Red Springs

Project Overview

Click here for Red Springs Project Update (May 1, 2020)

Located in Northwest British Columbia (Figure 1), the Red Springs Project involves a system of three or more copper/gold porphyries. This system has two distinct mineralized zones: an extensive thrust fault-hosted high-grade gold-bearing tourmaline breccia mineralized zone with cobalt, copper, antimony and bismuth credits; and a second zone with high-grade antimony-silver mineralization. The tourmaline breccia gold-cobalt mineralization represents the first of its type discovered in British Columbia.

Figure 1, Location Map of Red Springs Project and More Creek Project

Tourmaline breccia pipes/zones are common in porphyry camps globally and are associated with world-class deposits (Chile - Los Sulfatos, Sur-Sur, Donoso). They can occur in clusters and vertical continuity can run >2 km deep (Figure 2, 3). Most known tourmaline breccias occur with a vertical orientation in the shape of pipes but they can also occur with horizontal orientations when fault zones provide a conduit for the thermal solution produced by the porphyry system.

Figure 2, Geology of Tourmaline Breccia Pipes/Zones and Relation to the Porphyry Deposits (Modified from Chakana Copper Corp, 2018)

Figure 3, Formation of Tourmaline Breccia Pipes/Zones (Chakana Copper Corp, 2018)

The Red Springs Project is defined as a tourmaline breccia complex superimposed on a large porphyry copper system which includes a low angle thrust fault-bounded sill-like tourmaline breccia mineralization zone with multiple associated copper porphyry targets. The gold-cobalt mineralization is a sedimentary rock-hosted, multiple phases porphyry intrusive related thermal solution overprinted tourmaline breccia with strong silicification and sulphide alteration. It includes an approximately 1 km2 tourmaline breccia mineralization zone and three porphyry copper targets (Figure 4, 5) discovered during the 2018 exploration season. The Red Springs tourmaline breccia complex has a horizontal sill-like orientation in a thrust fault zone.

Figure 4, Tourmaline Breccia Zone/Vein Area at Red Springs Project

Gold-bearing tourmaline breccia zones and veins (Figure 4) have been found in the Backbone, North Cirque and Northwest Cirque areas at Red Springs. The Backbone area, which was the focus of the 2018 exploration season, is a low dip angle thrust fault-hosted sill-like large tourmaline breccia mineralization zone. This zone has a strike length of 1000 m and is approximately 15 m wide at the surface outcrop; (Figure 6) and may extend to the west and north west for at least 1 km. Mineral grades from surface grab and chip samples can be up to 40 g/t for gold, 0.36% for cobalt, 1% for copper and 1% for bismuth respectively (Table 1). Mineral grades from surface channel samples can be up to 25.86 g/t for gold, 0.06% for cobalt, 0.48% for copper and 0.5% for bismuth respectively (Table 2 below). The 2018 drilling program (Figure 7-9) confirmed the strike continuity from drill pad A to drill pad B, along 300 m with a dip extension of approximately 100 m headed west to the surface channels at Backbone. The Backbone tourmaline breccia mineralization zone is much thicker in the drill holes than the surface outcrops. The zone in drill hole BB18-03 is 26 m thick and displays well developed gold, cobalt, copper and bismuth mineralization features with grades up to 6.60%, 0.1%, 0.22% and 0.04% respectively (Table 3).

Figure 5, Tourmaline Breccia Mineralization and Three Copper Porphyry Targets at the Red Springs Project

Based on the surface mapping, IP survey and drilling program completed in 2018, an extensive area of up to 1 km2 of tourmaline breccia mineralization has been defined (Figure 4) extending from the Backbone to the North Cirque and Northwest Cirque areas.

Highlights

  • 41,512 hectares
  • 2017/2018 discovery – 1000 m strike high grade gold-cobalt tourmaline breccia mineralization zone with cobalt, copper and bismuth credits
  • 5 holes – 1057 m of diamond drilling, assay results from drilling samples returned up to 8.2 g/t AuEq with 6.6 g/t Au, 0.1% Co and 0.04% Bi (Table 3)
  • BB18-03-05 confirms 20-26 m tourmaline breccia intercept width with 100 m dip extension from surface with gold equivalent grades from 0.53 to 1.44 g/t at down hole depth of 64-90 m
  • 40 m strike extension, 2-3 m thick high-grade mineralization band near the hanging wall of the thrust fault with gold equivalent grades from 2.14 g/t to 5.00 g/t at down hole depth of 64-67 m (Figure 9);
  • 16 first priority out of a total of 32 IP and magnetic anomalies (Table 4)
  • 2018 discovery of high-grade antimony-silver mineralization zone

Tourmaline is widely considered as a guiding mineral for porphyry deposits and has been found in most large porphyry deposits globally. Jaxon has confirmed tourmaline mineral is associated with the three copper porphyry targets at Red Springs. The tourmaline breccia zones and veins manifest as both near vertical planar structures and as apparent strata-bound bodies. The high sulphide content results in strong oxidation, making the mineralization highly visible as brown, rusty outcrops. The tourmaline breccias are characterized by the chemical association of gold-tellurium-cobalt-bismuth-arsenic-antimony-boron and are of porphyritic intrusive origin.

Jaxon intends to undertake further geological and alteration mapping in the 2019 field season based on its conceptual geological model. The program will include further geochemical sampling, geophysics and, when warranted, a 2000 m (+/-) drilling program along the strike and dip of the tourmaline breccia zone.

2019 Work Plan (Under Development)

  • Detailed surface geological mapping focused on structures and alterations
  • 12 km (4 lines) IP survey to identify the source of the tourmaline breccia zone and to develop structural controls
  • Five to ten 2000 m (+/-) diamond drill holes to test a number of IP anomalies including N Cirque and NW Cirque
  • test the 1 km2 tourmaline breccia zone and the antimony-silver zones based on IP and surface rock sampling data
  • test the three copper porphyry targets

Table 1 Significant Assay Results from N and NW Cirques Targets 1

Sample ID

Target Area

Sample Type

Au (g/t)

Cu (%)

Co (ppm)

Bi (ppm)

A0020661

North Cirque

Float

40.41

6.77

154

12900

A0020152

North Cirque

Grab

31.81

8.33

2325.4

4869.02

A0020147

North Cirque

Grab

10.384

0.13

3631.4

396.55

A0020150

North Cirque

Composite Grab

6.773

0.18

1671.1

353.55

A0020148

North Cirque

Grab

3.337

0.25

2135.4

346.57

A0020063

North-West Cirque

Float

2.18

0.05

1536.1

361.17

A0020053

North-West Cirque

Grab

1.817

0.24

360.8

33.09

A0020113

North-West Cirque

Select Grab

1.628

0.43

279.2

509.57

A0020674

North-West Cirque

Grab

1.558

0.01

236

45.05

A0020293

North cirque

Grab

1.486

0.16

47.2

750.62

A0020153

North Cirque

Grab

1.368

0.02

99.6

25.1

A0020057

North-West Cirque

Float

1.069

0.15

555.4

75.48

A0020146

North Cirque

Composite Grab

0.881

0.07

951.2

100.37

A0020149

North Cirque

Chip

0.817

0.06

276.9

183.3

A0020062

North-West Cirque

Float

0.512

0.01

862.3

33.03

A0020341

North Cirque

Chip

0.411

0.04

19.7

651.19

A0020056

North-West Cirque

Float

0.401

0.29

273.9

1.6

A0020656

North Cirque

Grab

0.392

0.17

609.9

30.53

A0020657

North Cirque

Grab

0.345

0.05

511.8

12.26

A0020008

North-West Cirque

Grab

0.256

0.01

3.3

2.76

A0020665

North Cirque

Float

0.24

0.17

25.7

7.63

A0020009

North-West Cirque

Grab

0.179

0.03

26

5.19

A0020060

North-West Cirque

Grab

0.153

0.01

59.8

24.64

A0020145

North Cirque

Chip

0.135

0.01

5.1

26.99

A0020669

North Cirque

Float

0.124

1.00

164.3

134.92

A0020348

North Cirque

Chip

0.121

0.01

2.1

0.51

1 EqAu is calculated using long term prices for gold at $1250 USD per ounce, cobalt at $60K USD per tonne, copper at $6K USD per tonne and bismuth at $10K USD per tonne.

Table 3 Significant Assay Results from 2018 Drilling Program1

Hole_ID

From_M

To_M

Interval

Comments

Au

Co

Cu

Bi

EqAu

BB18-01

24

25

1

0.201

199

86.1

14

0.52

BB18-01

25

27

2

core loss

0.475

44

21.6

29.3

0.55

BB18-01

38

39

1

1.277

52

10

134.5

1.39

BB18-01

48

49

1

0.527

51

9.3

116.7

0.63

BB18-02

22

23

1

0.556

394

24.1

39.8

1.16

BB18-02

24

25

1

0.117

71

358.4

15.9

0.28

BB18-03

42

43

1

0.175

23

2103.3

8.5

0.53

BB18-03

67

68

1

4.343

198

2226.2

129.2

5.00

BB18-03

69

70

1

2.427

251

627.4

182.4

2.94

BB18-03

70

71

1

0.593

125

100.1

56.9

0.81

BB18-03

75

76

1

1.945

144

1266.4

82.9

2.37

BB18-03

80

81

1

1.498

370

6.9

66

2.07

BB18-03

81

82

1

0.679

255

7.7

30.9

1.07

BB18-03

82

83

1

1.866

956

8.6

64.6

3.32

BB18-03

83

84

1

0.234

135

13

34.9

0.45

BB18-03

84

85

1

0.607

321

11.5

174.7

1.13

BB18-03

85

86

1

1.191

224

15.6

35.4

1.54

BB18-03

86

87

1

0.221

106

18.7

13.4

0.39

BB18-03

87

88

1

core loss

0.149

140

14.2

10.1

0.36

BB18-03

88

89

1

6.601

1000

16.3

421.1

8.20

BB18-03

89

90

1

0.655

179

47.3

54.9

0.94

BB18-03

90

92

2

core loss

1.784

512

41.8

60.4

2.57

BB18-03

92

93

1

0.36

208

39.6

19.8

0.68

BB18-04

64

65

1

1.729

213

554.6

57.1

2.14

BB18-04

71

72

1

3.593

198

5.2

244.2

3.94

BB18-04

72

73

1

0.105

50

3.8

7.3

0.18

BB18-04

79

80

1

0.212

64

10.1

8.8

0.31

BB18-04

82

83

1

1.686

138

20.3

46.9

1.91

BB18-04

83

84

1

1.039

154

113.9

39.6

1.30

BB18-04

90.9

91.5

0.6

vein and wallrock

0.52

166

8.5

30.3

0.78

BB18-04

111.8

113

1.2

0.209

149

6.9

194.9

0.48

BB18-04

113

114

1

0.324

32

9.9

240.5

0.43

BB18-04

114.9

117

2.1

severe core loss

0.202

33

36.4

270.7

0.32

BB18-05

66

67

1

3.168

542

5471.9

376

4.88

BB18-05

67

68

1

2.08

186

101.4

122.8

2.40

BB18-05

80

81

1

1.406

82

1436.7

26.9

1.75

BB18-05

82

83

1

0.605

8

75.9

0.5

0.63

BB18-05

85

87

2

core loss

0.488

149

3.3

33.5

0.72

1 EqAu is calculated using long term prices for gold at $1250 USD per ounce, cobalt at $60K USD per tonne, copper at $6K USD per tonne and bismuth at $10K USD per tonne.

Figure 6, Tourmaline Breccia and Backbone Tourmaline Breccia Zone Outcrop

Figure 7, Holes 3-5 Drill Pad from 2018 Drilling Program

Figure 8, Sulfide Minerals (Arsenopyrite, Pyrrhotite, Pyrite and Chalcopyrite from Left to Right) in Backbone Tourmaline Breccia Drill Core

Figure 9, Drill Hole Cross Section Map of 2018 Drilling Program

Three Porphyry Copper Targets at Red Springs Project

2018 surface geology mapping, sampling and IP program defined three porphyry copper targets at Red Springs: Primary Ridge, Red Springs and Razorback copper porphyry targets (Figure 5).

Highlights

  • Large and strong argillic and phyllic alteration area (Figure 10)
  • Surface outcrop samples show strong chalcopyrite, pyrite, malchocite and potassium alteration with up to 1.12% copper grade (Figure 11)
  • Well-developed tourmaline alteration and breccia – a guiding mineral for porphyry copper deposit
  • Very strong IP and magnetic anomalies

2019 Work Plan for Porphyry Targets (Under Development)

  • Detailed surface geological mapping focused on structures and alterations
  • 20 x 50 m grid soil sampling program at Primary Ridge target area
  • Three to five 1000m (+/-) diamond drill holes to test IP and soil geochemistry anomalies
  • Seeking JV partner

Figure 10, Left, Large argillic and Phyllic Alteration at Primary Ridge Target. Right, Geology Map of Red Springs Porphyry Targets Area with Copper Grades from Surface Grab Samples

Figure 11, Left, Chalcopyrite and Potassium Alteration Veins and Malachite Alteration in Biotite Diorite. Right, Whole Rock Potassium, Pyrite Alterations in Granite