A direct correlation between gold and silver has been identified by Carlisle in over 90 % of MacLellan assays with high gold assays correlating with high silver (J. Steele pers. comm. 2006). Using their own assay database, Samson and Gagnon (1995) concluded that gold showed a positive correlation with arsenic and antimony but little correction with silver and zinc. The conclusion of Samson and Gagnon seems to contradict with Carlisle observations of high gold correlating with high silver. The differing correlation factors between gold and silver at MacLellan may be due to the fact that the mineralization is the result of multiple phases of fluid flow, many of which appear to be unrelated. For example, the relationship between the quartzsulphide-biotite veins and the late-stage sulphides is not clear, however, the absence of quartz from the latter suggests that the two are unrelated. Samson and Gagnon (1995) suggested that the MacLellan deposit developed as a result of multiple, temporally distinct stages of hydrothermal fluid infiltration over time with multiple fluid sources.
