AnalysisFor convenience sake, since there are several east west fault zones coming off of the Round Lake Batholith (RLB), I will simply call the east west fault that is in close proximity to the main Link Catharine gold prospect, the South Mindoka Fault (SMF).
I'm assuming that hydrothermal fluids coming from the Round Lake Batholith have used the SMF as a conduit, as the RLB was ascending through the overlapping volcanic stratigraphy. Once the hydrothermal fluids hit the Pacaud Fault (PF), some of the fluids would have penetrated the PF, both to the north and to the south. It would seem then, that some of the gold would have remained near the juncture of these 2 faults, although the majority of the gold would likely have moved further east. Alteration would also have taken place along the margins of both fault structures, including carbonate, fuchsite, chlorite and pyrite.
In assessing the locations of all drill holes near the main gold zone, with respect to the major east west fault zone, as indicated on Map 2043, I find that the fault was located north of the drill holes. However, to me, this seems to be wrong. After reviewing the LIDAR data, I interpret the east west fault (SMF) to be located to the south of the drill holes.
In reviewing the 1999/2003/2005 drill holes, I found that the drill holes drilled to the south or to the north got the best results, especially if they were closer to the South Mindoka Fault. Holes drilled to the west or to the east, near the Pacaud Fault, were not as good. However, any EW drill hole that was located close to the SMF gave encouraging results.
The best 1999 drill holes were 99-4 (SSW direction) and 99-3 (NNW direction), both being roughly drilled perpendicular to the SMF.
The same can be said for the 2020 drill holes. Of the 7 drill holes, only 20-01 gave the best results and again, the hole was drilled to the south, close to the SMF. The remainder of the holes were drilled either to the east or to the west.
The pattern seems to continue with the 2021 drill holes, with most east west holes resulting in very poor or nil gold. The best holes would appear to be 21-06 and 21-07, which I believe were drilled NW from the same collar.
That said, my observations tell me that the next drill holes should be concentrated near the juncture of the SMF and the PF, with the holes being drilled to the south, into the SMF, and drilled through the east west chargeability anomaly, as abundant pyrite grains seem to reflect the higher alteration areas and gold grades. The strong chargeability anomaly about 50m SW of CAT 20-01 would be a good location for a drill collar, with a southerly drill direction.