Work History
Staked as Tet cl (72815) in Oct/56 by H. Versluce for British Yukon Exploration Ltd, which performed hand trenching, mapping and drilled 3 packsack holes (36.0 m) in 1957. Restaked by Versluce in Jul/62 as Rio cl (79561); in Jul/64 as IA cl (88707) and later as Ben cl 1-24 (YA13583) and AG cl 9-16 (Y19979) in Aug/66 by Versluce and A. Arsenault, who formed a new company, Canol Mines Ltd to develop the showing. Canol explored with bulldozer trenching and drilling on No. 1 showing-vein (occurrence C) in 1967 (225.9 m in 5 holes) and optioned Caribou cl 1-3 (89296) from an unamed group. In 1968 the company drilled 17 holes on the No. 1 showing-vein (1 058.9 m ). In 1969 the company drilled 8 holes (473.0 m) on the No. 2 showing-vein (occurrence B), and an undetermined number of holes (2,286 m) in the area located south of No. 1 showing-vein. The company carried out bulldozing in 1974. Based on drilling completed up to and including 1969, unofficial reserves for the No. 1 showing-vein were estimated at 2,558 tonnes grading 695 g/t Ag and 42.5% Pb.
The property was optioned briefly by Aurum & Argentum Ltd in 1977 and was fringe staked by N. Hennel, etc. as Porcupine, John & Ang cl (YA33683) in Jul/78. Canol carried out road construction and bulldozer trenching in 1978, added more claims and optioned the property to Silver Arrow Syndicate, which conducted extensive trenching and open cutting and shipped 780 tonnes of hand-sorted galena ore in 1979 and 230 tonnes in 1980. Hennel performed trenching in 1981.
After Silver Arrow Syndicate dropped its option, Versluce performed more trenching in 1986 and added HV cl 1-348 (YA90984) to the west in May/86, and optioned the property to Yukon Minerals Corporation, which carried out an aggressive surface exploration program in 1987 and allowed Perrex Resources Ltd to earn a 30% interest by funding the exploration program in 1988. The 1988 program consisted of 2 286 m of diamond drilling in 45 holes, a regional mapping and prospecting program, road construction, an orthophoto survey of the claim block, a baseline environmental study and a 300 x 3.0 x 2.5 m exploration drift and the construction of nine underground drill stations.
St Cyr Mineral Exploration Ltd staked Greg cl 1-62 (YB00427), Max cl 1-2 (YA70392), Max 2 cl 1-3 (YB00489) and Spam cl 1 (YB00492) to the east in Jul/87 and carried out prospecting and geochemical sampling that year; trenched on the Greg cl 1, 2 and 4 between July and Nov/91; and prospected briefly in 1998.
A portion of the occurrence area was withdrawn from staking due to land claims in 1994.
Capsule Geology
Galena occurs with pyrite in quartz-siderite veins, massive sulphide veins, and fault breccias and replacement bodies in middle Silurian to middle Devonian dolomite immediately below the contact with black shale of the Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian Earn Group. The replacement mineralization is believed to be associated with a buried Cretaceous intrusion in the core of the Ketza-Seagull Arch (Abbott, 1986).
By the end of the 1980's, Yukon Minerals had documented at least 53 separate galena showings and 22 quartz-freibergite showings within their claim holdings and had estimated the total reserves on the property at 200,950 tonnes (probable and drill-indicated) grading 91.89 g/t Ag, 3.18% Pb and 4.01% Zn in seven separate deposits (Fowler, Dec/88).
The largest single reserve is the No. 3 zone, which contains an estimated 134,180 tonnes (probable and drill-indicated) grading 67.89 g/t Ag, 2.32% Pb, 4.27% Zn and 0.18 g/t Au.
Occurrence A was originally called the #3 showing by Canol Mines Ltd. Yukon Minerals Ltd later renamed the occurrence the Groundhog Showing from which this occrrence takes its name. The showing is described as a 6 by 20 m zone of galena bearing quartz and siderite veins in sheared dolomite. The white quartz veins average .5m in width and have sericite rich slickensides along the vein boundaries that strike approximately 150° and dip steeply east. The vein zone lies beside a probable fault contact between shale and dolomite. Mineralization consists of patchy coarse cubic galena lenses and veins (up to .35 m wide) in a quartz gangue. Silver assays range up to 1,180 g/t from grab samples and 236 g/t and 13% Pb over 4.5 m, in chip samples.
Occurrence B was originally called the #2 showing by Canol Mines Ltd. Yukon Minerals Ltd later renamed the occurrence the No. 3 vein zone. Occurrence D marks the location of a second vein zone which Yukon Minerals named the No.2 vein zone.
The No. 2 and No. 3 vein zones consist of sphalerite, galena, quartz and siderite replacing dolomite fault breccia. The two zones are 300 m apart and dip toward each other, and are believed to have formed along the bounding faults of a north-trending graben which follows the crest of a broad anticlinorium. The surface showing of the No. 2 zone averaged 294.8 g/t Ag and 14.7% Pb across 5.3 m over a length of 61.0 m. Oxide material from all zones in this area contains elevated gold values (300-2,220 ppb Au). In 1989, Yukon Minerals reported that a chip sample from trench 90-B on the northeast extension of the No. 2 zone (HV 98 and HV 268 claims) assayed 4.0% Zn, 2.1% Pb, and 41.6 g/t Ag over 3.25 m. Silver values at the No. 3 vein zone average 2,225 g/t with 75% Pb.
Significant zinc values up to 14.1% were obtained in fractured wall rocks, but zinc rich samples generally contain low silver values.
Occurrence C was was originally called the #1 showing by Canol Mines Ltd. Yukon Minerals Ltd later renamed the occurrence the Silver Arrow vein. The Silver Arrow vein consists of a quartz and iron carbonate stockwork mineralized with galena and freibergite. The zone strikes 135° and dips 20° southwest. Drilling in 1969 indicated a reserve of 2,558 tonnes grading 695.0 g/t Ag and 42.5% Pb across a width of about 75 cm to a depth of about 15.2 m. The 1979 bulk sample assayed 456.0 g/t Ag, 41.6% Pb and 4.8% Zn while the 1980 bulks ample reportedly averaged about 46% Pb and 1,104.0 g/t Ag.
St. Cyr identified propective stratigraphy on their claims and collected massive and disseminated galena float samples on the Greg cl 1 and 3 that returned high Pb (79.5%) and Ag (2,227.4 g/t) values, but Au values were low (<0.4 g/t). Trenching in 1991 apparently failed to locate a source for this float and limited sampling elsewhere on the property in 1998 did not return any anomalous results.
