Atlantic Mining NS Inc, wholly owned subsidiary of St Barbara Limited, has 100% ownership of the tenements over 15 Mile (EL05889, EL52901 and EL10406) and Beaver Dam (50421,51852,54498,54499 and 51939).
Summary:
The Meguma Terrane of Nova Scotia hosts the Moose River Member, Tangier Member, and Taylors Head Member of the basal greywacke-dominated Goldenville Formation. Gold mineralization is generally hosted in argillite and/or greywacke sequences of the Moose River Member and is associated with regional-scale anticlines. Structural repetition due to folding and faulting may result in thickening of gold-bearing units. Gold occurs as native gold, and has been observed in a number of settings, including along shear cleavage, hair line fractures; in pressure shadows; as inclusions; on the margins of sulphide grains; in thin, bedding-parallel quartz veins and stringers. Mineralization is associated with sulphides, including arsenopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite. Lesser chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite have been observed.
15 Mile
The 15 Mile (previously Fifteen Mile Stream) Project consists of Egerton-Maclean, Plenty, Hudson and 149 Deposits.
Individual mining operations, including mining at Fifteen Mile Stream, have focussed on quartz-vein hosted gold deposits within the Goldenville Formation, typically associated with the limbs and hinges of anticlines. This setting is often referred to as ‘Meguma style’ gold mineralization and a number of workers have drawn parallels with a similar style of gold mineralization in the Victorian Goldfields of eastern Australia (e.g. Christie et al, 1999) .
At Fifteen Mile Stream, the highest gold grades are typically associated with beddingparallel tabular quartz veins. However, the host rock material between quartz veins also carries significant gold grades. It is the quartz vein hosted gold mineralization augmented by disseminated style mineralization that forms the basis of a geological model associated with the ongoing exploration and development of the Fifteen Mile Stream gold deposit.
Mineralization at Fifteen Mile Stream is focused in the hinge of a regional anticline and generally conforms to a saddle-reef style model where veins and related alteration occur in bedding-parallel structures resulting from folding. Fold related strain is focused within the softer meta-mudstone units thus mineralization is generally controlled by stratigraphy, with bedding-parallel quartz veins and related alteration mainly confined to meta-mudstone intervals. True saddle-reef quartz veins do not occur within any of the mineralized zones. However a thick bedding-parallel quartz vein referred to as the ‘Big Bull Vein’ in the centre of the district is interpreted as a saddle-reef vein.
Gold mineralization within the FMS is largely hosted by bedding-parallel quartz veins that are buckled and folded with the enclosing sedimentary beds. Two main vein styles include massive milky white veins and laminated veins, the latter typically smoky in colour and characterized by vein-parallel inclusions. Weak wall rock alteration spatially associated with the veins includes carbonitization and, locally, sericitization. Associated sulphide mineralization includes arsenopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite with the pyrrhotite frequently hosting minor chalcopyrite. Arsenopyrite modally comprises trace amounts of around three percent and occurs as equant, subhedral grains 1-5mm in diameter.
Gold occurs as coarse (>1mm) grains in quartz veins and locally as finer (<1mm) grains in wall rock. Coarse gold in veins is commonly found at vein-wall rock boundaries and with sulphide minerals.
Anomalous gold values in the range of 0.1 to 4.0 gpt Au were frequently returned for intervals without any quartz veins or visible gold and the nature of this mineralization is not well understood. However, high gravity recovery for similar mineralization at the Beaver Dam and Touquoy deposits suggest the gold occurs as free gold, possibly associated with sulphide minerals.
Mineralization in the Hudson Zone is confined to the Egerton-McLean stratigraphy and is similar in character to that noted in the Egerton-McLean Zone i.e. coarse gold in veins and finer free gold in altered wall rock. The Fifteen Mile Stream Anticline in the Hudson Zone is overturned as in the Egerton-McLean Zone. However the fold in the Hudson area is tight with a narrow, angular hinge and lacks the complex decametre folds that characterized the Egerton-McLean Zone. The lack of folding in the hinge area results in a smaller mineralized zone due to the lack of repetition.
The Plenty Zone occurs on the south limb of the Fifteen Mile Stream Anticline approximately 400 m southwest of the Egerton-McLean area. The mineralized zone is controlled by stratigraphy and bedding-parallel quartz veins that are steeply dipping. Gold was reported to occur in quartz veins and argillite (meta-mudstone) (Morris, 1986).
Dimensions 15 Mile: strike extent = 1400m ; width = variable 20m to 100m; vertical extent = 225m.
Beaver Dam
Geology
The Beaver Dam deposit is hosted in the southern limb of a north-dipping overturned anticlinal fold. The Moose River Formation is relatively thick in the vicinity of the Beaver Dam deposit.
Mineralization
Gold mineralization at Beaver Dam has been recognised over a strike length of approximately 1.4 km, extending from the Main Zone northwest to the Mill Shaft Zone. Historical drilling has shown that mineralization weakens between the Main Zone and Mill Shaft Zone. The eastern end of the main zone is controlled by the Mud Lake Fault and possible offsets to the mineralization have been identified between the Mud Lake and Cameron Flowage faults and in the Northeast Zone, immediately east of the Cameron Flowage Fault.
The mineralised zone can reach as much as 100 m in width with better gold grade (e.g., >0.5 g/t) material typically confined to a 5–40 m width or widths within that zone. Mineralization has been identified in historical drill holes at vertical depths of >600 m below surface, and remains open below that depth.
Gold mineralization is hosted within quartz veins and within the argillite and greywacke host rocks. Mineralized quartz veins are typically 0.5–20 cm in thickness, are commonly bedding parallel, but can also include cross-cutting veins. Sulphide assemblages include pyrrhotite, pyrite and/or arsenopyrite with lesser chalcopyrite, galena or sphalerite. Gold commonly occurs within quartz veins as coarse (>1 mm) grains and clusters of finer, but still visible (<1 mm), grains. Coarse gold grains are more likely to be found at vein-wall rock contacts and are often spatially associated with sulphides.
In the immediate vicinity of the deposit the host stratigraphy has been subdivided into several mappable units, from oldest to youngest: the Crouse Mudstone, Hanging Wall Greywacke, Papke Mudstone, Millet Seed Sandstone and Austen Mudstone. The mineralized zone appears to gently cross-cut this macro-stratigraphy. Gold mineralization is often associated with sulphides including pyrrhotite, pyrite, arsenopyrite, and chalcopyrite.
Dimensions Beaver Dam: strike extent = 800m ; width = 50m; vertical extent = 200m.