The Dictator Property is located in south central British Columbia approximately 60 km SE of Vernon and is accessed by a network of well-maintained logging roads. The 2952 ha project was acquired in 2020 by way of agreement with Aurum Vena Mineral Resources where Eagle Plains may earn a 100% interest by completing $150,000 exploration and make payment of $70,000 and 250,000 shares within a 4-year period. A 1% NSR is reserved for the vendor with an option to buydown.
The Dictator property overlies Jurassic-aged porphyritic intrusive rocks that are host to parallel gold-bearing veins that have seen limited past production at the Dictator and Morning occurrences.
Project Highlights
- Underexplored intrusion-related gold targets
- Includes the past producing Dictator and Morning gold mines
- Exceptional geology favourable for precious- and base-metal mineralization
- Encouraging exploration to date
- Excellent infrastructure – road-accessible, nearby hydro, railhead, 60 km to Vernon
Geology
The Dictator Property overlies Jurassic intrusive rocks that consist mainly of porphyritic granites, granodiorites and monzonites, pink granites are also found in the area. The granites vary slightly with the most prevalent being a coarse grained, white to pink, porphyritic granite containing 3 to 10% biotite. Geological mapping of the Azza claims discovered fine grained irregular mafic dikes with 40-90% biotite and thicknesses of less than one metre to perhaps 10 metres. An outcrop of gabbro was also located during the mapping program. Felsite of rhyolitic composition occurs in or near the north-south shear zones on the property.
Mineralization on the property is hosted in the north-south structures. The 2.4m wide Morning shear zone hosts an 83 to 106 cm wide quartz vein that strikes north-south dipping 75 degrees. The vein hosts 2% sulphides consisting of pyrite, sphalerite and galena, locally up to 10% sulphides. A narrow vein in hanging wall is heavily mineralized with much larger gold values. The Azza 7 showing is found 350m south of the Morning mineshaft and believed to be an extension of the Morning Shear. The Azza 7 showing vein is 1 metre wide with 20% pyrite and minor galena. The vein is hosted in a zone of intense argillic alteration.
The north-south trending Dictator shear is found 200 metres to the east of the Morning shear. The Dictator hosts 46cm wide quartz vein containing disseminated pyrite, sphelerite and galena. Gold values have been noted but assays are lacking.
The Azza 1 showing is found 900m to the south of the Dictator vein. The showing consists of a north-south trending shear zone that has been traced for 950 metres on strike. Quartz veins found in bulldozer trenches contain pyrite, and anomalous amounts of gold and silver. They are hosted in zones of intense argillic alteration.
History
The history of the Dictator Property, previously known as Lightning Peak, dates back to the 1890s and the formation of the Lightning Peak Camp. The first claim staked in the property area was the Rampalo in 1897 but little is known about the early history of the area. The historic Lightning Peak, Waterloo and Rampalo properties had seen considerable attention by 1904 with small ore shipments from Lightning Peak and Waterloo. To 1917 work was focused on the Lightning Peak and Waterloo but more properties had been staked around zones of promising mineralization. These include the Dictator showing found on the current claim.
The biggest challenge faced in the early days of the property was access. Before 1917 all materials including ore were transported via packhorse. In 1917 and 1918 a snowtrail was used. This trail helped transportation, but still it was only economic to transport high grade ore from the Waterloo mine. In 1929 a tractor route was constructed to connect the Lightning Peak Camp to Edgewood BC.
The Dictator showing area was Crown granted in 1920. By 1933, the vein had been developed by open cuts and shafts as evidenced by 2 water-filled shafts 9 and 12 metres deep respectively. During this time the vein was traced for approximately 250 metres.
In 1934, Dictator Gold Mines Ltd. was formed and took control of the Crown grant and adjacent claims, including the Morning Showing, where workings at the time consisted of two small pits 30 meters apart as well as a trench that exposed a 50cm wide mineralized quartz vein. A 35-metre shaft was sunk and 40 metres of underground workings were developed. The quartz found in the shaft was of low grade, but gradually improved in both the north and south drifts. High gold and silver assays are noted; including 226 g/t gold and 1444 g/t silver over 0.1m, and 8.5 g/t gold and 25.7 g/t silver over 0.61m.
Between 1948 and 1955 the Crown grant was held by the Paycheck Mining and Development Company Ltd. that included both the Morning and Dictator claims as well as the Waterloo. During this time there is no work reported on either claim.
A magnetometer survey was carried out on the Morning shear in 1974 and in the same area a ground electromagnetic survey was conducted in 1979.
Between 1983 and 1984 two small geochemical surveys were conducted by L.A. Bayrock. These surveys identified weak gold and silver anomalies and the extent of the Morning shear. In 1985, L.A. Bayrock staked the AZZA claim and optioned it to Amulet Resources. In 1986 Amulet Resources carried out an extensive trenching program that identified the Azza1 and Azza 7 targets. A trench at Azza 1 exposed a 6m wide zone of intense argillic alteration. A sample taken from a 5cm wide quartz vein assayed 16.3 g/t gold and 43.5 g/t silver. Amulet also conducted an IP survey of the area in 1986.
In 1987, Amulet Resources conducted a thorough exploration program on the property consisting of geological mapping, soil geochemistry, trenching and several geophysical surveys including VLF-EM , magnetometer, IP surveys. The same year Amulet completed 576 metres of diamond drilling in 5 holes. The company only filed the geological mapping was as assessment work so no information about the drilling is known.
In 1989 the Morning Showing was re-staked by Annax Ventures Inc. and a program of rock and soil sampling was carried out. Samples from the dump returned high gold and silver values. A chip sample of a 1.5m wide quartz vein, exposed in a pit 40 metres south of the Morning shaft, assayed 20.8 g/t silver.
Between 2015 and 2017 rock sampling was completed and attempts were made to locate the Dictator mine. Areas north of the Morning Mine and south of Azza 1 were prospected. One of the two sought after mineshafts was located in a very flat low laying area and was entirely filled with water. This area was thoroughly prospected for mineralised rock in outcrop and mine dump piles, no material was found to be sampled. The areas between the claim boundary to Azza 1 and Azza 1 to Azza 7 were prospected. In the fall of 2017, exploration focused in the area of the Morning Mine site. Samples were collected from vein outcrop in the vicinity of the mineshaft.
Prospecting in 2020 resulted in the discovery of numerous float boulders containing brecciated semi-massive sulphides that consistently contain highly elevated gold, lead and zinc mineralization with values ranging from trace quantities to a high of 5.84 g/t gold, 30.6 g/t Ag, 3680 ppm lead and 674 ppm zinc. The source of the boulders is unknown and is the focus of ongoing work.
Eagle Plains Exploration
In 2020, Eagle Plains Resources, through Aurum Vena, conducted a soil geochemical survey in the central area of the property to test for the source of the numerous float boulders that contained highly elevated gold, lead and zinc values. An airborne geophysical survey was flown in December 2020. In the video below, Milo Mielniczuk of Aurum Vena Mineral Resources discusses the geophysical survey program and the strategy for locating the in-situ source of the mineralized boulders.
Future Work
The results of the 2020 soil geochemical and airborne geophysical survey will help to guide further exploration programs at the Dictator property. Previous recommendations include follow-up exploration work to be conducted in the area northeast of the Morning Mine and south of Azza 7 along with an airborne geophysical survey over the central portion of the claims to locate the second Dictator mine shaft.
Eagle Plains - A Project Generator
Eagle Plains Resources is a project generator with mineral exploration properties of merit that meet qualifying transaction requirements. The Acacia is a project of merit and available for option to joint-venture partners including companies requiring a listing property. We facilitate the listing process for capital pool companies and initial public offerings while providing technical expertise for exploration programs. Companies interested in co-operatively exploring any of these projects please contact: Tim Termuende at tjt@eagleplains.com or Mike Labach at mgl@eagleplains.com or call 1 866 Hunt Ore (486 8673).
Updated March 2, 2023
