JUNIOR MINING SPECIAL — Alberta’s Waugh Lake area shows gold

Discovery of a potential sizable gold occurrence in the Waugh Lake area of the extreme northeastern corner of Alberta has the area’s lease-holding syndicate looking for partners.

The syndicate is courting junior and major mining companies with deep enough pockets to launch a detailed exploration program.

The 4-member syndicate hopes to find a partner this spring, especially with an independent and unbiased assessment from the Alberta Research Council (ARC) backing its sales pitch.

ARC and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) conducted an extensive study of the northeastern Waugh Lake area after initial data showed several notable anomalous readings.

“The stratiformal structure of many sulphide-rich horizons is indicative of the potential for massive sulphide deposits with a gold association,” states a study on the area released in the summer of 1993. Since that time, geologists have analyzed samples from several specific locations. One test yielded a sample of 3 ppm gold.

Syndicate member Ron Stewart said the area consists of a gossan formation, which betrays massive sulphide zones. Existing data show many similarities to the successful Lupin gold mine of Echo Bay Mines (TSE) in the Northwest Territories.

Stewart, a geological technician at the University of Alberta’s geology department, became interested in the Waugh Lake area after reviewing the initial findings of John Godfrey, published in the 1960s and 1970s. He also reviewed a Waugh Lake exploration program conducted by Hudson’s Bay Oil and Gas in the late 1960s, which included aerial magnetics but nothing further. To date, the syndicate has about 300 sq. km staked in the Waugh Lake area. “It is a classic archean greenstone belt,” Stewart said. “We are pleased with ARC’s findings, but not surprised. We’re going to require someone with the expertise and resources to give it a fair shot.”

So far, besides the potential for massive sulphides, aerial magnetics have revealed a large magnetic anomaly that indicates a structure stretching many kilometres.

The syndicate has no indication of how deep the structure extends, but it hopes a drilling program will provide conclusive evidence. Stewart added that this type of structure tends to deliver better yields at deeper levels. To date, this project is the most exciting discovery of an extensive and ongoing survey of the mineral potential of the extreme northeast corner of Alberta. This area is the province’s only Canadian Shield formation. Unlike the rest of the province, which is largely unexplored for non-petroleum-based minerals, geological study of this area has been ongoing for the past several decades.

It forms part of the Churchill Structural Province in the Athabasca Mobile Belt. Its history involves sedimentation, deformation, metamorphism and ultrametamorphism, accompanied by remobilization, anatexis and intrusion. These developments occurred during different orogenic periods, and resulted in the formation of complex polymetamorphic rocks.

It has a long history of yielding a wealth of indicators for potential uranium deposits. Some leaseholders went to considerable effort and expense to find commercially viable uranium discoveries. However, none panned out. ARC and GSC geologists have not been deterred; they are studying a wide array of potential mineral occurrences in that particular location. As recently as mid-1993, GSC released findings on no less than 88 mineral occurrences in the extreme northeast corner, relating to gold, uranium, base metals, iron and rare earth elements. Once geologists rediscovered and analyzed locations using earlier assessments, 17 sites earned “mineral showing” status based on positive sample results. The specific sites under investigation are in and around the Andrew Lake/Charles Lake area. Discovery of favorable geology for rare earth elements is new, and occurred during ARC’s investigation of gold possibilities. Although it was an interesting discovery, ARC geologist Willem Langenberg thinks most commercial interest will be in the area’s gold potential.

“There is also some potential for diamonds,” he said. “It is partly archean crust there, so it could have kimberlite dykes. We didn’t find one, however.” Langenberg described the gold investigations to date as “encouraging,” adding that the area’s remoteness has made it largely unexplored.

Stewart agreed that much focus, particularly on gold exploration, has been centred on the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. But should something economical be discovered in the Waugh Lake area, remoteness will not be an issue. As an example, he pointed to the harsh environmental conditions at the Lupin gold mine, which Echo Bay overcame when the potential for a payoff existed.

— The author is a freelance writer from St. Albert, Alta.