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Faint Hope Property - Gold |
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In 2004, Northern Shield discovered gold anomalous (309, 111, and 68 ppb Au), sulphide-bearing boulders while drill testing a kimberlite target on its Faint Hope Property north of Cochrane, Ontario. The property is located in the middle of the Opatica metasedimentary belt. Heavy mineral samples collected by Northern Shield and by the OGS over the years have defined a gold-arsenopyrite-(chalcopyrite) anomaly down-ice from the occurrence. Arsenopyrite is a common pathfinder for gold in terrains dominated by sedimentary rocks as has recently been highlighted at Virginia Golds’ Eleonor Project in Quebec where gold mineralization is associated with arsenopyrite.
The boulders generally consist of calcic amphibole and diopside with siliceous layers and/or quartz bands. The opaque mineral is dominantly pyrite (up to 25%) with some samples containing blebs of pyrrotite and several of them containing bands of very fine grained magnetite. The samples likely represent silicate phase iron formation. |
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| The youngest known ice advance in the Cochrane area is southward with an older direction towards the southwest (230). There is a distinct gold-arsenopyrite-(copper) anomaly down-ice from the target area. It is interesting to note the presence of gahnite (zinc oxide) south of the Eloro Zn showing in Hurdman Township. Gahnite is used as an indicator for metamorphosed zinc deposits and seems to have picked up that mineralization quite well. |
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| Although little if any outcrop exists in the area the surrounding rocks are mapped as Archean metasediments and belong to the Opatica belt which stretches from with Quebec to the Kapuskasing Structure in Ontario. Metamorphic grade is interpreted to be upper Amphibolite to Granulite facies. Gneissic and homogenous granitoids have also been observed in the area. The boulders were recovered in a drill-hole a few km west of a horseshoe shaped magnetic anomaly that is distinctly apparent and very conspicuous on the regional magnetic map. The anomaly occurs along a subtle E-W trending magnetic lineament that merges with the apex of the Harricanna-Turgeon Greenstone Belt approximately 80 km to the east. This magnetic lineament could be the hinge line of the H-T belt suggesting that it might extend further west that current interpretation suggests or a major deformation zone. The H-T belt hosts several gold and copper-zinc deposits including those at Casa-Berardi and Normetal. |
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| Three samples, representative of the boulders were sent for analysis and all three returned anomalous gold values The coarse and blebby nature of some of the pyrite within the fine-grained magnetite-siliceous bands may indicate sulphide replacement and possible gold potential. |
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