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Geology and Gold Resources
The dominant geological feature of the Taurus Project region is a flat-lying pile of thrust-fault sheets consisting of ophiolite and island-arc rocks. Thrust faulting has created intense fracturing, which provided access to the gold-bearing mineralizing fluids. Rocks in the immediate Taurus Project area are mainly Mississippian to Triassic basalt, argillite, chert and mudstone. The basalt is by far the most important as it both dominates the stratigraphy of the area and it is the host rock for the gold deposits. Regional metamorphism has converted the original basalt to a greenschist.
The Taurus Project gold deposit is centred on 88 Hill, a low rise in the valley bottom bounded on the north by the Cassiar highway. Six geographic zones make up the area of the deposit. These are 88 Hill, 88 West, Highway, Plaza mine, Sable mine and Taurus mine. The best-defined portion of the deposit is in the 88 Hill zone. The mineralization consists of a gold-quartz-pyrite association. This occurs at the surface and extends down through about 100 metres of basalt. The configuration of the 88 Hill mineralization is such that it could be placed in production, as a startup operation for the entire deposit, and economically bulk mined with open-pit methods.
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