Dr. John DeDecker, Vice President of Exploration, Eskay Mining Corp. , and Post Doctoral Fellow, Colorado School of Mines
Speaker Bio:
John became interested in geology by way of landscape painting on the Colorado Plateau as a high school drop-out, and research telescope operator and lecturer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. While in Flagstaff he developed the hypothesis for remote detection of extraterrestrial caves using thermal infrared imagery with Jut Wynne of Northern Arizona University, and Tim Titus of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center. John’s field work on the Earth-Mars Cave Detection Project’s Atacama and Mojave Desert expeditions convinced him to get a formal education in Geology.
John received his B.S. in Geology, with an emphasis on mineralogy, igneous petrology, and mathematics from North Carolina State University. He did his M.S. at UNC Chapel Hill under the advisement of Allen Glazner studying the morphology and formation mechanisms of lava tubes. John completed his Ph.D. at Colorado School of Mines under the advisement of Thomas Monecke. His doctoral research addressed several outstanding problems with current genetic models for world-class unconformity-related uranium deposits. John developed a genetic model for and proposed a new type of hydrothermally enriched carbonaceous shale-hosted vanadium deposit at Iron Point in northern Nevada, and is expanding this research into the genesis of Carlin-type gold deposits.
John was the Society of Economic Geology Student Chapter President in 2015-2016, and along with his fellow SEG officers spearheaded the development of a two-week hydrothermal geochemistry and volcanology field course in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. He is currently flouting all dogma in economic geology while doing geological consulting as a founding partner of BOA exploration LLC, serving as VP of Exploration for Eskay Mining Corp, and conducting research on the genesis of ore deposits as a Post-doctoral Fellow at Colorado School of Mines.
Talk Abstract:
Eskay Mining Corp holds 130,000 acres in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. These claims adjoin and share the same geology as the world-class Eskay Creek Mine, the highest-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide gold deposit in the world. Geological work conducted in 2020 by the team led by Dr. John DeDecker (VP Exploration) has led to a major revision of the understanding of the geology and styles of precious metal mineralization on Eskay's property. Notably, previously unrecognized stratiform mineralization identical to the lower mudstone and even lower mudstone horizons at Eskay Creek have been identified at the SIB, Lulu, TV, Jeff, C10, and Spearhead Au-bearing VMS deposits. These deposits represent VMS systems on both the western and eastern limbs of the highly prospective Eskay anticline. New drilling, re-examination of historic drill core, and field mapping has shown the Eskay anticline to extend much further south than previously mapped. A BLEG survey of the property conducted in 2020 has identified several unexplored prospects along the Eskay anticline and beyond.
A $15 million 30,000+ meter drill program will be conducted in 2021 to expand the footprints of the Au-rich TV and Jeff deposits, follow up on several Au-bearing stratiform mineralized horizons at SIB-Lulu, and drill under-explored targets at C10, Tet, GFJ, and Spearhead. An extensive geologic mapping program will better define the geology of the Eskay anticline, and follow up on prospective areas identified by the 2020 BLEG program.
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