Origen has optioned its Broken Handle Project of which it previously held a 100% interest in on the 2,098 hectare high-grade gold-silver and base metal property located 50km north of Grand Forks, British Columbia. The Company entered into an agreement with Hawthorn Resources Corp, a private British Columbia Corporation engaged in mineral exploration, to acquire a 75% interest in the property as of January 14th, 2021. (For full terms please see news release).
The road accessible Broken Handle project covers historical and new mineral showings similar in nature to those found at the prolific Franklin Camp1 located 3 km north. Over a 76 year period, the Franklin Camp produced greater than 1,392,000 oz. Ag and 55,500 oz Au2 (UNION Minfile 082ENE003 Production Detail Report). Two distinct styles of mineralization are evident at the Project; polymetallic epithermal veins (Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu +/- Au), potentially related to the regional Granby Fault and Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag-Au skarns associated with limestone and marble lenses in contact with intrusive rocks.
(1) Camp refers to a colony of miners settled in proximity to a mine, or series of mines or workings.
(2) Referenced nearby historic resources, deposits and mines provide geologic context for the Project, but are not necessarily indicative that the Project hosts similar potential, size or grades of mineralization.
Exploration work conducted in 2018 and 2019 resulted in 44 rock samples and 741 soil samples being collected with the rock sample results ranging from <0.001 – 23.03ppm Au, <0.001 – 973ppm Ag, 0.001 – 1.58% Cu, 0.005 – 1.39% Pb and 0.003 – 4.24% Zn. Rock samples were submitted to MSA Labs in Langley, BC and underwent a multi-element ore-grade ICP analysis with a true aqua-regia digestion. Gold was analyzed by fire assay using a 30g fusion size with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish (FAS-111) with detection limits of 0.005-10 ppm Au. Samples assumed to contain elevated precious metals were subject to a fire assay with a 30g fusion size and a gravimetric finish (FAS-415) with detection limits of 0.05 to 1,000 ppm Au.
Exploration work in 2018 and 2019 resulted in the discovery of several new showings, and the rediscovery of old mineral workings. The most significant achievement was locating the Morrell Camp that is series of mineralized historical workings that have not seen exploration work since the late 1920s. A 2019 rock grab sample* from the mineralized waste pile of one shaft in the Morrell Camp assayed 0.53 g/t Au, 363 g/t Ag and 0.616% Cu. Another rediscovered historical shaft (the C.P.R), 750m northeast from the previous sample, assayed 0.50 g/t Au, 315 g/t Ag and 1.58% Cu from a rock grab sample* and is interpreted to represent a strike extension of the workings in the Morell Camp.
All mention of the Morell Camp disappeared from written record by 1929, and Origen believes the 2019 field work is the first to examine this area in over 90 years. Origen considers the Morell Camp to be the priority target on the Broken Handle Property as it believes the source of the high-grade gold mineralization referenced in the historical literature has yet to be identified.
There are also several other mineralized areas of note at the Project, including the rediscovered Alco 6 gold showing. Exploration work in 2002 on a claim that included the northeast portion of the present boundary of the Broken Handle project resulted in this discovery, but it was never added into the provincial mineral database (Minfile). The area was rediscovered in 2019, and two grab samples* collected from outcrop assayed 7.17 g/t Au and 1.06 g/t Au respectively. An additional mineral occurrence is the Zap, a mineral showing discovered in the 1990’s and located in the southeastern portion of the claim, that returned 23 g/t Au with 973 g/t Ag from a grab sample* taken in 2019.
2023 exploration work
- Numerous additional historical workings rediscovered increases the known extent of historical mining.
- Two distinct multi-element soil anomalies outlined, one corresponding to historical workings and one currently unexplained.
Comprehensive magnetic survey highlights historically-mined structures and reveals trends extending north. Phase 1 exploration work was undertaken by the Company in the fall of 2023 with a total of 576 soil samples, 18 rock grab samples, geological mapping and a comprehensive grid-based magnetic survey completed. Soil sample results have outlined two promising Au-Ag-Cu-Pb-Zn soil anomalies, one surrounding the historically mined Morell Camp mine workings and a second one 400 m further to the north that is currently unexplained.
Each anomaly measures roughly 200 x 400 m in area and requires further work to define the true extent of them. Rock samples obtained from historical workings over the course of the program confirm the style and nature of mineralization within the camp. Soil sample assay results ranged from <0.001 to 0.161 ppm Au, 0.025 to 1.63 ppm Ag, 5.0 to 437.4 ppm Cu, 3.3 to 1619.5 ppm Pb, and 17 to 2052 ppm Zn.
Rock samples returned between <0.001 to 0.,135 ppm Au, 0.05 to 22.48 ppm Ag, 6.6 to 2661.9 ppm Cu, 0.5 to 24200 ppm Pb, and 7 to 15000 ppm Zn. Ground magnetic data collected during the program was processed post-field and has revealed east-west trending lineaments that correspond with structures exploited by historical mine workings within Morell’s Camp. Additionally, the magnetic survey highlighted similar structures within the newly-identified northern soil anomaly that has not been explained by any surface mineral showings to date.
A further 13 new undocumented historical workings were also rediscovered during the course of field work that appear to exploit quartz fissure veins or skarn-altered sulphide-bearing rocks, adding to the 20 previously-discovered workings within Morell’s camp and demonstrating the effort put into exploring the area in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s.