Work History
Placer gold was discovered on Haggart Creek in 1895 and on Dublin Gulch in 1898. The first hard rock claims were recorded in Oct/1901 and included Dublin Lode (2404), North Star and numerous other claims. In 1904 a 14 m adit was driven on the Dublin Lode claim. By 1912, development work had been recorded on five separate claim groups. On the Stewart-Catto claim group (Happy Jack (8029) and Victoria (8022) claims) recorded in Jun-Oct/08, two adits were driven, the first 38 m long and off vein, and the second a 600 m crosscut which included 23 m of drifting on vein. On the Olive claim (8025) recorded in Jun/08, a 21 meter adit was driven, the last metre of which was on the vein. Trenching and pitting was performed on the Shamrock claim group, while an 8 m shaft was sunk on the Blue Lead claim group (8049), recorded in Dec/09.
T. McKay and A.H. Martin tied on Bob (55056), Mucking Futch, and other claims to the Olive claim in Nov/37, prospected with pits and shallow shafts in 1938 and sold the claims to Treadwell Yukon Ltd, which performed more trenching. The property was transferred to Keno Hill Mining Company Ltd in 1946.
Restaked as Avoca, etc cl (59052) in Oct/48 by J.B. O'Neill and J.J. Colt, who explored with hand and bulldozer trenching in 1949-54, sold an interest in 1958 to E.H. Barker, who trenched in 1958-61 and sold the property to Peso Silver Mines Ltd in 1962. Peso performed trenching in 1962.
Restaked as part of the Pea cl 1-22 (Y84832) in Aug/73 by Adonis Mines Ltd in conjunction with nearby placer work; Shal cl (Y95002) in Jul/74 by J.M. McNulty; Dog cl 1-2 (Y97149) in Nov/74 by H. Fromme and Pup cl 1-16 (YA15128) in May/77 by R. Grant.
In Apr/78 Queenstake Resources Ltd and Canada Tungsten Corporation Ltd restaked the various veins within parts of the Smoky (claim #18 = YA17947), Bob (53=YA17781) and RD c 1-16 (YA1393) claims. The companies conducted extensive geological mapping, and geochemical and geophysical surveys in 1978 and 1979, backhoe trenching in 1980 and geochemical sampling and geological mapping in 1981.
In 1986, Canada Tungsten transferred some of the Smoky and Bob claims to G. Dickson and the remainder to Queenstake, which performed bulldozer trenching and 705 m of diamond drilling in 4 holes later that year. The property was optioned to Can Pro Development Ltd which performed additional diamond drilling later that year and trenched in 1989. Dickson's claims were transferred back to Queenstake in Apr and May, 1991.
H-6000 Holdings optioned the property in 1991, and joint ventured it to Amax Gold Inc, which explored with mapping, geochemistry, geophysics and 16 diamond drill holes totaling 2500 m. In 1992, Amax explored with rotary percussion drilling which included 1117.7 m on R.D. claims 2 and 16, Bob claim 1, Smoky claims 64-65 and 74-76 claims and 2 other holes (615 m) on Smoky claims 51-52. The property was returned to Ivanhoe Goldfields Ltd (a successor company of H-6000 Holdings) which in Jul/93 conducted reverse-circulation drilling and backhoe trenching on Smoky claims 3 and 4 and fractional claim 96.
In Aug/94 First Dynasty Mines Ltd acquired Ivanhoe Goldfields Ltd. In 1995 First Dynasty and in 1996 its wholly owned subsidiary, New Millennium Mining Ltd carried out a major drilling program to outline a core resource/reserve on the Eagle Zone (this occurrence). The companies also carried out diamond drilling on Potato Hills (Minfile Occurrence #106D 026), located 3.5 km to the northeast, to test for mineralization under the proposed heap leach pad area. Also in this period First Dynasty's subsidiary Ivanhoe staked a series of fractional claims (Roni cl 1-13, YB64630, Sept/95) in and around the Smoky claims and in 1996, New Millennium Mining Ltd funded 3 diamond drill holes (127.1m), 4 reverse circulation holes (182 m) and 19 auger holes (182.6 m) else where on the property. The access road leading to the main camp was also upgraded during this period.
First Dynasty changed its name to Sterlite Gold Ltd in Jul/2002. In 2004, StrataGold Corporation acquired all of Sterlite's interest in Dublin Gulch. Stratagold drilled 34 diamond drillholes (8105 m) in 2005 targeting the Eagle zone, step-out from the Eagle Zone along strike and metasedimentary rocks surrounding the mineralized pluton. In 2006, 4280 m of diamond drilling in seven widely spaced holes were completed, along with extensive soil sampling and trenching. Twenty diamond drillholes, for a total of 5528 m were completed at Dublin Gulch in 2007. In 2008, 15 holes (4248.7 m) were diamond drilled on the Eagle zone.
In January, 2009, Stratagold reported an updated NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Eagle zone deposit: 98.584 mT at 0.849 g/t Au in the Indicated category and 2.023 mT at 0.671 g/t in the Inferred category (0.50 g/t Au cut-off grade).
Stratagold merged with Victoria Gold in June, 2009, after which Victoria Gold commissioned a NI 43-101 pre-feasibility study to advance the project. Victoria Gold drilled seven exploration holes (3296 m) in 2009 to test for mineralization to the west of the deposit and at depth in the eastern portion of the deposit. Trenching and geotechnical and metallurgical drilling were also carried out.
Work done between 2009 and 2012 has not been summarized yet.
A feasibility study was released in April 2012 (Wardrop).
Capsule Geology
The area has not yet been remapped by the Yukon Geological Survey however C. Roots (1997) of the Geological Survey of Canada under contract with the Exploration and Geological Services Division (now part of the Yukon Geological Survey) remapped topographic map sheet 105M located directly to the south in the mid-1990's. In 2003 Gordey and Makepeace released a geological compilation of the Yukon which covered this area. In addition various company geologists have mapped the Dublin Gulch area in detail.
Geological work carried out by Roots, Gordey and Makepeace and various company geologists shows that the Dublin Gulch area is underlain by deformed Upper Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian clastic rocks of the Hyland Group that have been intruded by the Dublin Gulch Stock, a Late Cretaceous medium-grained granodiorite stock assigned to the Tombstone suite. The stock is cut by minor late dykes. Rare narrow intrusive breccia dykes have also been reported. Alteration, gold and tungsten mineralization is directly associated with these intrusions. A well-developed metamorphic halo occurs around the stock. Sedimentary rocks have been hornfelsed and the development of biotite+/- andalusite is common.
The north edge of the Dublin Gulch Stock, contains quartz-arsenopyrite veins over a length of 3.2 km. Most veins strike northeast and range in width from a few cm to 2 m and occasionally wider. Arsenopyrite-rich veins usually occur in the center of this area and range in width from 10 to 25 cm. Minor amounts of pyrite occur with the arsenopyrite.
A vein on the Victoria claims assayed 8.6 g/t gold and 13 g/t silver over a width of 0.6 m for the 23 m length of the drift. Similar assays were obtained from other veins. The 1986 drilling tested 4 of 14 veins outlined by Queenstake Resources. Best results were obtained from the Catto Vein: one hole returned 44.6 g/t gold over 0.4 m; while a second, 91 m to the west, assayed 60.3 g/t gold, also over 0.4 m. A hole on the No. 23 Vein intersected 74.7 g/t gold over 0.5 m.
In 1988, additional drilling on the Catto Vein returned up to 11.2 g/t gold across a true thickness of 2.7 m, while work elsewhere on the property located a few veins on the floor of Dublin Gulch. A chip sample from one of these assayed 41.1 g/t gold over 1 m. Trenching on the Smoky 64, R&D 6, R&D 16 and Bob 3 claims in 1989 exposed three new vein systems localized along east-northeast trending faults which dip steeply south. Channel samples from the trenches returned values up to 8.61 g/t gold. Most of these veins occur along the northern boundary between the Dublin Gulch Stock and the underlying clastic rocks of the Hyland Group with the veins occurring in both the sediments and the intrusion. This area of mineralization is mainly located between Olive and Stewart Gulches and comprises a small part of the Dublin Gulch property.
The transfer of the property to H-6000 Holdings/Amax Gold in 1991 marked a change in exploration model from high grade gold bearing quartz-arsenopyrite veins hosted within both the intrusion and surrounding sediments, especially proximal to the northern contact to sheeted, low-sulphide quartz veins within the intrusion, containing gold and bismuth mineralization. This new exploration type is commonly referred to as "Fort Knox" style mineralization, named after the Fort Knox gold deposit located near Fairbanks, Alaska. Diamond drilling carried out in 1991 outlined the potential of the Dublin Gulch Stock to contain an intrusive hosted bulk mineable deposit. Four mineralized zones were identified: the Eagle, Olive, Shamrock and Steiner Zones. Further diamond and reverse circulation drilling in 1992 was focused on the Eagle zone which was determined to host the greatest amount of potential mineable ore.
The Eagle Zone is located approximately 3 km southeast of the original occurrence location, near the western end of the Dublin Gulch Stock. In the Eagle Zone, sheeted quartz veins occur predominantly in the intrusion and only locally extend into the metasedimentary rocks. Veins are commonly 0.5 to 1.0 cm wide and are orientated with a strike of 065 to 080 degrees and dip of 60 to 85 degrees to the southeast. Alteration and mineralization are directly linked to the intrusion and thus changed character over time as the magma cooled. Gold occurs as native gold in the gangue or associated with bismuth minerals, with lesser amounts of gold contained in arsenopyrite. Although individual veins grade from 10 to 30 g/t gold, a typical 1.5 m sample interval which includes both the vein and granodiorite host rock ranges from 0.8 to 2.0 g/t gold in the ore zone. Silver values are generally lower than gold values.
Amax Gold dropped its option in late 1992. The following year First Dynasty Mines (a successor company of H-6000) drilled 12 reverse circulation drill holes and one diamond drill hole (2,909.6 m) within the main Eagle Zone to further define the ore zone's grade and extent. Seven of the 12 reverse circulation drill holes returned better than average ore grades and widths, while the remaining 5 were instrumental in defining the boundary of the deposit. The diamond drill hole returned anomalous assays from the top 145 m, grading 0.24 g/t gold with only three 1.5 m samples grading better than 1 g/t (1.02, 1.29 and 1.59 g/t gold). These results showed that mineralization continues along trend but becomes sub-economic to the northeast. Further reverse circulation and diamond drilling programs together with engineering, economic, environmental studies were carried out in between 1994 and the summer of 1996.
At the end of 1996, mineable reserves (proven & probable) in the Eagle Zone were 50.4 mT grading 0.93 g/t gold (First Dynasty Mines Ltd, 1996 Annual Report, p. 10 - available from Sterlite Gold Ltd's company profile listed on SEDAR, May 20/97). These are historical figures and do not meet National Instrument 43-101 standards.
Based on work performed by StrataGold Corporation a new National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource was defined in February 2006 for the Eagle Zone based on data from 254 core holes, 165 reverse circulation holes and 6 trenches. The new resource was calculated by Wardrop Engineering Incorporated and includes an indicated resource of 66.5 million tonnes grading 0.92 g/t gold and an inferred resource of 14.4 million tonnes grading 0.80g/t gold at a cutoff of 0.5 g/t gold (Press Release February 27, 2006).
Stratagold completed extensive geochemical soil sampling and trenching to explore for gold mineralization to the north and east of the Eagle Zone. This sampling resulted in the discovery of the Shamrock/Cascallen zone, 3 km northeast of the Eagle zone. Another new zone of mineralization (700 m northwest of the Eagle zone) named the Steiner zone in 2006 was drill-tested with three diamond drillholes. Drilling on the Eagle Zone encountered gold mineralization 180-200 m below known mineralization in 2006, and a potential new gold zone 130 m north of the Eagle Zone was discovered. One hole in the new gold zone (DG06-315C) intersected 43.35 m of 1.037 g/t.
Drilling in 2007 targeted areas east and west of the Eagle Zone as well as the newly discovered Shamrock zone. In 2008, 15 holes (4248.7 m) at the Eagle Zone were focussed on defining additional gold resources to the east and southwest of the deposit.
An updated NI 43-101 resource estimate was reported in January 2009 for the Eagle zone deposit: 98.584 mT at 0.849 g/t Au in the Indicated category and 2.023 mT at 0.671 g/t in the Inferred category (0.50 g/t Au cut-off grade). The resource was estimated on the basis of interpreted mineralized envelope with a nominal cut-off of approximately 0.20 g/t gold. Ordinary kriging was used for the resource tabulation. The open pittable deposit has been defined to a depth of about 400 m. Mineralization is noted in the bottom of the zone and additional drilling is required to define mineralization at depth.
A feasibility study dated April 2012 (Wardrop) states that the Eagle Zone contains a Probable Mineral reserve of 91.6 Mt, with a diluted grade of 0.781 g/t Au and containing 2,300,768 oz Au (71,562 kg). The Project is based on a conventional open pit mine; ore will be mined and processed at a rate of 29,500 t/d for a 10-year life of mine (LOM), for a projected total of 1,672,000 oz (52,000 kg) Au recovered over the LOM and 181,000 oz (5630 kg) Au recovered per year. Ore will be crushed using three stages of conventional crushing, and then heap leached to produce saleable gold doré. The Indicated Mineral Resource is 133,699,000 t grading 0.69 g/t Au containing 2,979,000 oz of gold (92,657 kg).
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