VERA (082LSW015)

00455~

By R.M. Barker

(Fig.

LOCATION

NI:I. )

Lat. 50° 21' Long. 11 '3(;) 22" (82L/6W)

CLAIMS

ACCESS

VERNON MINING DIVISION. Approximately 12km

NW I:' f Ver non.

VERA 1-6, GOLDEN ZONE 1-3, GLORIA 1.

From Vernon via Kamloops Road (Okanagan

Highway), then south along Westside Road for

3km. Final a,:cess is through farming

prClperty on the western side clf Westside

Rl:lad, requiring 4-wheel drive can farm and

mining tracks foY 4km.

OWNER VERA SQUINAS, CANOVA RESOURCES

ENVIROWASTE INDUSTRIES INC.

LTD. ,

OPEPATOF.:

COMMODITIES

CANOVA RESOURCES

INDUSTRIES INC.

S i 1 ver, GCll d.

LTD. .I ENVIROWASTE

2

INTRODUCTION

The main showing at the Veya pyopeyty is a mesothermal-'style

quaytz vein carrying significant base and precious metal

mineYalisation. The Veya vein is one of a number of compaYable

deposits scattered along the western side of Okanagan Lake, west

of Vernon. Minor production was recorded in the mid-1920s. The

Vel" a pr c.per t y was pr ev i ous 1y kn.:)wn as t he II Oc t agon II •

EXPLORATION HISTORY

The area west of Okanagan Lake has a history of minctY placer

activity dating back at least as far as the 1870s, and of lode­

metal s prcJspect ing as ear 1 y as the 18'30s. Howevey, no pI aeer

mining has ever been recorded foY" the Irish CY"eek drainage in

which the known mineralisation at the Vera propeYty lies.

The Veya vein was discovered in 1'323. An open cut and short

incline weY"e developed, and l.8t of ore shipped. The recovery

grade was 34gft gold and 2811gft silver (B.C. Minister of Mines,

1955). No recoY'd e)~ists of any further work on the property

un til 1'36';3 •

1'36'3 .- Ttl e Ver a ve i n wc\ s a I mostee.... t a i n lye 0 ver ed by the May

group of claims owned by Silver Post Mines Ltd

(subsequently known as Brown-Overton Mines Ltd), but no

mention of the showing was made in assessment reports of

the time. Exploration effort was concentrated on the May

VEPA

(Jed i :> showing located

3

about 1.7km to the south-

southwest. An incomplete magnetometer survey carried out

over part of the May group did not extend over the Vera

showing (Kikuchi and Venkatarami, 1970).

1980 - The prclperty was inspected and reference made to rock

sampling and assay work done by Thunderbird Resources Ltd

(Daughtry, 1'380). A 1 imited soil geclI:hemical survey was

carried out (Daughtry, 1986).

1985 - The acquisition by Tri-Pacific Resources Ltd of an option

to the Vera property was announced, and small, high

grade, si 1 vel" product iCln program was reported to be in

progress. The discovery of visible native gold was also

reported (George Cross News Letter, Nov.15, 1985).

1986 - The Vera property was inspected and a summary report on

the history, geology and mineral occurrences was prepared

by E. Livgard (Dauqhtry, 1'386). Sur face stY'ipping of the

vein over a length of 12m was carried out by Tri-Pacific

Resources Ltd (George Cross News Letter, Apr.i5, 1986).

1'387 C:anova Pesoulr C (=5 Ltd caY" r i ed out a br i e f pr ogr am 0 f

geologicdl mapping and prospect ng (Sha'...J, 19E38), ·35 well

as a I imitE\d geophysics progY'am compr ising magnetometer

and EM surveys. These surveys proved inconclusive (Grand,

1'388) .

VEF:A

1'388

4

In the spring and early summer, limited geological

mapping and prospecting, rock chip sampling and soil

geochemical survey, and a detailed VLF-EM survey, all

commissioned by Canova Resources Ltd, were carr ied out

(Gr ond, 1'388) • I n June, Canova and Exped it clr Rescll.lr c es

Group Ltd announced a joint venture agreement to explore

the Vera claims. In .July-August, a trench, 60m long and

up to 5m deep, was excavated by drill and blast methods,

exposing a long-section through the shallow-dipping vein.

The exposure was mapped in detail and extensively sampled

for assay (Grond and Thompson, 1988).

The pr clper t y has I a i n dor mant s i nl: e 1988. E)~pedit or Resclur c e

Group Ltd. changed name in 1990 to Envirowaste Industries Inc.

REGIONAL GEOLOGY

The property, located northwest of Vernon, on the west side of

Okanagan Lake, lies close to the eastern margin of the

Quesnellia terrane. The terrane boundary in this area is

represented by the west-dipping Okanagan

east) and the southwest-dipping Louis

Valley Fault

Creek Fault

(to

(to

the

t h(:?

north). The Okanagan Valley Fault is a major, low angle, crustal

shear. Sense of movement on the faul tis normal. I t has bf?en

int~?rpreted as an Eocene "detachment" fault (Tempelman-Kluit and

Parkinson, 1986). The nature of thf.~ Louis Creek Fault is poorly

understood.

VEF~('~

Ev,,,,

..JI;

;:(ej/onal

() Iv I; teJ.,

-•

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",Jg

-fI,~ Veya C!'~&I •

()t;;li'kl, (ICfB'9).

5

The Vera prclperty is located in a nl:-rthwest-trending belt of

sediments and volcanics assigned by Okulitch (1989) to the

Triassic to Jurassic

unconformably on the

Group, while to the

Nicola Group. To the southwest they rest

Carboniferous to Permian Harper Ranch

north they are faulted against Lower

Palaeozoic rocks of the Sicamous Formation (Fig. 1). The unit is

overlain by volcanics and minor sediments of the Eocene Kamloops

Group which, in this area, is preserved only as scattered

outl iers. Wheeler and McFeely (1'387) place the faulted noythern

bc,undary elf the Nicola 13roup (the Louis Creek Fault) tCI the

sl:-uth I:-f the prl:-perty, and grl:lup the sediments and volcanics

e~~tending north frl:,m the fault into the Shuswap Lake area as

part of the Upper Pr cat er CIZ 0 i c t CI Palaeozoic Eagle Bay

Assemblage.

The Jurassic Pennask-Okanagan plutonic complex crops out within

about 15km south of the pyopeyty; CYetaceous satellite stocks of

the Salmon Arm pluton intrude the Sicamous Formation about 10km

to the north. Appro)r~imately 20km southwest of the pt"operty an

Eocene syenite stock is asso.:: iated with ep it hf.?Y" mal gold

mineralisation at the Brett property (Meyers, 1987; Chuy' c h,

1')80). Dioritic intrusive rocks have been mapped about 2.5km

west of the property (Grond, 1988).

VEF:('~

6

PROPERTY GEOLOGY

The Vera property is underlain by a northwest to west-northwest

striking, steeply"-dipping sequence of argill ites intercalated

with basaltic and andesitic tuffs and minor flows. The tuffs are

mainly mafic crystal tuffs with I ithis: fragments up to 50mm in

d i amet eY· • Th is sequenc e is cut by numer elus f el dspar porphyr y

dykes ranging from 2 to 100m wide (13rc,nd, 1'388). The Vera vein

is hosted in one such dyke. Mapping by I3rond (1'388) shows the

dykes to be generally concordant with the sediment-volcanic

sequence.

The host dyke is abl:lut 100m wide, and comprises grey, quartz-

feldspar (dacite) porphyry, with 15 per cent white potassic-

altered feldspar phenocrysts and 35 to 40 per cent c I ear,

glassy, quartz phenOl: r yst s; it carries about 1 per cent

disseminated pyr ite (I3rond and Th,:,mpson, 1'388). The rock is

massive and well-jointed. The age of the dykes is uncertc-'lin ­

Okulitch (1979) indicates a possible Jurassic age; Daughtry

(1980) suggests Tertiary.

The Vera vein comprises mainly massive, white, bull quartz, with

some zones of banded white and grey bull quartz. Ribbon texture

is evident in sClme vein mater ial (Dowl in9 and Morr ison, 1'389 :>.

Some evidence for at least two phases of quartz deposition

e:l; i st s in the tl..J() quartz types mentioned above, thE~ rare

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crystalline quartz were observed, and drusy quartz lined vughs

have been reported (George Cross News Letter, Nov. 15, 1'385;

Jun. g, 1988).

The vein, where exposed in the exploration trench, strikes

approximately north-northeast and dips west at ·-·c:::-o"::'.J • At the

northern end of the trench, it appears to rollover to a steep

northerly dip. Prior to the trenching program the vein was also

exposed in a road cut a short distance to the east and several

met res lower· in elevation. That part of the vein strikes

sl:luthwest and dips vertically; it was interpreted by Shaw

(1'388) as a II feeder II tCI the main vein.

The Vera vein pinches and swells dramatically, ranging in width

from 0.3 to 2.0m (Fig.2). Quartz stringers occur in the

footwall; most are subparallel to the main vein but some narrow,

steep, west-dipping stringers are also evident. As the main vein

narrows towards the southern end of the trench, the abundance of

str ingers increases unt iI, at its sc)uthern 1 imit, the vein is

represented by an intense stringer zone.

Shearing has occLurred along much of the hanging wall contact

and, to a I imited e~/;tent, on the footwall contact a A ser ies of

moderate to steep, east to southeast dipping, normal faults give

the vein a step-like pattern (Fig.2). Most of these faults carry

abundant calcite in veins up to 150mm thick. The calcite is

mostly coarsely c'(ystalline and displays classic open spaCf~-

filling textures such as cyustiform and laminated vein-forms and

VEP?~

':1

Spe,:tacula'( assay values have been reported for grab samples

rich in SUlphides:

A 1m channel sample taken along the strike of a 50mm wide

sulphide-rich quartz stringer gave 4.9g/t gold, 941.7g/t silver,

14.96kg/t copper and 24.02kg/t lead (Grond, 1988). Selected grab

samples have yielded values as high as 250g/t gold and 74 777g/t

silver CGCNL, Jun.9, 1988) and 4.99g/t gold, 5090g/t silver,

8.03kg/t copper, 110.76kg/t lead and 4.77kg/t zinc CGrond,

1988).

Systemat ic channel sampl ing clf the quartz vein and stY" inger

zClnes, carY"ied out by Grond and Thompson ( 1988) in the

exploY"ation trench exposure, illustY"ates the spoY"adic nature of

the mineralisation:

MaY~ imum val ue

Minimum value

Me-::~n

Median

1301 d (9/t)

2. '30

detect iCln I imi t

0.48

0.04

Silver (g/t)

2330.0

1.2

301.6

23 .. 6

(19 samples assayed)

The host porphyry contains about 1 pey cent pyrite (locally up

to 3 pel''' cent). Assays yielded gold values up to O.05g/t and

silVf~y values of 0.:0 to 4.00/t (C:irond a.rid Thompson, 1'388).

I)r:~p(·~

10

Alteration attributable to the mineralising event(s) is limited

to localised patches of coarse-grained sericite adjacent to the

vein. Pervasi ve intense chI or it i sat ion .;)f the tu f f aceous roc ks

on the property, as reported by Grond (1988), may be part of the

widespread greenschist facies metamorphism which affected the

Jurassic and older rocks of the region.

EXPLORATION POTENTIAL

The Vera vein appears to die out towards the southern end of the

exploration trench. However, the vein has not been traced to the

northeast, nc.r has it been investigated at depth by drilling.

Tracing of the vein is made difficult by the obvious faulting in

the area and by the paucity of outcrop.

The intercalation of more and less-competent lithologies creates

potential for the development of tensional structures which can

host thickened portions of cross-cutting veins. Hence, tracing

the Vera vein across lithologies may provide enhan.:ed

exploration targets.

The change in orientation of the vein at the northern end of the

trench suggest~:i the presence of a fold. A II saddle reef" modc:?l

may, therefore, bc:? appl icable to the Vera vein, in which cas;)e

the axial plane (as well as other possible axial planes in the

area) would provide a structural control for exploration.

VEPA

11

Soil geochemical and VLF-EM surveys have had limited success - a

number of indistinct northwest-trending anomalies were located

in the Vera property area. None of these has been tested

further.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Access to the library and facilities of Discovery Consultants,

Vern.:.n, B. C., and the in format ion and advice provided by I<en

Daughtry, was greatly appreciated. The advice and assistance

provided by Richard Meyers and Todd Hubner of the Kamloops

District Office of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum

F~esclurces was invaluable. I particularly wish to thank Richard

for his time spent reviewing and editing. this report. The

project was funded by the British Columbia Geoscience Research

Grant PYI::.gram.

REFERENCES

B.C. Minister of Mines (1955): Index No.3 to Publications of the

British Columbia Department of Mines; B.C. Minister of

Mines.

Cairnes, C.E. (1931): Mineral Resources of Northern Okanagan

Valley, British Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada,

Summary Report 1931, Part A, pages 66-109.

VEPA

1,-,..:=.

Church, B.N. (1980): Geology of the Terrace Mountain Tertiary

Outlier; B.C. Ministry of Energy. Mines and Petroleum

Resources, Revised Preliminary Map 37.

Daughtry, K.L. (1'380) Re: Ronald (Octagon) Property, Vernon,

B.C.; Private Report for Thunderbird Resources Ltd.

---------- (1986) : Re: Report on Vera Claims, Vernon M.D. by E.

Livgard, P. Eng. ; Private F.:eport for Tr i-Pac i fie

Resources Ltd.

Dowling, K. and Morrisc,n, G. (1'389) Appl icat ion of Quartz

Textures to the Classification of Gold Deposits Using

Nl::.rth Queensland E)~amples. in .<eays, R., Ramsay, R.

and Groves, D.: The Geology of Gold Deposits; Economic

Geology, Monograph 6, pages 342-355.

Grc'nd, H. C. (1'388) Geol og i c al , GeclI: hem i C al and Geophys i c al

Report on the Vera Property, Vernon Mining Division,

Southea,stern Br it ish Columbia; B. C "- -""'i n:i._$t r y of

Enerqy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Assessment

F.:epor t 17664.

---------- and Thompson, D. (1988) : Report on Trenching Program

on the Vera and Skookum Properties, Vernon Mining

Division, Southeastern British Columbia; 8.C. Ministry

o f Energ y • Min e sand Pet r 01 eum F.:esc,u r c e s , Ass e s s m(~.?n t

Repo;,' t 17'328.VERA

13

I<ikuchi, T. and Venkatarami, S. (1'370) Geological Report, May

and Red Hawk Cl aims, VernCtn Area, Brown-Overton Mines

Ltd; B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum

Resources, Assessment Report 2552.

Livgard, E. (1'386) ------?????????--------

Meyers, R.E. (1988) : Brett; B.C. Ministry of Energy. Mines and

Pet rCtl eum Resc,urces, E~/~plor at ion in Br it ish Col umb ia

1987, pages B15-B22.

Okulitch, A.V. (197'3): Lithctlogy, Str-atigraphy, Structure and

Mineral Ot:currences of the Thompson-Shuswap--Okanagan

Area, B.ritish Columbia; Geological Survey of Canada,

Open File 637.

---------- (1989) Revised Strat igraphy a.nd Structure in the

Thompson-ShLlswap-Okanagan Map Area, Southern BY' it ish

Columbia; in Current F.:E~search, Part E, 13eolc'gical

Survey of Canada, Paper 89-1E, pages 51-60.

Sh aw, D. <: 1'388) Geological Report on the Vera Claim Group of

Canova F.~esoLlrces L.td; B. C. Min istry of Energy. Mines

and Petroleum Resources, Assessment Report 16816.

'vF:F~A

14

Wheeler, J.D. and McFeely, P. (1987): Tectonic Assemblage Map of

the Canadian Cordillera and Adjacent Parts of the

United States of America; Geological Survey of Canada,

Open File 1565.

VEPA