Summary:
Kitsault is a cylindrical deposit, dipping steeply to the north. Approximate dimensions are 700 m on the x-axis, and 600 m on the y-axis, with the “sides” of the cylinder ranging from 100 – 300 m wide; the z-axis has been defined to depths of 500 m below surface. The deposit remains open at depth. The southern margin and other local arcs such as the north and northwestern areas of the deposit require additional infill drilling.
A number of vein phases have been identified at the Kitsault deposit:
- 0.25 cm to 1.50 cm wide quartz–molybdenite veins and veinlets forming stockworks.
- More widely-spaced, sub-parallel, 3–20 cm wide, sheeted, milky quartz veins containing fine-grained molybdenite. Veins have been termed "ribbon banded" quartz–molybdenite veins. These irregularly-developed, sheeted vein zones are best developed in close proximity to the aplite dikes. Where these veins are less than 1.5 cm wide, molybdenite is confined to vein borders. Where the veins are wider, there are multiple epitaxial bands of molybdenite within the quartz vein as well as on its margin.
- 0.50 to 2.0 cm pyrite veins containing subordinate molybdenite and trace amounts of quartz. The molybdenum contribution of this vein type, which is largely confined to the hornfels, is negligible.
- Steeply-dipping, 4 cm to 1 m or more in width, quartz–carbonate veins that contain sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, a variety of Pb–Bi sulphosalt minerals (akinite, cosalite, and neyite) and occasional trace amounts of molybdenite. Best developed on the south side of the molybdenite zone. The quartz–carbonate veins that contain the Pb–Bi mineralization post-date the QMP-ll intrusive. A few very rare and isolated quartz–molybdenite veinlets have been observed in the deeply-buried QMP-ll intrusive.
- Rare to minor, violet-coloured, late-stage, anhydrite-bearing veins.
Molybdenum mineralization hosted in the stockwork and sheeted veins defines a hollow, cylindrical, and annular-shaped mineralized body, which follows the approximate contacts of the QMP-I and quartz diorite intrusions with the surrounding hornfelsed sediments. The body has widths from 100 m to 150 m on the east, west, and north sides, and a less well defined zone to the south, where it is at least 300 m wide and may extend to nearly the southern limits of drilling.
In cross-section, the mineralized annulus displays variable widths at a 0.05% Mo grade cut-off and extends to at least the 200 m elevation. The carrot-shaped limbs of the cylindrical mineralization show a more or less vertical inclination in east–west view. The width of the eastern limb, at grades above 0.05% Mo, is about 175 m near the surface but thins substantially below the 400 m level. The width of the western limb is about 130 m and it persists at that width at depth.
Annular mineralization along the north side has a -70° northward dip in north–south view, and is confined largely within the intrusive complex. In contrast, the southern limb is much wider and dips north at about -40° near the surface, steepening with depth. Avanti has suggested that the steeply inclined northward dip of the annular cylinder on the north–south section may reflect the deposit being tilted to the north during post-mineralization deformation.
Disseminated, crystalline, fine-grained molybdenite is sporadically distributed within the groundmass of all pre-mineral rock types, but typically is most abundant in the aplite dikes.
Systematic multi-element analyses show that background copper levels, outside of zones with abundant quartz-carbonate veins, are in the 20 to 50 ppm Cu range. Copper values in drill core, where late quartz-carbonate veining is abundant, are typically in the 50 to 250 ppm Cu range, with very rare instances where values exceed 1,000 ppm Cu.