General Information
Capsule
WORK HISTORY
Staked as Fox cl 1-188 (YC52526) in Feb/2007 by Strategic Metals Ltd. The company immediately optioned the Fox and six other claim groups, collectively called the NiMo (nickel-molybdenum) project to Southampton Ventures Inc, in return for cash, shares and certain work commitments.
During 2007 Southampton Ventures collected 5 rock, 291 soil and 61 silt samples on the Fox claims. The company also drilled 4 diamond drill holes (425.2 m). In Apr/2009 the company changed its name to Quetzal Energy Ltd.
GEOLOGY
The area is located on the west side of the Richardson Trough a north to northwest-trending intracratonic depression formed during Early to Middle Paleozoic time. Deep water shale and argillaceous limestone of the Ordovician to Silurian Road River group are deposited within the trough atop Cambrian and Proterozoic age strata. Younger Paleozoic sediments unconformably cap the Road River Group within the trough and elsewhere in the surrounding broader basin. The entire stratigraphic section is folded by a large-scale anticline that plunges to the north. This anticline is called the Richardson Anticlinorium and its axis approximately coincides with the centre of the trough. To the east, the Richardson Trough is bound by the Trevor Fault and to the West the Deception fault.
The occurrence lies over shallowly (15-20 degrees) west dipping shales which are assigned to the Middle to Upper Devonian Earn Group and Ordovician to Silurian Road River Group. The Earn Group is comprised of sandy shale belonging to the Imperial Formation which conformably overlies siliceous shale of the Canol Formation. Calcareous shale assigned to the Road River Formation unconformably underlies the Canol Formation. The eastern two thirds of the claim block are underlain by Road River shale while the western third is underlain by siliceous shale of the Canol Group. Imperial Formation shale outcrops immediately west of the claim group.
Regionally a thin nickeliferous massive sulphide layer, known as the NiMo horizon is found at the contact between the Canol Formation and Road River Group. This sulphide layer is usually less than 0.5 cm thick and often appears to be lenticular. A similar massive sulphide horizon is reported at the same stratigraphic location at the Nick occurrence (Minfile Occurrence 106D 092) located 245 km to the southwest. The Nick massive sulphide horizon covers an area greater than 80 square kilometres and comprises pyrite, vaesite, melnikovite-type pyrite, sphalerite and wurtzite hosted in a gangue of phosphatic-carbonaceous chert, silica and bitumen. Rock assays from the Nick horizon typically average 3% nickel, 0.20% molybdenum, 0.82% zinc, 0.82% vanadium, 310 ppm platinum and 150 ppb palladium over narrow widths (i.e. < 10 cm). Strategic Metals staked the Fox claims to explore for this type of mineralization.
Southampton Ventures orientated their surface sampling program across the projected surface trace of the Canol Formation – Road River Group contact. Silt samples returned maximum values of 254 ppm nickel, 95.2 ppm molybdenum and 1 230 ppm zinc, while soil samples returned maximum values of 1 255 ppm nickel, 154.5 ppm molybdenum and 2.15% zinc. The highest results were returned from a soil line which crossed a small knoll in the southern part of the claim block (occurrence location).
Diamond drill hole FX07-01 was collared directly into Road River Group rocks while the remaining three holes intersected the Canol Formation - Road River Group contact. All three holes returned only slightly elevated zinc and silver values without any nickel or molybdenum rich massive sulphide layer. The maximum assay values obtained from all core samples was 395 ppm nickel, 2 692 ppm zinc, 66 ppm molybdenum and 2.82 ppm silver. Although no visible mineralization was encountered, it is possible that fine grained tetrahedrite is present in the contact.
