67

ing part of this belt lies east and southeast of Goldway Peak, an area first
outlined by the Geological Survey (Lord, 1946, p. 7). Deposits of copper,
some with important amounts of silver, have been found within volcanic
members of the upper and lower divisions of the Takla group, and appear
to be most numerous in these rocks: (1) on the southern half of McConnell
Range and its southern extension to Johanson Creek; (2) within an area
bounded by latitudes 56°30’ and 56°45’, and longitudes 126°45’ and 127°,
and (3) southwest of Bear Lake.

Near Niven River, at longitude 127 degrees, a rich, silver-bearing
Seam occurs in a post-Paleocene fault, and on the Motase claims silver.
bearing copper deposits have replaced! dykes probably related to the
Tertiary, Kastberg intrusions. Other evidence of Tertiary mineralization
in this general part of British Columbia is found about 140 miles south-
southeast in the Houston (Lang, Hanson, and Phemister, 1942) and Fort
Fraser (West Half) (Armstrong, 1941) map-areas: there, many deposits
of silver and other metals are associated with small Tertiary intrusive
bodies and some occur in Tertiary volcanic or intrusive rocks. Further-
more, cinnabar (mercury) deposits of probable Tertiary age (Armstrong,
1942) occur in the nearby Takla and Fort Fraser (East Half) map-areas
in rocks of, or related to, the Pinchi fault zone, a structure believed to be
continuous with the Omineca fault zone. Thus, the possibility of important
Tertiary deposits of silver, mercury, or other metals in McConnell Creek
map-area should not be neglected by prospectors. Careful attention
should be paid to the fault zones and adjacent rocks, as these afforded
Tertiary channelways and contain silver (near Niven River) and mercury
(Takla map-area) deposits. The magma from which the Kastberg intru-
sions were derived is the most likely known source of Tertiary mineraliz-
ing solutions; therefore, formations adjacent to these intrusions, and
especially voleanic members of the Takla group, should be examined.

The sandstones of the Sustut group afford a possible source of the
vanadium detected in the black sand concentrate from the McConnell
Creek placer operations. Yellow stains or encrustrations on these rocks,
especially if accompanied by carbonized matter, should be carefully
scrutinized as possible occurrences of carnotite or other vanadium minerals.

The most promising known coal deposits lie southwest of upper Red
Creek ‘and along the northeast side of Saiya Creek Valley. Trenching and
stripping will be required before much is known of the size and quality
of the seams.

1 Lougheed, M. S.: Yukon and Northwest Explorations, Limited: