The Reed Mine Deposit is a stratabound massive sulphide type deposit that occurs within Precambrian volcanic rocks. It is overlain by 3 to 7 m of unconsolidated organic and glacial overburden, 15 to 20 m of Ordovician dolomitic limestone, 1 to 2 m of semi-consolidated to consolidated Ordovician quartz-rich sandstone, and 5 to 25 m of deeply weathered Precambrian rocks. The Precambrian rocks beneath the Ordovician cover consist of Flin Flon Domain volcanic rocks of the Four Mile Island Assemblage.
Reed Mine is interpreted as three stacked tabular bodies with varying orientations. The upper zone, Zone 30, trends 305° and dips 77° to the northeast, Zone 20 trends 300° and dips 71° to the northeast, and Zone 10 trends 275° and dips 80° to the south. The sulphide intersections range from 2.00 m up to 72.51 m in core length. Diamond drilling has intersected mineralization along a strike length of 430 m and to depths of 550 m below surface. See Figure 1 below:
Figure 1: Wireframe model of the three mineralized zones at the Reed Mine
Mineralization begins at approximately 25 m below surface and extends to approximately 580 m below surface. Mineralization is generally fine to medium-grained disseminated to solid sulphides consisting of pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and magnetite. The principle gangue minerals are chlorite, and quartz.
Mineralization in Zone 30 is generally characterized by solid sulphide with elevated gold and silver, and moderate copper and zinc grades. Zone 20 is also characterized by solid sulphide with the mineralization consisting of high grade copper, minor zinc, and low grade gold and silver. Stringers and disseminated sulphide tends to characterize Zone 10, which consist of high grade copper and lower grade gold, silver, and zinc.