stim u late min eral, and oil and gas ex plo ra tion in Brit ish Co - lum bia. The province pro vided a grant of $25 mil lion as start-up fund ing for the new or ga ni za tion.the ar ti cles span a wide spec trum from geo chem i cal sur veys and geo log i cal map ping to new tools for ac cess ing pro vin cial da ta bases. For de tails of the Geoscience BC pro gram, re fer to the re - view, and the in di vid ual manuscripts, presented later in this volume. This past year the BC Geo log i cal Sur vey re gional field sur veys and col lab o ra tive geoscience stud ies con tin ued the tra di tion of part ner ships with gov ern ment, in dus try and uni ver si ties. Ar ti cles in this vol ume in clude re ports on con - tin u ing pro grams in the Iskut-Bow ser Ba sin and Toodoggone ar eas, and new geoscience pro jects in the Canim Lake, coastal (in dus trial min er als), Green wood, north east (coal), north ern Van cou ver Is land and Ter race ar - eas. In dus try part ner ships pro vided op er at ing funds and ac - cess to pri vate-sec tor in for ma tion, par tic u larly for the por - phyry cop per-gold (Ga lore Creek and Mt Polley) and Toodoggone pro grams. This vol ume also re ports on the re - sults of a multiyear in ves ti ga tion into the prov ince s di a - mond po ten tial and high lights significant new information for the northeast corner of BC. Over the past year, the BC Geo log i cal Sur vey pub - lished Geo log i cal Field work 2004, Ex plo ra tion and Min - ing in Brit ish Co lum bia 2004, 18 Open File maps and re - ports, 3 Geoscience Maps, 25 GeoFile maps, re ports and data and 3 In for ma tion Cir cu lars. One of the high light prod ucts this year has been the new, 1:250 000-scale, dig i - tal geo log i cal map of the prov ince the first li thol ogybased map of the Prov ince in over 25 years. All geoscience pub li ca tions are now rou tinely posted to the Min is try of En - ergy, Mines and Pe tro leum Re sources website. MapPlace, one of the world s pre mier Internet-based geoscience map sys tems, con tin ues to im prove with the ad di tion of new tools and data lay ers; the site ex ceeded six mil lion hits dur - ing the last year. MINFILE, the min eral de pos its da ta base sys tem, has been re pro grammed and made more ac ces si ble with a new Internet in ter face. Cli ents can now ac cess com - pany min eral as sess ment re ports from the ARIS da ta base, on line for the years from 1947 to 1969, and from 1991 to the pres ent. This Geo log i cal Field work vol ume re flects the hard work and ex per tise of nu mer ous au thors who have earned our thanks for their con tri bu tions. The ar ti cles have been im proved by peer and su per vi sor re view, and the qual ity ser vices of RnD Tech ni cal are ac knowl edged for help ing to put the vol ume to gether. The ed i tor, Brian Grant, earns spe - cial com men da tion for be ing the key per son in pro duc ing Geo log i cal Field work, as he coordinates the or ga ni za tion and pub li ca tion of the vol ume. D.V. Lefebure Chief Ge ol o gist Brit ish Co lum bia Geo log i cal Sur vey Geo log i cal Field work 2005, Pa per 2006-1 iii
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CONTENTS Alldrick, D.J.: Eskay Rift Project (NTS 103O, P, 104A, B, G, H), Northwestern BC...1 Bath, A.B and Logan J.M.: Petrography and Geochemistry of the Late Triassic Bootjack Stock (NTS 093A/12), South-Central BC...5 Barresi, T. and Nelson, J.L.: Usk Map Area (NTS 103I/9), Near Terrace, BC: Cross-Sections and Volcanic Facies Interpretation....21 Diakow, L.J. and Rhodes, R.: Geology Between the Toodoggone River and Chukachida Lake (Parts of NTS 094E/06, 07, 10 and 11), North-Central BC...29 Greene, A.R., Scoates, J.S., Nixon,G.T. and Weis, D.: Picritic Lavas and Basal Sills in the Karmutsen Flood Basalt Province, Wrangellia, Northern Vancouver Island, BC...39 Lett, R.E. and Friske, P.W.B.: Bowser Basin Geochemical Survey, North-Central BC: Anomaly Follow-up, 2005. 53 Lett, R.E.: Geochemical Surveys in the Lillooet Area (NTS Areas 092J, 092I, 092O, 092P), Southwestern BC...63 Legun, A.S.: The Gates Formation in the Wolverine River Area, Northeastern BC...73 Logan, J.M. and Bath, A.B.: Geochemistry of Nicola Group Basalt from the Central Quesnel Trough at the Latitude of Mount Polley (NTS 093A/5, 6, 11, 12), Central BC...83 Massey, N.W.D.: Boundary Project: Reassessment of Paleozoic Rock Units of the Greenwood Area (NTS 082E/02), Southern BC...99 Mihalynuk, M.G. and Friedman, R.M.: U-Pb Isotopic Ages of Intrusive Rocks Related to Mineralization North of Terrace, BC....109 Nelson, J.L., Barresi, T., Knight, E. and Boudreau, N.: Geology and Mineral Potential of the Usk Map Area (NTS 103I/09), near Terrace, BC...117 Nixon, G.T., Kelman, M.C., Stevenson, D., Stokes, L.A. and Johnston, K.A.: Preliminary Geology of the Nimpkish Map Area (NTS 092L/07), Northern Vancouver Island, BC...135 Pe ter son, N.D., Rus sell, J.K. and Mahoney, J.B.: Man tle- De rived Peridotite Xe no liths from the West ern Inter - montane Belt, Whitesail Lake map area (NTS 093E), West ern BC...153 Schiarizza, P. and Boulton, A.: Geology and Mineral Occurrences of the Quesnel Terrane, Canim Lake Area (NTS 092P/15), South-Central BC...163 Simandl, G.J., Robinson, N.D. and Paradis, S.: Iron (Magnetite) Ore Resources in Southwestern BC: Soft Niche or Steel-Hard Market?...185 Simandl, G.J., Robinson, N.D. and Paradis, S.: Dolomite in BC: Geology, Current Producers and Possible Development Opportunities along the West Coast...197 Simandl, G.J., Ferbey, T., Levson, V.M., Robinson, N.D., Lane, R., Smith, R., Demchuk, T.E., Raudsepp, I.M. and Hickin, A.S.: Kimberlite and Diamond Indicator Minerals in Northeastern BC: A Reconnaissance Survey...209 GEOSCIENCE BC Stevens, R.A.: Summary of Geoscience BC Program Activities 2005...231 Cook, S.J. and Dunn, C.E.: Preliminary Results of the Cordilleran Geochemistry Project: A Comparative Assessment of Soil Geochemical Methods for Detecting Buried Mineral Deposits, 3Ts Au-Ag Prospect (NTS 93F/3), Central BC...237 Dunn, C.E., Cook, S.J. and Hall, G.E.M.: Halogens in Surface Exploration Geochemistry: Evaluation and Development of Methods for Detecting Buried Mineral Deposits (NTS 93F/3), Central BC...259 Evenchick, C.A., O'Sullivan, P.B. and Waldron, J.W.F. : Targeted Energy-Resource Studies in the Bowser and Sustut Interior Basins of BC...281 Kilby, W.E. and Kilby, C.E.: ASTER Imagery for BC An Online Exploration Resource....287 Jackaman, W.: Drainage Sediment and Water Geochemical Surveys in the Anahim Lake and Nechako River Map Areas (NTS 93C and F), Central BC....295 MacIntyre, D.: Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Skeena Arch, West-Central BC: A Geoscience BC Digital Data Compilation Project...303 Mahoney, J.B., Haggart, J.W., Hooper, R.L., Snyder, L.D. and Woodsworth, G.J.: Geological Setting and Mineralization Potential of the Southwestern Whitesail Lake Map Area (NTS 93E), Western BC: Preliminary Assessment...313 Marshall, D., Lesiczka, M., Xue, G. and Close, S.: Update on the Mineral Deposit Potential of the Nootka Sound Region (NTS 92E ), West Coast of Vancouver Island, BC...323 Mortensen, J.K.: Stratigraphic and Paleotectonic Studies of the Middle Paleozoic Sicker Group and Contained VMS Occurrences, Vancouver Island, BC...331 Plouffe, A., Smith, I.R., McCurdy, M., Friske, P., Ferbey, T., Bednarski, J., Levson, V.M., Demchuk, T.E., Trommelen, M., Day, S. and Hickin, A.S.: Glacial and Stream Sediments Sampling in Support of Kimberlite Exploration in Northeastern BC...337 Nass, C.O.: 2005 Regional Geochemical Survey, NTS Areas 83C, 83D, 83E and 82N, Southeastern British Columbia....343 Waldron, J.W.F., Gagnon, J.-F., Loogman, W. and Evenchick, C.A.: Initiation and Deformation of the Jurassic-Cretaceous Bowser Basin: Implications for Hydrocarbon Exploration in North-Central BC...349 Geo log i cal Field work 2005, Pa per 2006-1 v
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