Geology & Mineralisation

The Akie property is situated within the fold and thrust belt of the Rocky Mountains. The property geology is characterised by a series of imbricated thrust panels comprised of Cambrian to late Devonian aged rocks of the Kechika, Road River and Earn Groups.

The Earn Group is comprised of the Warneford Formation: coarse clastic sediments, the Akie Formation: soft aluminous shales; and the highly prospective Gunsteel Formation which is characterised by bluish-grey weathered black siliceous shales. There are three known thrust panels of Earn Group stratigraphy on the property, a western, central and eastern panel. The Cardiac Creek deposit is hosted by the Gunsteel Formation shales and located within the central thrust panel underlying the Cardiac and Avalanche Creeks just west of Silver creek.

The deposit is situated towards the base of the Gunsteel Formation located near the contact with the Road River Group. The mineralised horizon associated with the deposit can be traced over 7 kilometres from the Bear Valley Creek down to the Akie River. The deposit, representing the potentially economic portion of this horizon is a large tabular sediment-hosted stratabound SEDEX-type sulphide body that strikes northwest and dips steeply at 70° to the southwest and ranges in thickness from 5 to 50 metres. The mineralogy of the deposit is relatively simple, dominated by pyrite, barite, sphalerite and galena.

The deposit consists of two distinct mineral facies: The proximal facies, characterised by 20 to 60 centimetre thick, internally laminated, very fine-grained, dull brown pyrite beds with increasing amounts of with steel grey sphalerite bands towards the contact with the Cardiac Creek Zone; and the Cardiac Creek Zone characterised by 30 to 200 centimetre thick internally laminated sulphide beds very fine-grained, dull-brown pyrite, very fine-grained steel grey sphalerite bands with minor galena, and barite interbedded with generally featureless pyritic black siliceous shale beds. Higher grade Zn and Pb mineralisation is associated with a “mottled” texture within the sphalerite bands.