David Lewis

Technical Advisor, West Coast Silver

Principal Structural Geologist (Practice Lead), Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd.

Talk Abstract

Five-Element veins (Ag-Co-As-Ni-Bi) are an enigmatic deposit type that, despite significant historical contributions and the potential for exceptional metal grades, are not commonly the focus of modern exploration. Cultural contributions of these deposits include the introduction and evolution of folklore creatures, progression of mining legacies, essential support for wartime developments and advances in scientific discovery. For example, deposits in Germany and the Czech Republic have been mined since medieval times and the veins in Cobalt, Ontario launched the hard rock mining industry in Canada.

Five-Element mining districts are known primarily in the Archean terranes of North America, Europe and Africa, but are conspicuously absent from similar rocks in Australia. The Elizabeth Hill Project, located in NW Australia near the town of Karratha in the Pilbara Region, shares many similarities with other Five-Element districts, including exceptional silver grades. This presentation provides an overview of known Five-Element districts followed by a characterization of the Elizabeth Hill Project.

Speaker Bio

David Lewis M.Sc., P.Geo. is a structural geologist, focused on the mineral exploration sector, with an ongoing, 20+ year career history. David obtained his B.Sc. in Geological Sciences from the University of Saskatchewan and M.Sc. in Geology at Laurentian University. He has worked with provincial geological surveys in Precambrian bedrock mapping, consulting roles in applied structural geology, and domestic and international mineral exploration for various precious and base metals in a wide range of deposit types (orogenic gold, magmatic nickel-copper, silver-cobalt veins, VMS/SEDEX, copper skarn/porphyry). He has primarily worked in Canada, but he has significant international experience in Australia, USA, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Greenland and Mali.

David has almost 10 years’ experience working on 5-Element vein deposits, first in Cobalt, Ontario with First Cobalt and Kuya Silver and later in Western Australia with West Coast Silver. In the Cobalt mining camp, David proposed a structural genetic model for vein formation, leading to the grassroots discovery of the Angus Vein (up to 74,000 g/t silver plus cobalt over 0.30 m) at the Campbell-Crawford property in 2023. He is a Technical Advisor to West Coast Silver on the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project and works as the Principal Structural Geological Consultant with Dahrouge Geological Consulting.