FORTIS - Newfoundland and Labradorgis.geosurv.gov.nl.ca/geofilePDFS/Batch2015/013A_0094.pdf ·...

FORTIS GeoServices Ltd. South Coast Ventures Inc.

NTS: 13A/08

Fifth Year Assessment Report: Bulk Sample & Gemological Work

St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project

Port Hope-Simpson & St. Lewis Area, SE Labrador

Map Staked License: 10174M

Work Performed: August 2009

Licenses Held By: South Coast Ventures Inc. St. John’s, Nfld

No. of Claims: 6

Expenditures Claimed in this Report: $17,946

Prepared By: Charles Dearin, P. Geo. FORTIS GeoServices Ltd. 2 Forest Road, St. John’s, Nfld A1C 2B9 Tel (709) 754-8844 E-mail: [email protected] October 15, 2010

5th Year Assessment Report i St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project, SE Labrador


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page I. INTRODUCTION

Scope ................................................................................................................................ 1 Project Location & Access ................................................................................................ 1 Physiography ..................................................................................................................... 1 Infrastructure ..................................................................................................................... 4 Project Ownership & Land Tenure..................................................................................... 4 Exploration History ........................................................................................................... 6 2009 Work Completed ...................................................................................................... 7

II. GEOLOGY

Regional Geology & Structure .......................................................................................... 9 Property Geology.............................................................................................................. 9 Sapphire Zone ................................................................................................................... 9 Preliminary Gem Characteristics ...................................................................................... 13

Colour ................................................................................................................. 13 Carats.................................................................................................................. 13 Clarity ................................................................................................................. 13

Gem Quality Sapphire Potential ...................................................................................... 14 2004 Fieldwork and Assessment Report .......................................................................... 14 2009 Fieldwork Completed ............................................................................................. 14 Sapphire Evaluation & Valuation .................................................................................... 15

III. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................21 IV. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................22 List of Figures Figure 1: Location map of the St. Lewis Sapphire Project, SE Labrador. ............................................. 2 Figure 2: Location map of Port Hope Simpson and the St. Lewis Sapphire Project. ............................. 3 Figure 3: Claims map of the St. Lewis Sapphire Project, SE Labrador. ................................................. 5 Figure 4: Regional geological map of the St. Lewis River area, SE Labrador.......................................10 Figure 5: 2004 compilation of geology, trenching & sample locations, St. Lewis Sapphire Project .......12 Figure 6: Location of the 2009 channel-cut bulk samples, St. Lewis Sapphire Project. .........................15 Figure 7: Photo of sawn channel sample (# 1) & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires. ............17 Figure 8: Photo of sawn channel sample (# 2) & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires .............18 Figure 9: Photographs of sawn channel sample & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires ...........19 Figure 10: Photographs of sawn channel sample & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires..........19 Figure 11: Typical cluster of sapphire crystals in outcrop; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires ..........................20 Figure 12: Photo of sawn channel sample (# 3 & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires.............20 Figure 13: Typical sapphire crystals in slabed channel cut-bulk sample; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires ......21

5th Year Assessment Report ii St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project, SE Labrador


List of Tables Table 1: Summary and statistics of Map Staked License; St. Lewis Sapphire Project, SE Labrador. ..... 4 Table 2: List of Personnel who worked on the St. Lewis Sapphire Project; SE Labrador. ..................... 8 Table 3: Expenditures incurred on the St. Lewis Sapphire Project; SE Labrador. ................................. 8 Table 4: 2004 Sapphire point counts & percentages; St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project. .......................16

5th Year Assessment Report St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project, SE Labrador


I. INTRODUCTION Scope This fifth year assessment report summarizes a field program carried out on the St. Lewis Sapphire Project during August 2009 by FORTIS GeoServices Ltd. on behalf of South Coast Ventures Inc. This work consisted of sawn-channel sampling the sapphire-bearing horizon and collecting a ~30 kg bulk sample. These samples have been sent to a gem expert for sapphire extraction and valuation. Project Location & Access The St. Lewis Sapphire Project is located approximately 13 km by road SE of the village of Port Hope Simpson in SE Labrador (Figures 1 & 2). Port Hope Simpson was recently (~2002) linked by an all-season gravel highway to Blanc Sablon, Quebec and Forteau, Labrador; a road distance of 175 km. Blanc Sablon is the Labrador ferry terminal linked to St. Barbe, Newfoundland (Figure 1). The Labrador ferry runs several times a day during summer months and daily during spring and fall; it is usually closed during late January to April depending on sea-ice conditions. One can leave Deer Lake in the morning and drive to Port Hope Simpson by late-afternoon, a total road distance of approximately 440 km. Port Hope Simpson hosts an airstrip with commercial regular flights to and from St. Anthony-Deer Lake, Newfoundland. This strip is usually open year round and can handle twin Otters and similar size aircraft. The nearest helicopter service is located in Pasadena-Deer Lake Newfoundland but helicopters may be located in St. Anthony at various times; the air distance from St. Anthony to the property is 125 km. The property can be accessed by foot from the SE Labrador highway a distance of 2.5 km over open and burnt-over country (Figures 2 & 3). Physiography Physiographically the property is located in a sub-Artic tundra and well-treed covered area at an elevation of approximately 80 m above sea level. A forest fire during the mid-1970’s destroyed most tree cover on the property. Topographic relief is gently rolling with an 80 m high knob in the center of the property. Scrub brush and old burnt deadfalls cover the majority of the property; outcrop makes up 10-15%. Glacial till overburden is probably thin, likely less than one to three metres thick although it may be up to ten metres thick in several of the stream valley-linears adjacent to rock ridges and hills. Glacial direction is roughly 1200 to 1350. Winter conditions with moderate to heavy snowfalls usually begin in early to mid-November and remain until early to mid-May; mean winter temperatures range from –5 to –150C with summer temperatures averaging 12 to 150C.

5th Year Assessment Report 2 St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project, SE Labrador


Figure 1: Location map of Port Hope Simpson and the St. Lewis Sapphire Project, SE Labrador.



Figure 2: Location map of St. Lewis Sapphire Project, SE Labrador.



Infrastructure The recently constructed (~2002) SE Labrador Highway is a wide, year-round gravel road giving access to most communities along the south coast of Labrador. The road ranges from Blanc Sablon-Forteau, Labrador to Cartwright, a length of over 360 km. During 2010 this road was connected to the Trans Labrador Highway with gravel road access to Goose Bay and Labrador City. Port Hope Simpson, approximately 175 road-km from the Blanc Sablon ferry is a small village of approximately 500 people. The community was founded in 1934 as a logging town; logging and fishing are still important industries in the area. A modern hotel and restaurant and several provisional stores are located in the town. The harbour is a deep-water port with docking facilities. An airstrip is located near the town and several flights per week from Deer Lake-St. Anthony operate year round. The local electrical power in Port Hope Simpson is diesel generated. Project Ownership & Land Tenure The St. Lewis Sapphire Project consists of six mineral claims (150 hectares) in one Map Staked License issued on June 22, 2004 (Figure 3). The claims are held exclusively by South Coast Ventures Inc. of St. John’s, Nfld; there are no underlying owners or royalty interests in any of the claims. The property is covered on claim map sheet NTS 13A/08. The claim statistics are summarized in Table 1 below. The Crown holds all surface rights and timber rights. The region has been an intermittent source of logging over the past 70 years however there is no significant timber on or adjacent to the Project. None of the property or adjacent areas is encumbered in any way and the area is not in an environmentally or archeologically sensitive area. Table 1: Summary and Statistics of Map Staked License; St. Lewis Sapphire Project, SE

Labrador. License

No. No. of Claims

Area (ha)

License Issuance Date

Next Report Due Date*

Next Expenditure Required*

10174M 6 150 June 22, 2004 August 21, 2015 $3,168 Total Expenditure required for 2015: $3,168 Note: (*) these dates and expenditure amounts refer to the dates and amounts due after this current report and assessment expenditures, listed in Table 3 below are filed.



Figure 3: Claims map of the St. Lewis Sapphire Project, SE Labrador.



Exploration History Prior to 1995 there is no recorded history of mineral exploration in the area. The first detailed geological mapping (1:100,000) in the Port Hope Simpson area-St. Lewis region was by the Nfld Dept. of Mines during 1986 to 1987 (Gower, et. al., 1987 and 1988). Earlier regional mapping (1:500,000) and reconnaissance mineral prospecting was carried out in the 1950’s and 1960’s by the GSC and Brinex respectively. The work by Gower (1988) first located blue-corundum-rich (i.e. sapphire type) metasedimentary gneiss adjacent to anorthosites and mafic intrusives within the Gilbert River shear belt. Six claims were staked in January 1994 by two Newfoundland based entrepreneurs who carried out a reconnaissance prospecting and sampling program of this sapphire-corundum showing in August 1994. Laboratory analysis confirmed the corundum being sapphire and sample cutting & polishing of several stones yielded 23 carats of sapphire. 1994 August: Several days were incurred by the original claim stakers (Andrews & DiCicco, 1995) in sampling and sieving-panning alluvial tills adjacent to the sapphire-rich outcrops and selecting crystals from loose or previously broken and piled outcrops. Seventeen euhedral corundum crystals were recovered from the panned tills and nine of these

were sent to the USA for initial preparation and analysis (i.e. cleaning by acid and tumbling). The initial sample preparation confirmed the crystals as untwinned sapphires and these were subsequently sent to Sri Lanka for preliminary cutting. The nine rough stones were cut (en cabochon) using Himahashi lapidary machines and polished with 50,000 grit diamond powder; nine sapphire gemstones, each over one carat and weighing a total of 22.9 carats were produced (Andrews & DiCicco, 1995).

An additional 2.33 kilograms of crystals were recovered from rock outcrop. 1996 Sept-October: The original claim owners entered into an option agreement with Cartaway Resources Corp. Andrews & DiCicco carried out further fieldwork during 1996 (Andrews, 1996) and Cartaway carried out a three-day recce prospecting & sampling program over the sapphire zones (Beecham, 1996).

Minimal overburden stripping on the “Main Showing” revealed extensive sapphire-corundum mineralization along and adjacent to the previously known showing. Crystals made up 5 to 10% of the gneiss in places, thereby yielding a large carat to rock tonnage ratio. The zone was exposed for a near continuous length of ~>100 m and up to two m wide.

Approximately 9,000 carats (about 1 to 1.5 coffee mugs) of sapphire-corundum was extracted from the Main Showing outcrop; 6,000 carats were processed through a 40% HF acid solution in a tumbler for five days to clean off residual gneiss fragments, etc.

On a preliminary basis two of the better crystals (untreated) were cut into faceted stones (Andrews, 1996): a 1 carat round brilliant cut lilac sapphire, a 2+ carat emerald step cut lilac sapphire.

The 6,000 carats were supposed to be subjected to heat treatment and test cutting to determine value and marketability; it is not known if this work was ever completed.

A second zone, the “East Showing” was discovered about 75 m ESE along strike of and east of the Main Showing (Figure 5); preliminary prospecting showed this sapphire-rich zone to be >60 m long and from 0.2 to 0.6 m wide. The crystals here appeared to be less deformed and it was



thought the sapphire-corundums could be cleaner stones (i.e. more transparent) with potentially more significant gemstone potential; no specific crystals were collected for analysis.

Rock samples and blocked out point counts indicated a very high carat per tonne ratio. Brief helicopter reconnaissance prospecting was carried out for approximately 19 km to the SE;

the favorable gneissic host rock exists along this corridor. The potential for extensive glacial and glacial-fluvial placer sapphire deposits along the south side of the gneiss unit was also recognized during the program.

1997 Sept-October: Cartaway carried out a program of prospecting, gridding, trenching-stripping and till sampling. Despite filing an assessment report (Beesley, 1998) no results of the trench or till sampling or prospecting were given in the report. Apparently a significant amount of sapphire crystals were collected but no analytical work was completed most likely because of the dire financial position of Cartaway in late 1997-early 1998. 1998-1999: Cartaway Resources undergoes financial and legal troubles and returns the property to Andrews and DiCicco; sufficient work expenditures were filed in 1998 to hold the two main Licenses in good standing to March 2004. No further work is completed, or at least reported on, on neither the property nor any of the recovered sapphire stones. 2004: The original Andrews & DiCicco License expires on March 5, 2004 for lack of paying the 10th year renewal fee ($950). Upon the ground opening in May 2004, South Coast Ventures immediately stakes six claims covering the sapphire prospects. 2009 Work Completed During August 2009 FORTIS GeoServices Ltd. carried out a channel sampling bulk sample program on the property. This work included channel sampling across the width of the sapphire-bearing zone along a strike length of 13 m. A total of four channel cuts along the zone yielded ~30 kg of sapphire-rich gneiss. All samples have been sent to Kuru Mining Ltd. in BC for crushing, sapphire extraction and valuation of the gem stones. This work is still in progress and will be reported on via an addendum report when results are available. A total of 32 man-days were spent on the St. Lewis Sapphire Project during 2009-10 with expenditures totaling $17,946. The following Tables 2 & 3 summarizes personnel who worked on and expenditures incurred on the St. Lewis Sapphire Project.



Table 2: List of Personnel who worked on the St. Lewis Sapphire Project; SE Labrador. Name Residence Dates Worked Work Done C. Dearin St. John’s, Nfld August 2009 = 7 days Sample cutting C. Dearin St. John’s, Nfld October 2010 = 4 days Report & Maps D. Dearin St. John’s, Nfld August 2009 = 7 days Sample cutting help C. Reid Bishops Falls, NL August 2009 = 7 days Sample cutting P. Reid Bishops Falls, NL August 2009 = 7 days Sample cutting help Total Mandays 32 mandays Contractors FORTIS GeoServices St. John’s, Nfld Aug 2009 & Oct 2010 Consulting, sampling & report Kuru Mining Ltd, Montrose, BC 2010-on going Gemstone extraction & valuation Table 3: Expenditures incurred on the St. Lewis Sapphire Project; SE Labrador. Expenditure Item Amount Property Visit & Outside Consulting Fees & wages $8,750 Sample transport to B.C. 375 Saw rental and diamond blades 650 Truck usage & gas, etc. (St. John’s-Labrador–return) 1,245 Accommodation & meals (Deer Lake to Port Hope Simpson-return) 2,260

Compilation & Digitizing Wages (report writing & figures) 2,200 Reproduction – report 125 Overhead @ 15% 2,341

Total 5th Year Program Costs $17,946 Note: Costs associated with the sapphire extraction and valuation by Kuru Mining have not been

included in the costs above. These costs will be included in a supplementary report to be filed when the valuation and analysis is completed.



II. GEOLOGY Note: The following five sections are taken from the 1st years assessment work by Dearin, 2005. Regional Geology & Structure Labrador forms the easternmost extent of the Canadian Shield in North America and contains five structural Provinces with a geological age range of 3.85 billion years to ~550 million years. The Archean age Nain and Superior Provinces are bounded by early Proterozoic Churchill (Southeastern) and Makkovik Provinces. The Superior, SE Churchill and Makkovik Provinces are truncated to the south by the Grenville Province composed of metamorphosed tonalite gneisses, high-grade metasedimentary gneisses and granitic to gabbroic intrusions; these rocks were accreted to the North American continent during the Labradorian Orogeny (1,680 million years ago). The Grenville Province is structurally complex have undergone collision, accretion and prolonged metamorphism from several orogenic events. Structure is dominated by east-west trending shears and high-grade metasedimentary rocks. One of the dominant structures in the Port Hope Simpson-St. Lewis River area is the NW to EW trending Gilbert River shear belt (Gower, et. al., 1987 & 1988). The Gilbert River shear belt is a zone of intense deformation about 30 km wide and over 270 km long forming a southeasterly attenuated part of the Lake Melville terrain (Gower, et. al. 1988). The central part of the belt includes the Alexis River anorthosites and its dioritic gneiss envelope; the adjacent southwestern side of the belt includes a narrow band of intermixed k-feldspar-megacrystic granitoid rocks, k-feldspar augen gneiss and fine-grained granitic gneiss (Figure 4). Property Geology The St. Lewis Sapphire Project lies within the central section of the Grenville Province in the southeastern part of the Gilbert River shear belt predominated by medium to high-grade metamorphosed rocks have consistent WNW-trending structures. On the property a band of metasedimentary gneiss is included within the anorthosites-diorite gneiss and includes schists containing abundant and variable amounts of muscovite, reddish garnet and k-feldspar porphyroblasts interlayered with zones containing abundant and variable amounts of sillimanite and garnet, quartzite layers and concordant layers of amphibolite. A particular band of the metasedimentary gneiss contains a very distinctive unit containing plagioclase (An48), red-brown biotite and porphyroblastic sillimanite-garnet and corundum as large 2.5 cm across and several cm long crystals (Gower, et. al., 1998). Gower’s initial interpretation of the corundum-bearing gneisses protolith was a metasomatized anorthosite. Sapphire Zone The currently known sapphire zone occurs as a corundum-bearing horizon within an aluminous-rich and quartz-poor metasedimentary gneiss unit; Figures 5 & 6 shows the details of the sapphire horizon. This horizon trends about 1200 with variable dips of 400 to 750 north; average dip is approximately 500 north. The zone has been traced intermittently for over 250 metres along strike and is overburden covered at both ends (likely <1 to 4 m thick). The “Main Showing” as currently exposed is



approximately 140 metres long, is separated by about 70 m of overburden cover from the “Eastern Zone” which is about 25 m long (Figure 5). The Main Showing, to the west, is considerably thicker than the East Zone and in places appears to be several parallel bands up to 3-4 m thick. The East Zone

Figure 4: Regional geological map of the St. Lewis River area, SE Labrador.



is one distinct horizon averaging about 0.7 m thick; further stripping here may show the zone to be wider and especially longer than currently exposed. Initially it was thought the horizon was a narrow (<1 m thick) zone (Andrews, 1995 and Beecham, 1997) but subsequent stripping and high-pressure washing of the zone showed the corundum-rich unit to be over several metres thick. Hand stripping and mapping in 2004 (Dearin, 2005) showed that the sapphire-corundum zone was heavily concentrated (2% to locally 15% corundum porphyroblasts) along a 0.20 to 1.2 m thick unit of thinly banded sillimanite-red garnet-feldspar-mica gneiss but also contained lesser concentrations (i.e. <1% to 2%) of more diffusely disseminated, smaller crystals (2 to 5 mm porphyroblasts) of corundum in a sillimanite & garnet-poor gneiss. The sapphire-rich unit appears somewhat more distinct from the bounding gneissic layers which have larger and more distinctive feldspar porphyroblasts and variable amounts of amphibole, garnets, mica and lesser sillimanite. In general, the Main Showing appears to average about 3-5% bluish sapphire-corundums over an average thickness of 1 to 1.5 metres along a length of over 140 m. The crystals range in size from 4 to 15 mm in diameter and from 0.5 to 4 cm long (Dearin, 2005). Gower reported one of his original samples to be 2.5 cm diameter and several cm long. Wilton (2004) had samples up to 4 cm long (see photo’s in Appendix A). Several point counts of the higher-grade section near the western end of the Showing had concentrations of 10,000 to 20,000 carats per tonne (Beecham, 1996). The Eastern Zone appears to average about 5-8% sapphires over an average width of 0.5 m for a length of over 25 m; one point count of a large slabbed sample averaged about 13.7 weight % or 684,000 carats per tonne (Beecham, 1996). Quick field estimates of small (20 x 20 cm) areas of cleaned flat surfaces of outcrop by this writer in 2004 yielded three ‘high-grade’ zones of 10%, 12% and 17 % (by surface area) sapphire-corundums. These crystals are generally smaller in size (2 to 8 mm in diameter and 0.5 to <4 cm in length) but are more compact with probably lesser cleavage and appear to have a deeper blue color than the West Showing crystals (Dearin, 2005). Table 4 summarizes the point counts. The sapphires occur as generally hexagonal shaped crystals surrounded by a thin sericite (white mica) coating. The length (or c-axis) of the crystals are more prismatic than the usual barrel shape of sapphires. Beecham (1996) estimated that numerous stones were up to 8 mm diameter by 3.0 cm long; and a few of the larger stones could yield cut gemstones of several carats and a few could produce up to 10’s of carats. The good continuity of this relatively narrow sapphire unit over a strike length exceeding 240 m in metasedimentary gneisses suggests that the unit may have been an aluminum-rich and silica poor, thin sedimentary bed. The adjacent variable gneisses originally may have been interbedded feldspathic quartzites, mudstones and possibly carbonates (Gower identified calc silicates around the zones).



Figure 5: 2004 compilation of geology, trenching & sample locations, St. Lewis Sapphire Project.

15

0 10 20 30 405Meters1:500

")

")

")

21-03

21-02

21-01

21-10 21-14

21-09

21-15

21-11

21-13

21-05

21-08

21-04

21-07

21-17

21-12

21-06

21-16

21-18

BL

14+90 E

14+70 E

14+80 E

14+50 E14+40 E

14+60 E

13+90 E

15+20 E

15+00 E

14+20 E

14+00 E

14+10 E

14+30 E

15+30 E

15+10 E

13+80 E

15+40 E

13+70 E

15+50 E

15+60 E

13+60 E

15+70 E

13+50 E

15+80 E

13+40 E13+30 E

16+00 E

80

90

100

558,100

558,100

558,150

558,150

558,200

558,200

558,250

558,250

5,813

,100

5,813

,100

5,813

,150

5,813

,150

.

Note: Claims as of October 6, 2005NAD 1927, Zone 21

LegendTrench Rock Type (1997 Cartaway mapping)

garnet mica banded gneiss

garnet-rich gneiss

gneiss

quartz-banded gneiss

sapphire-rich gneiss

sillimanite-graphite gneiss

1997 Cartaway grid

^̀ Sapphire-rich_Boulder

"/1997 Cartaway till pits:samples not analysed.

1997 Cartaway channel cuts

2004 point count lines") 2004 pont_count rectangle

Figure 5: Location of the 2004 point count till sampling, St. LewisSapphire Project.



Preliminary Gem Characteristics South Coast Ventures Inc. has herein named the sapphires-gemstones “St. Lewis Blues Sapphires”; a play on the blues-musical moniker attached to St. Louis, Missouri; the Projects close proximity to the St. Lewis River and community of St. Lewis in SE Labrador; and specifically the initial sapphire-corundum stones bluish color. The preliminary cutting of the nine sapphire stones (Andrews & DiCicco, 1995) produced the first description of these gemstones “Color, Clarity & Carats”: Colour The cut-gems exhibit a distinct pleochroic phenomenon of colour change in natural and artificial

light from blue to lilac purple. The cut stones were favorably compared to the US produced gems known as “Idaho Purple”.

The pleochroic effect was attributable to unusually high chromium content; supposedly a rare subclass of sapphires thereby classifying them as “chrome-sapphires”.

Heat-treating of these Cr-rich sapphires may cause the stones to turn red thereby producing Ruby. In fact some of the stones collected in 1996 had a natural pinkish-reddish tinge.

Carats Sapphire is one end member of corundum (Al2O3) (ruby being the Cr-rich end-member) and has

a specific gravity of 3.9 to 4.1 gms/cc. This is an unusual crystallographic property in that the oxide of the aluminum has a higher SG than aluminum itself.

One carat equals 0.20 grams; since sapphire has a SG greater than diamond, a one carat sapphire gem is smaller than a one carat diamond

An outstanding characteristic of the St. Lewis Blues stones is the large size of the crystals. Some of the initially exposed outcropping crystals exceeded 4 cm long by 2.5 cm diameter; this would roughly equate into 8 to >10 carat rough-stones.

The nine gemstones produced in 1994 totaled 22.9 carats probably ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 and averaged 2.4 carats each; these were produced from panned tills with all of these stones being much smaller than the larger bedrock hosted crystals (Andrews & DiCicco, 1995).

Clarity Four of the nine produced gemstones (in 1994) showed pronounced inclusions of rutile and

chromite. Sapphire, being a class-2 gemstone, ubiquitously contains such inclusions. Such inclusions are usually rutile in sapphires and chromite in ruby. All nine of the gemstones produced contained “silk” which is a common gemological

phenomenon caused by the sapphire crystal containing variable amounts of microcrystals of oxide minerals of titanium (rutile), chrome (chromite) or cobalt, etc. Variations of these elements plus other elements produce a variety of additional colored sapphires (pink, yellow, green, orange, etc.) known as “fancy sapphire”. These inclusions are usually very small and may be so numerous that they appear as haziness and reduce the clarity of the gem; it is the scattering of light rather than the absorption or direct transmission of light that is responsible for a lack of clarity in normally transparent gem material.

Heat treatment of most gemstones is now very common. Generally when a silky stone is heated to high temperatures the microcrystals or inclusions will dissolve back into the sapphire crystal structure into solid solution; this dissolution can greatly improve the stones clarity.

To the writer’s knowledge, to date no heat treatment of the St. Lewis Blues Sapphires has been carried out despite several sampling programs in the mid-1990’s.



Gem Quality Sapphire Potential Despite the previous localized work done during the mid-1990’s there has yet to be a systematic gem quality evaluation study completed. The initial nine stones which were evaluated for Andrews (1995) appear to have been very encouraging with positive results; this was generally backed up by the basic lapidary work completed on a few stones by Wilton (in Dearin, 2005 report). From the few point counts completed by Cartaway in 1997 and this writer in 2004 there appears to be a significant volume of sapphires in bedrock. From the few panned till samples taken near the bedrock source it appears that the tills may be another significant source, if not a primary source of stones. To date no alluvial tills sampling has been done in the SSE trending linear adjacent to the sapphire outcrop and into the local alluvial plain developed west of the pond one km SE of the sapphire showings (Figure 3). 2004 Fieldwork & Assessment Report During August 2004 FORTIS GeoServices visited the property and spent two days cleaning up and examining the old pressure washed trenches. Dimensions of the sapphire zone were measured and a number of small area (20 x 20 cm) point counts were measured over the moderate to high-grade local zones. An additional 15 line point counts were made to obtain a visual average of the area-volume of sapphire-corundums in each section of the trenched areas. These results are summarized above. Sample locations and point counts are shown on Figure 7 and in Table 4. Additionally two till samples were collected and sieved and panned; both samples had from 20 to 35 sapphire-corundum crystals (generally 3 to 5 mm in diameter and <1 to 2 cm long) or pieces of crystals. Each sample was roughly 5-gallons of till collected about 20-30 cm below surface in wet gravelly-till ground near the SE flowing brook. A brief lapidary gemstone polishing and analysis of several recovered sapphires from the property by Dr. Derek Wilton was completed in 2004 and results and photographs are included in Appendix A of the 2005 assessment report (Dearin, 2005). 2009 Fieldwork Completed During August 2009 FORTIS GeoServices Ltd. spent three days on the property (in addition to four days mobe & demobing), in cutting large samples using a diamond blade cutting saw. Four lines of samples were cut through the sapphire zone along a strike length of 13 metres. Each sample was cut to a depth of 8-12 cm and approximately 5-8 cm wide. This 13 m long section provided the best and most uniform surface sample area and was also the most representative of the sapphire zone. A total of 75 pounds (~30 kg) of sapphire-rich gneiss was sawn and collected as large slabs. Of the sawn channel samples the following geological observations are pertinent:

• The sapphire-rich horizon ranges from 1.0 to 1.5 m wide; • The sapphire content ranges from 10 to >50% (locally) by volume of the rock and probably

averages 15-20% volume;



• Sapphire crystal size ranges from 3-4 mm to 20-25 mm in diameter and probably averages 8-<12 mm in diameter;

• Cutting with the diamond blade was noticeably harder with increasing sapphire content; • A number of 20 to 25 mm length sapphire crystals were observed on cut slabs; • Sapphire color is typically a hazy grey-blue-purple color; • A number (~10-12) of pinkish-red sapphires (ruby variety?) ranging from 5 to <10 mm were

observed on cut slabed surfaces;

See Figures 7 to 13 for photographs of the cut sapphire zone and sapphire crystals. Sapphire Evaluation and Valuation An agreement has been signed with Kuru Mining Inc. to have the bulk samples crushed and the sapphires extracted. These sapphires will then be evaluated by cleaning and heat treated to determine clarity, color and carat size. Once this work is completed, probably in early 2011, the treated sapphires will be evaluated by professional gemologists to determine the market value, if any. When received the evaluation results will be reported and filed as a supplementary report.

Figure 6: Location of the 2009 channel-cut bulk sample, St. Lewis Sapphire Project.



Table 4: 2004 Sapphire Point Counts and percentages; St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project.



Figure 7: Photo of sawn channel sample (# 1) & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires.



Figure 8: Photo of sawn channel sample (# 2) & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires.



Figure 9: Photographs of sawn channel sample & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires.

Figure 10: Photographs of sawn channel sample & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires.



Figure 11: Typical cluster of sapphire crystals in outcrop; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires.

Figure 12: Photo of sawn channel sample (# 3 & sapphire crystals; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires.



Figure 13: Typical sapphire crystals in slabed channel cut-bulk sample; St. Lewis Blues Sapphires. III. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS The St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project is currently undergoing a preliminary valuation of its potential sapphire gemstones based on a sawn-channel sample bulk sample taken in August 2009. If the results of this evaluation are positive, a formal option agreement will be completed with the valuator and a detailed exploration program of trenching, drilling and additional bulk sampling of the sapphire zone will be undertaken.



V REFERENCES Andrews, R., & DiCicco, D., 1995: First year site assessment report, Rockhopper # 8, License No.

646M & 709M. St. Lewis River, Labrador, 14 p. GSN Assessment File No. 13A/08/0023. Andrews, R., 1996: Third year assessment report, License No. 646M & 709M, etc. Rockhopper

Sapphire Project, St. Lewis River Region, Labrador. 8 p. GSN Assessment File No. LAB/1203.

Beecham, A., 1996: Report on the Rockhopper Sapphire Prospect; License No.’s 646M, 709M, etc. report for Cartaway Resources Corp. 22p. GSN Assessment File No. (included with LAB/1203; Andrews, 1996).

Beesley, T., 1998: Geological mapping, rock saw & glacial till sampling and prospecting report, Main claim Block, Rockhopper Gem Property, St. Lewis Labrador. Report for Cartaway Resources Corp.14 p. GSN Assessment Report 013A/08/0043.

Dearin, C., 2005: First year assessment report: Geological, gemological work & digital compilation of previous work, St. Lewis Blues Sapphire Project. License 10174M, Private report for South Coast Ventures Inc., 19 p.

Gower, C., Neuland, S., Newman, M., & Smith, J., 1987: Geology of the Port Hope Simpson map region, Grenville Province, eastern Labrador; in Current Research, Dept Mines & Energy, Nfld, Report 87-1, pgs 183-200.

Gower, C., Van Nostrand, T. & Smith, J., 1988: Geology of the St. Lewis River map region, Grenville Province, eastern Labrador; in Current Research, Dept Mines & Energy, Nfld, Report 88-1, pgs 59-74.

FORTIS - Newfoundland and Labradorgis.geosurv.gov.nl.ca/geofilePDFS/Batch2015/013A_0094.pdf ·...

Documents

Transcript of FORTIS - Newfoundland and Labradorgis.geosurv.gov.nl.ca/geofilePDFS/Batch2015/013A_0094.pdf ·...