Potential for Subaqueous Hot-spring
(Eskay Creek) Deposits in British Columbia
BCMEMPR Open File 1999-14
By N.W.D. Massey, D.J. Alldrick and D.V. Lefebure
Complete
digital document ....
Deposits
and Areas of Interest ...
The Eskay Creek property lies 80 km north of Stewart, near the
western margin of the Intermontane tectonic belt. The property includes several deposits
of polymetallic sulphide and sulphosalt mineralization as both exhalative massive
sulphides and discordant veins. These deposits are very attractive because of their
enhanced precious metal contents and polymetallic nature. Eskay Creek has a mineable
reserve of 1.45 Mt grading 57.7 grams per tonne gold and 2493 grams
per tonne silver as of January 1, 1999 and is the
fifth largest silver producer in the world.
The Eskay Creek deposits are examples of shallow subaqueous hot spring deposits, an important new class of submarine mineral deposits that has only
recently been recognized in modern geological environments. The deposit type is
transitional between subaerial hot spring Au-Ag deposits and deeper water, volcanogenic
massive sulphide exhalites (Kuroko or Besshi
types) and shares mineralogical, geochemical
and other characteristics of both. They are relatively underexplored and poorly recognized
within the geological record.
This study documents relevant geological, mineral deposit and
geochemical indicators for Eskay Creek-type deposits in British Columbia on two 1:2 000
000-scale maps. Twenty-two prospective areas with potential for hosting Eskay Creek-type
deposits are outlined. MINFILE descriptions are included for 10 known and 20 possible
Eskay Creek-type deposits in the province.
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Digital
versions of the map and data are available for download in
various formats :
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A zipped file of the complete Open
File in PDF format. This file 5.2 Mb in size. |
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Map 1: Geology
and Mineral Occurrences (in PDF format). This file is 2.4 Mb in
size. |
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Map 2: Geology and Geochemistry
(in PDF format). This file is 2.7 Mb in size. |
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Accompanying
report in PDF format. This file is 164 kb in size. |
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Table 4:Summary
data for selected areas of potential (in PDF format). This file
is 21 kb in size. |
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For questions or more information on geology and minerals in British Columbia
please contact GSB
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free number (BC residents only).
