Quartz tourmaline caclite chalcopyrite

Virtual Museum ID: 19-DE17

Specimen Summary


Quartz is the second most abundant mineral on Earth, present in many different types of rocks. Although usually clear or milky white in colour, quartz is found in a variety of colours due to impurities in the crystal structure. Pure quartz consists of silicon and oxygen only, but atoms of other elements often make their way into the quartz crystal structure, colouring the crystals. Some varieties of quartz, like purple amethyst and yellow citrine, are considered to be semi-precious gemstones and have been used since ancient times to make jewellery and decorative objects. Well-formed (euhedral) crystals of quartz have a hexagonal cross section and are highly collectible.

Tourmaline is a boron silicate mineral with a complex chemical formula, sometimes with aluminum, iron, magnesium, manganese, lithium, and many other elements. Tourmaline is very often black, and some common types of tourmaline are schorl (usually dark brown to black), dravite (yellow to black, depending on composition), and the elbaite varieties in many colours. A special type of tourmaline called "watermelon" tourmaline shows a gradation of colours from green to pink, like a cut watermelon. Well-formed crystals of tourmaline are also considered a semi-precious gemstone.

Calcite, a form of calcium carbonate, is a very common mineral found in many different geological settings. It is usually white, clear or very pale pink or yellow. It can look very similar to quartz but is easy to distinguish because it fizzes when it reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid. Calcite often occurs in veins or as fracture coatings or filling void spaces. Where crystals have enough time and space to fully form, calcite has a distinct rhombic shape. Calcite is the main mineral in limestone, marble and chalk, and is widely used in construction, agriculture and pharmaceutical industries.

Chalcopyrite is an important copper ore mineral found in many different types of copper deposit. It is sometimes mistaken for Gold because of its bright yellow colour; however, it is harder, more common, and chalcopyrite commonly occurs with other copper sulphide minerals such as bornite and weathers to malachite and azurite.

Specimen Data

 

The information listed below relates to the current holding location or collection that the sample is from, and whether the item is viewable at that location or is part of a private collection. Coordinates are given as guides, and we remind you that collecting specimens from these locations is not allowed. Caution is advised visiting such sites and Below BC assumes no responsibility for any injuries or trespassing charges that may occur as a result of the viewer entering these sites.

Collection Details

Original Collection:

Dan Ethier (DE)

Sub Collection:

-

Collection ID:

DE-17

Virtual Museum ID:

19-DE17

Accessibility:

Date Added to VM:

2019-08-18

Location Information

Sample Origin:

New Hazelton, B.C.

Specific Site:

Happy Jack

UTM Easting:

588197

UTM Northing:

6113904

Datum:

09 (NAD 83)

Coordinate Accuracy:

Approximate

Specimen Details

VM Category:

Mineral

Primary Features:

Quartz tourmaline caclite chalcopyrite

Primary Mineral Formula:

SiO2 · (Ca,K,Na, ▢)(Al,Fe,Li,Mg,Mn)3(Al,Cr, Fe,V)6 (BO3)3(Si,Al,B)6O18(OH,F)4

Primary Category:

oxide silicate carbonate sulphide

Secondary Features:

Advanced Geological Information

 

The following section provides geological data relating to the specimen or the site it was collected from, when available. Information has been obtained from various sources including private and government datasets but may not be up to date. Any geological time periods or ages listed often relate to the primary geology of the area, and may not be the actual date of an event such as mineral formation.

Geological Formation:

Bulkley Plutonic Suite

Geological Period:

Late Cretaceous

Stratigraphic Age:

100.5 - 72.1 Million Years Ago

Geological Belt:

Intermontane

Geological Terrane:

Plutonic Rocks

Minfile ID:

093M 070

Site Details:

The Highland Boy property is located on the west side of the Rocher Deboule Range, 9 kilometres south of South Hazelton.

Two continuous subparallel veins occur in porphyritic granodiorite of the Rocher Deboule stock of the Late Cretaceous Bulkley Plutonic Suite. These are likely continuations of the vein shears at the Rocher Deboule mine (093M 071) to the west. The Chicago Creek fault cuts the granodiorite and terminates the veins on the east.

The veins strike east-west and dip steeply north. The upper or Highland Boy vein shear is up to 2 metres wide and is mineralized with chalcopyrite, pyrite, specular hematite, magnetite, scheelite, cassiterite, and uraninite. A 15-centimetre sample assayed 0.7 gram per tonne gold, 15.1 grams per tonne silver, 4.97 per cent copper, 0.90 per cent tin, 0.72 per cent WO3 and 0.015 per cent equivalent uranium (Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 223 (Rev.)).

In 1917, 68 tonnes produced 1,089 grams of silver, 124 grams of gold and 4,760 kilograms of copper.

WORK HISTORY

The property, consisting of 9 Crown-granted claims, is located on upper Juniper Creek east of the Rocher Deboule mine. The property was located about 1910 and acquired in 1912 by the Rocher Deboule Copper Company Ltd., who also owned the Rocher Deboule mine. It was leased to the Delta Copper Co. of Edmonton in 1915 that did most of the exploration and in 1917 made a shipment of ore. The property has commonly been called the Delta Copper and was leased sporadically in the early 1920s. It was acquired in 1951 by Western Uranium Cobalt Mines Limited who did no work on the property.

Development work has been done in two adits; the main adit is 91.4 metres in length and has a stope and winze about 30 metres from the portal; the adit on the Delta Fraction claim is several hundred feet in length. The Chicago group of 5 claims, including Lots 513-515, was located at the head of Chicago Creek and north of and adjoining the Highland Boy group.

The Chicago Rocher Deboule Copper Company, Limited, and the Delta Copper Company, Limited, were both organized in 1916 and apparently both held an interest in the Chicago group. The claims were Crown-granted to the Delta Copper Company in 1920.

In 1987, 14 dump samples were collected by Southern Gold Resource Ltd (Assessment Report 16714).

During 2007, Rocher Deboule Minerals Corp conducted limited prospecting and rock and soil sampling, a large area Dighem airborne geophysical survey by Fugro airborne Surveys Corp., a remote sensing analysis by John L. Berry, a small area ground magnetometer survey, and diamond core drilling program of 1106.1 meters over 6 drill holes on the Highland Boy Showing was also conducted. These were drilled from one set up, approximately 100 metres north of the surface trace of copper-silver-gold bearing quartz-sulphide Highland Boy Upper vein. One intercept with and estimated true thickness of 1.93 metres assayed 2.18 per cent copper, 7.71 grams per tonne silver, 0.511 gram per tonne gold, 0.004 per cent molybdenum and 0.070 per cent tungsten (Assessment Report 29338). In general the drill results were disappointing.

In 2011, American Manganese Inc carried out a program that entailed 22 kilometres of ground magnetometer survey, 841 soil samples, 455 rock samples and 68 silt samples. Prospecting and sampling was done in the Highland Boy area and a review of the 2007 core was made.

See Rocher Deboule (093M 071) for related details of work done on the Rocher Deboule property of American Manganese, of which the Cap was part of in the late 2000s.

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