Barkerville Project: Regional Till Geochemistry (93H/4, 5) and Orientation (93A/14) Studies

During the 2000 field season, both regional and detailed till sampling surveys were conducted in the Cariboo region of central British Columbia (Figure 1). These surveys complement the longer term objectives of the NATMAP Ancient Pacific Margin (APM) project (see Nelson, 2000) and provide continuity to the surficial till geochemistry work initiated by Dixon-Warren and Hickin (2000) in 1999 as part of the APM project team. The regional till survey discussed here, represents work in the first of a multi-year, integrated exploration program, hereafter called the Barkerville Project. The Barkerville Project follows a series of previous integrated or focused multi-year Geological Survey Branch initiatives completed throughout the province in areas of high mineral potential (e.g. Northern Vancouver Island 1991-1994; Kerr et al., 1992; Bobrowsky and Sibbick, 1996; Nechako/Fraser Plateaus 1991-1995; Levson and Giles, 1997; Eagle Bay 1996-1998; Bobrowsky et al., 1997; Dixon-Warren et al., 1997; Paulen et al., 1998, 1999). In contrast, the Ace Project is a detailed till orientation study, also located in the Cariboo region, that complements previous orientation and property-scale surveys completed in the province which aim to model site specific behaviour of elements in different types of media (e.g. Cook and Pass, 2000). The Barkerville Project is centred primarily over rocks of the Barkerville and Slide Mountain terranes (Figure 2). This first year of work evaluated till geochemistry in the southern half of NTS map sheet 93H/05 (Stony Lake) and the northern half of 93H/04 (Wells), located directly north of the town of Wells (Figure 1). The study covers an area of approximately 1000 square kilometers. A number of factors provide the impetus for this project area: 1) the high mineral potential of the terranes for lode gold mineralization and placers; 2) the previous successful industry record for locating new showings using till geochemistry farther south in Eagle Bay rocks (also Barkerville Terrane); and, 3) the increasing industry exploration activity and the need for this type of data in the Cariboo region. In the past, placer and lode gold deposits supported the local mining industry in the region, but with the more recent realization of VMS potential, exciting new mineral prospects including the Lottie, Frank Creek and the Bonanza Ledge Zone have come to light. The primary purpose of the multi-year survey is to provide reconnaissance level till geochemistry data and re-