Work History

Staked as Vera cl 1-164 (YA37382) in Jul/78 by Prism Joint Venture (Asamera Oil Corporation, Chieftain Development Company Ltd, Prism Resources Ltd, Siebens Oil & Gas Ltd and E & B Exploration Ltd), which carried out geological mapping, geochemical surveying and hand trenching later in the year. In 1979, Dome Petroleum Ltd replaced Siebens and the joint venture carried out geochemical sampling and diamond drilled. In 1980 the joint venture diamond-drilled and carried out 720 m of underground development (drifting and crosscutting). The following year the joint venture carried out underground drilling and in 1982 further prospecting and trenching. 

Dome dropped its interest and E & B's was transferred to Imperial Metals Ltd in 1983 and acquired in 1984 by Prism at which time it became project operator. Prism diamond drilled and rock sampled various showings in 1984. In 1988 the company carried out environmental studies for a proposed road into the claims. In 1989 the company purchased a 100% working interest in the Vera claims and the adjoining Val claims to the southeast.  In Oct/97, 15966 Yukon Inc a wholly owned subsidiary of Manson Creek Resources Ltd staked Rusty cl 1-131 (YB99989), covering the occurrence. Manson Creek carried out IP geophysical test surveying in 1998 and acquired Landsat satellite imagery.

A regional airborne geophysical survey was conducted over the claim block in 2001 (no report available). Shawn Ryan staked Vera 1-12 claims over the Vera deposit in 2009.

Capsule Geology

The occurrence is located at the southern edge of the Mackenzie Platform, a predominantly shallow water carbonate and clastic sequence that formed on the western margin of the North American craton during Lower Proterozoic through Paleozoic times. The regional geology consists of Upper Proterozoic Rapitan(?) Group mudstones overlain by Upper Proterozoic Profeit Formation dolostones and Upper Proterozoic Nadaleen Formation silty limestone. Over these units are minor clastic and carbonate rocks of the Neoproterozoic to Lower Cambrian Hyland Group. Lower Paleozoic platform carbonates unconformably overlie these units. An arcuate east-west trending, south-dipping normal fault lies north of the occurrence, separating it from Paleoproterozoic Wernecke Supergroup clastic rocks Upper Proterozoic Pinguicula Formation clastics and carbonates to the north.
 
The Vera deposit is hosted in orange weathering grey argillaceous dolomite of the Profeit Formation (Hay Creek Group). The Main Vera Zone is a vein-fault system within the dolomite with fracture filling of galena, argentiferous tetrahedrite and minor sphalerite, along with dolomite, ankerite, siderite, quartz, limonite, managenese oxides, pyrite, chalcopyrite, scorodite, smithsonite and clay. Mineralization textures range from massive to disseminated sulfides in relatively fresh carbonate gangue to highly oxidized aggregates of limonite, wad, and clay with relict galena and smithsonite. Massive lenses of foliated galena occur in the western part of the Main Zone, and in subsidiary fault zones in the foot and hanging walls. These lenses are narrow and discontinuous but contain substantial quantities of silver.
 
The Main Zone is variable in total width; it tends to splay towards surface, particularly near the west end, where intervals of mineralized rock occur over true widths of 15 m or more through the zone. At depth, the Main Zone coalesces into two closely spaced well-defined faults.(AR 066208) The system strikes roughly 080 deg and dips roughly 80 deg north. The mineralized vein-fault structure has a strike length of over 655.3 m and a dip length of over 152.4 m (AR 062185).

The best mineralization occurs in two shoots, referred to as West (Vera Main) zone and East zone (Gunsight – MINFILE 106C 114), which are separated by 90 m of lower grade material. The west shoot consists of coarse siderite and dolomite with massive pods of fine-grained galena that are several centimetres to a metre thick along the hanging wall contact, with minor disseminated sphalerite throughout. The east shoot is more brecciated and fractured. The sulfides occur as massive blebs, fine disseminations and tiny veinlets in fractures. Massive and disseminated pyrite occurs and sphalerite is more abundant.
 
Some of the best surface drill intersections include 1.5 m of 1720 g/t Ag, 59.8% Pb and 0.9% Zn (hole 80-15) and 3.7 m of 1098 g/t Ag, 2.1% Pb and 4.1% Zn (hole 80-17). Drilling in 1984 intersected wider intervals of mineralization, e.g., hole 84-10 – 7.13 m of 205 g/t Ag in the hanging wall and 5.8 m of 1.14% Pb and 72.5 g/t Ag in the footwall (AR 062208).

Underground sampling gave average grades of 696 g/t silver, 6.3% lead and 1.3% zinc across a 3.1 m width and a 131 m length in the West Zone (Vera Main).

Metallurgical and mineralogical testwork in drillcore in 1980 indicate that the silver is present as tetrahedrite-tennantite, both as discrete veins and as intergrowths with galena (AR 062185). Galena and sphalerite were not found to carry silver. 

Resource Calculations

Reserves in 1981 were estimated at 628 978 tonnes averaging 303.08 g/t silver, 1.91% lead and 1.75% zinc. 
 
The reserve figures were recalculate in 1982 by the exploration manager at the time giving a 'selective mining reserve' of 352 659 tonnes averaging 606.16 g/t silver, 3.18% lead and 3.47% zinc. 

 

64.317730

-133.754560

Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence

Report Number	Year	Title	Worktypes	Holes Drilled	Meters Drilled
096253	2011	Assessment Report Describing 2011 Drilling and Geochemical Sampling at the Rusty Property	Diamond - Drilling, Soil - Geochemistry	9	1340
095720	2010	Assessment Report Describing Geological Mapping, Prospecting and Geochemical Sampling at the Rusty Property	Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Prospecting - Other
093968	1999	Geochemical, Geological and Geophysical Assessment, Report for the Val,Vera,Rusty,KLA,Nad and Craig Claims	Orthophoto - Airphotography, Silt - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Detailed Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Prospecting - Other, Research/Summarize - Pre-existing Data
094073	1999	Geophysical, Geochemical and Diamond Drilling Assessment Report for the Val, Vera and Rusty Claims	Diamond - Drilling, Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, IP - Ground Geophysics, Line Cutting - Other	7	986.80
092725	1988	A Preliminary Diamond Drilling and Trenching Report on the Val-Vera Quartz Claims	All Weather Road - Development, Surface, Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Prospecting - Other, Backhoe - Trenching	12	1479.20
062208	1985	Summary Report on the Val-Vera Property	Research/Summarize - Pre-existing Data
062185	1983	Summary Report on the Val-Vera Property	Research/Summarize - Pre-existing Data
062146	1982	Report on the Vera, South Rusty Mountain and Siltstone Mineral Occurrences	Research/Summarize - Pre-existing Data
090914	1981	[Underground Exploration on the Vera Claims]	Shaft Development - Development, Underground, Rock - Geochemistry, Detailed Bedrock Mapping - Geology
090722	1980	[Diamond Drilling on the Vera Claim Group]	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry	42	4041
090583	1978	Assessment Report for the Vera 1 - 164 Mineral Claims	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Regional Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Property Evaluation - Other, Prospecting - Other, Backhoe - Trenching	127	1682