Local Geological Setting

Korea Exposures of rock on the Property are largely confined to glacially transported boulders of Athabasca Group sediments, and basement rocks.  In drill core the only sediments belonging to the Athabasca Group are those belonging to the Manitou Falls Formation which unconformably overlies basement rocks.  The Manitou Falls Formation comprises clean sandstone with clay interclasts, clean sandstone with no or rare interclasts, pebbly sandstone and conglomerate.  A basal conglomerate unit a few metres wide is generally present resting on the unconformity and contains pebbles up to several centimetres across.  Conglomerate is also often present in the form of a marker bed approximately 50 metres above the unconformity.  From drill holes the Athabasca Group covering the Property is know to range from about 370 to 200 metres in thickness. Basement rocks as seen in drill core comprise a variety of felsic and/or granitic gneisses, granite and meta-pelite to semi-pelite with subordinate pegmatite and rare mafic intrusive rocks.  At least in the areas drilled meta-pelitic rocks appear to be confined to narrow belts and/or mixed with felsic gneiss.  Some of the meta-pelitic rocks can be quite graphitic and carry several percent sulphides as seen in WAT09-044 and/or locally garnetiferous. In addition to granite gneiss, quartz-biotite gneiss is also common which can also locally be quite garnetiferous. The most common types of alteration encountered in the drill core include hematization, limonitization, chloritization, sericitization and various types of clay alteration.  Hematization and limonitization are the most readily visible forms of alteration present in the Athabasca Group but sericitization and clay alteration of the sediments can range from weak to complete. Paleoweathering of the basement rocks typically has resulted in a profile comprising a narrow, quartz-kaolinite bleached zone at the unconformity followed by a distinctive hematitic or “red zone” followed in turn by a “red-green” chlorite-rich zone which grades down into fresh hard rock (Clarke and Fogwill, 1981).  All of the above types of alteration can be found in the lower basement rocks with hematization and limonitization being the most prevalent.  Sulphides when present in drill core are limited to no more than a few percent pyrite + trace chalcopyrite and/or pyrrhotite.  The highest concentration of sulphides generally occurs in graphitic pelite gneiss