The discovery of the deposit was really a triumph of deductive geology backed by management ready to spend money on new geological concepts. W alter Holyk (who later shot-gunned the discovery of the Kidd Creek deposit for Texas Gulf) and Cheriton, though they worked for different major companies, were good friends and together developed a theory relating mineralization, stratigraphy and structure for the Bathurst camp. See: Holyk, W., 1956; Mineralization and structural relations in northern New Brunswick; Precambrian, Vol. 29, No. 7. They informally divided the camp. Cheriton took on the northern half and Holyk took on the southern half. Using the same theory, Holyk found a major massive sulphide deposit for Texas Gulf Sulfur and Cam found five massive sulphide deposits for Anaconda, including the Caribou.
Cam traced the known Orvan Brook “horizon” westward to a large synform fold which he had spotted on air photos. Using the old Boliden hem unit, he laid out a radial system of picket lines to test the fold area. A good (+4,000-ft) folded conductor was found conforming with the shape of the air photo fold. Detailed geological mapping, mag and sp surveys, and soil sampling were done. From hem profiles and in-phase to out-of-phase ratios, the width, dip and relative conductivity of the conductor were determined.
The line with the best geology, soil results and best width, amplitude and i-p to o-p ratio was selected and drilled. As it turned out, the hem response of the sulphide conductor masked the footwall graphitic argillite conductor, the reverse of what was stated in the article.
The massive sulphide body is “about 3,800-ft long, the massive sulphide from 20- to 130-ft thick, and to a depth of 1,200 ft contains 28 million tons of ore grading about 2% lead, 5% zinc, and 1 oz of silver per ton” (Davies, J. L., 1966). I left Anaconda (Canada) in 1961 and Bathurst in 1966 and have no idea what has happened at Caribou since then. But, as I remember, the biggest disappointment to Cheriton and Anaconda was the relatively low average grade of the Caribou deposit.
I wish East West Minerals luck in picking out the better grade sections of the long sulphide mass of the Caribou mine, which was not discovered “by accident.” M. D. Kierans, Vancouver.
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