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Project Information

  • Ore Deposit: Epithermal, Porphyry
  • Commodity: Copper, Gold
  • Research Themes: Copper, Gold Deposits, Regional Metallogeny
  • Location: Toodoggone District, Peace River Region, BC
  • Project Status: Completed
  • Start Date: 2016
  • End Date: 2018

The Toodoggone district in northeastern BC hosts numberous epithermal-type mineral deposits and occurrences and porphyry mineralization. Existing geochronological results indicate that the porphyry and at least some of the highly-varied epithermal systems are formed around the same time and as a result of the same processes. This project will establish district-scale exploration guidelines by determining mineral and alteration characteristics of individual mineral occurrences to construct a broader porphyry system geometry. This project was sponsored by Geoscience BC.

The Toodoggone district in eastern Stikine Terrane, northeastern BC, hosts a significant number of epithermal-type mineral deposits and occurrences (e.g., Lawyers, Shasta, Baker, JD, Griz-Sickle) as well as porphyry mineralization (Kemess, Pine). Existing geochronological results indicate that both the porphyry and (at least some of) the highly-varied epithermal systems are broadly contemporaneous and potentially cogenetic. The Toodoggone area hosts this transitional environment between deeply-emplaced porphyry and shallow epithermal hydrothermal systems. Thus, each mineral occurrence may contribute to defining this as a shallow or deep, and proximal or distal component of a larger porphyry mineralizing system.

This project, supported by Geoscience BC, will establish district-scale exploration guidelines by determining mineral and alteration characteristics of individual mineral occurrences to construct a broader porphyry system geometry. Specifically, the level of exhumation and depth of emplacement of alteration and mineralization at various deposit will be determined to evaluate porphyry prospectivity at depth. To achieve this, the project has the following main objectives:

  1. Characterize host-rock, alteration and mineralization types, style and assemblages and level of emplacement for each deposit or prospect;
  2. Determine the timing of mineralization event(s) with available and new geochronology;
  3. Determine approximate level of exposure/preservation of the mineralized system and vertical extent of mineralization based on alteration zonation and erosion patterns; and
  4. Establish ore system relationships within clusters of mineral deposits or prospects.

Deliverables include a set of exploration guidelines for porphyry and epithermal systems at the district scale.

Contact Farhad Bouzari for more information.

Go to the Geoscience BC project page.

Publications

Bouzari, F., Bissig, T., Hart, C.J.R., Leal-Mejia, H. (2019). An Exploration Framework for Porphyry to Epithermal Transitions in the Toodoggone Mineral District (94E). Geoscience BC Report 2019-08, MDRU Publication 424, 101 p.
Digital appendix files include:
Appendix 1 – Sample Descriptions.xlsx
Appendix 4 – SWIR Terraspec Data.xlsx
Appendix 5 – Whole rock Geochemical Data.xlsx
Appendix 6 – Fluid Inclusion Data.xlsx
Appendix 7 – GIS Data files

Project sponsors