Pyrox
Location, Access, Description
The Pyrox property is located about 85 km north of the town of Chibougamau, in the Nord-du-Quebec administrative region. The property is composed of 62 contiguous mining claims totalling 3,380.77 Ha in NTS 32J09 & 32J10, in the Eeyou-Istchee James Bay Territory. These titles are fully owned by 9474-9454 Québec Inc. Globex mining entreprises Inc. retains a 2% Gross Metal Royalty (GMR) on any future production on these claims. The property is set on Category III lands where exploration is allowed under authorization of Native Communities.
The property is accessible by road from Chibougamau, driving about 19 km on Road 167 north then turn left on Route du Nord for about 80 km. Then a network of gravel roads leads to the Pyrox property about 17 km further. Access is also possible by helicopter or seaplane since numerous lakes are present throughout the property.
Topography is variable in this area. The NW part of the property is characterized by E-W oriented gently rolling hills with elevations comprised between 380m and 440 m above sea level. The SE part of the property shows much steeper relief with elevations up to 520 m above sea level. The property is mostly covered with black spruce and other resinous trees, and minor birch. Several swampy areas are present in the central part of the property along the path of the Maurès River.
Many commodities can be found in Chibougamau regarding contractors, equipment rental, as well as sleep and food accommodation of remote workers. A hydro power line crosses the central part of the Pyrox property.
Geology and Mineralization
Regional Settings
The Pyrox property is located in the Opatica Sub-province of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield (Card and Ciesielski, 1986). Rocks of the Opatica deposited between 2.82 and 2.68 Ga (Davis et al., 1995) and consist of both volcano-sedimentary rocks and gneissic domains (Hocq, 1994). Metamorphism gradually increases from south to north from the greenschists grade to the granulites grade, with evidences of partial melting (Sawyer and Benn, 1992). New geological and geochronological data indicate that the Abitibi and Opatica sub-provinces form a single lithotectonic block where Opatica represents the basal part of the Abitibi crust (MB2014-04, MB2016-01).
Rocks of the area of the Pyrox property belong to the Archean Frotet-Evans Volcanic Belt (FEVB), a 250 km long structure which represents the second most important belt in Quebec and hosts the former Au-Cu Troilus Mine located about 30 km north of the property (Production 1997 – 2009 : 67.95 Kt @ 0.1% Cu and 1.07 g/t Au ; DV2010-01). The FEVB is a E-W to ENE-oriented Archean volcano-sedimentary band steeply dipping toward north, hosted in gneiss-plutonic terranes.
The FEVB is generally divided in four (4) different segments : Evans-Ouagama; Storm-Evans; Assinica et Frotet-Troilus (Boily and Dion, 2002) ; the Pyrox property is located within the Frotet-Troilus one. Rocks of this area deposited between 2,793 and 2,755 Ma (Pilote et al., 1997, MB2000-12).
Numerous Gabbro sills are intercalated within the volcanic rocks of the FEVB and seem comagmatic with the volcanics. Historical geophysical surveys highlighted strong magnetic axis corresponding to peridotite and pyroxenite sills, as well as EM conductors.
Polyphase deformation of the area occurred between 2.7 and 2.65 Ga and varies from weak in the central part of the FEVB to intense on the south and north edges. The major structural features of the area are the Nottaway River and the Lucky Strike Stream shear zones and the Frotet anticline.
Metamorphism of the FEVB is at the upper greenschists grade to lower amphibolitic grade (RG96-11).
Property Geology
On the Pyrox property, the Frotet-Troilus segment is represented by the Frotet Formation which mainly consists in calco-alkaline pyroclastic deposits with intercalated gabbro and UM sills. Granophyre sills are frequently observed in intercalation within the volcanics and are interpreted as the end product of fractional crystallization of the parent mafic magma.
A differentiated sill complex composed of a slightly serpentinized peridotite at its base, surmounted by mesocrate massive gabbro, crosses the northern part of the property following a NO-ESE orientation. The south-eastern part of the property hosts the hinge of the De Maurès syncline which affects a granophyre layer, an intermediate felsic tuff horizon and a peridodite layer. These stratiform intrusions would be comagmatic with the volcanics (MB87-17).
The property is located in the south structural domain of Gosselin (ET96-02). Regional foliation at this place is ESE except from to the south where it is NE-oriented like in the north domain. Several E-W to SE folds are observed in the property area and are concordant to the regional foliation ; the property covers part of the north flank and the hinge of the De Maurès ONO-ESE syncline.
Trenching by Virginia Mines on the property in 2001 exposed a massive and homogeneous gabbro, finely grained with mineralized areas of low to moderate silica and/or chlorite alteration containing up to 1% finely disseminated pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite (GM59830).
Metallogeny
Since the 1950s, numerous mineralized showings have been discovered in the Frotet-Troilus region. These are grouped into three main categories: 1) Au-Cu, Cu-Au-Ag vein-type mineralization ; 2) Sulphide associated gold mineralization (Py-Po-Cp) and 3) Zn-Cu-Ag-Au volcanogenic mineralization.
Spodumene pegmatites are also listed at Moblan, about 25 km west of the Pyrox property, within the Frotet-Evans volcanics. Mineralized dykes are grouped in the hinge of the Frotet anticline (Pearse, 2008). In date of January, 2024, Probable Reserve at Moblan are estimated to 34.54Mt @ 0.63% Li (NI 43-101 Feasibility Study Report for the Moblan Lithium Project, Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory, Quebec, Canada).
The Lac Odon Cu-Mo deposit is located about 2 km east of the Pyrox property within the extension of the same synclinal hinge observed on the Pyrox property. It is hosted in a N220°/-25° shear zone injected with felsic material, intruding a gabbro. Historical Resource (non NI 43-101 conformable) is estimated to 8,000t @ 3.01% Cu and 0.10% Mo (GM28490, ET96-02).
The former Troïlus mine produced 2 million ounces of gold and nearly 70,000 tonnes of copper between 1997 and 2010.
Platinum Group Element mineralization (PGE) is present on the Pyrox property. Historical work highlighted the Pyrox II East and Pyrox II West showings (GM58478) and later the Rose showing (GM59830). The Pyrox II East (0.15 ppm Pt, 0.73 ppm Pd, 0.14 g/t Au, 0.28 % Cu and 0.07% Ni) and Rose (0.97 g/t Pt, 1.1 g/t Pd and 0.53 g/t Au) showings are located within the Globex property while the Pyrox II West showing is located approximately 200 m to the west of the property. Mineralization consists in strong disseminations of pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite and minor pyrite in mafic and UM sills of the Frotet Formation. Anomalous grades in gold, copper and nickel are sometimes present in association with the Pt-Pd showings.
HISTORY
Exploration in the property area began in the late 1950s and mainly consisted in geophysical and prospecting work, but the majority of the work was concentrated on the Lac Odon showing east of the property.
From the second half of the 1980s, both geophysical and geological surveys as well as diamond drilling (DDH) were carried out on the Pyrox property. The Pyrox East and Pyrox West showings were discovered by Costa (GM58478) in the late 1990s and returned highly anomalous metallic contents such as 0.14 g/t Au, 0.15 g/t Pt, 0.73 g/t Pd, 2810 ppm Cu and 680 ppm Ni (672125) and 0.10 g/t Au, 0.10 g/t Pt, 0.41 g/t Pd, 890 ppm Cu and 200 ppm Ni (672124) on grab samples. These values are from small, 1-5 m podiform areas containing a strong disseminations of pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite in a pyroxenite near the gabbro contact.
In 2000-2001, Mines Virginia undertook rock stripping and channel-sampling (GM59830). The Rose showing was discovered by this work and returned 0.53 g/t Au, 0.97 g/t Pt and 1.1 g/t Pd. Assays up to 0.3 g/t Au, 0.57 g/t Pt and 0.81 g/t Pd over 0.55 m returned on channel-sampling from a trench on the Rose showing.
In 2002, SOQUEM and Norbamec carried out geological mapping, rock stripping and sampling in search for PGE mineralization (GM59756). This work highlighted a 1,6 km long Au-Pt-Pd anomalous zone in the east part of the Pyrox property and a smaller one in the NW part.
In February 2017, G.L Geoservices conducted both magnetic and MaxMin surveys for Globex in the Pyrox East showing area. This survey revealed a conductive zone oriented N110° with a 45° dip to the north. A 129 m south-facing DDH was drilled by Globex in April 2017 to test this conductor (GM70295). A peridotite altered in talc and serpentine containing disseminated magnetite and stringers was intersected. No significant gold, platinum and palladium anomalies were obtained.
In 2018, Globex conducted a heliborne Mag & VLF survey totalling 304.3 line-km which highlighted several concordant magnetic anomalies and conductor axis (GM70961).
In 2020 following new claim staking on the Pyrox property, Globex carried out a compilation of recent and historical data on the Pyrox property (GM72004). Figure 6 is a compilation of significant historical data on the Pyrox property and surroundings. The author recommended a series of work to properly test several geophysical targets.
Resources and Potential
No historical Resource has ever been estimated on the Pyrox property.
The property benefits though of a very favorable geologic context centered on a regional fold hinge associated with the Lac Odon Cu-Mo deposit. This potential is attested by the presence of several showings and deposits of variable commodities in the surroundings.
Historical work succeeded in highlighting Pt-Pd (±Au) mineralization on the Pyrox property. Mineralization presents a close association with mafic / UM sills of the Frotet Formation and is typically associated with sulphide (Po-Cp ±Py) disseminations making it easily identifiable in geophysics. Geophysic surveys by Globex in 2017 and 2018 highlighted concordant Mag-Input-MaxMin anomalies which should be further investigated by stripping or DDH.
Only three (3) DDH have ever been drilled on the Pyrox property, which appears strongly insufficient to characterize the true potential of the property. Numerous strong Input anomalies are observed in mafic/UM sills and have not been properly tested yet. In particular a cluster of Input anomalies is observed in the south part of the property, along the same fold hinge which is associated with the Lac Odon deposit ; no DDH has been implemented in this area.