Work History

Mineralization was originally noted in this vicinity by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1961 and was first staked as Will cl 1-60 (Y97990) in Jul/75 by Cyprus Anvil Mining Corporation, which carried out geological mapping, geochemical silt and soil sampling and prospecting later in the year.

Restaked as Blende cl 1-15 (YA43524) in Mar/81 by Archer, Cathro and Associates (1981) Ltd which carried out sampling in 1981; rock sampling, prospecting and airphoto interpretation in 1982; and hand trenching and geochemical rock sampling in 1984. The property was subsequently optioned by Canadian Nickel Company Ltd, which staked Blende cl 16-88 (YA77655) to surround the existing claims in Oct/84 and carried out geological mapping and prospecting of the newly staked claims in 1985 before dropping the option.

In 1986 the Blende cl 1-15 were sold to NDU Resources Ltd which carried out prospecting and hand trenching before staking Blende cl 16-66 to partially surround the claims in 1988. NDU expanded the block by staking Blende cl 67-122 in 1989 and carrying out geological mapping, grid geochemical soil sampling, and geophysical magnetometer and VLF-EM surveying.

Billiton Metals Canada Inc optioned the property in Oct/89.  In 1990, the company carried out geological mapping and staked Blende cl 123-128 and 1fr-28fr. In 1994, NDU drilled 7 holes (596 m) surrounding the occurrence in an area of relatively high grade surface exposures located at the base of a cliff.

Eagle Plains Resources Ltd restaked the area as Mix cl 1-8 in Mar/2002 and carried out a one day property examination to assess the property's infrastructure. Eagle Plains staked Trix cl 1-46 to surround the Mix claims in Apr/2004. In May/2004, the company announced that it had executed an option agreement with Shoshone Silver Mining Company whereby Shoshone could earn a 60% interest in the Blende property. Shoshone terminated its option in May/2005.
In Aug/2005 Eagle Plains optioned the property to Blind Creek Resources Ltd. In Mar/2006 Blind Creek constructed a winter road into the property and performed contour sampling 2 km west of the occurrence. In 2007 the company drilled 10 holes and collected rock samples to the north of the occurrence. In 2008 the company completed 5 diamond drill holes at the occurrence. In 2009, Blind Creek Resources finalized the purchasing agreement for the Blende from Eagle Plains Resources and assumed 100% interest in the property.

Capsule Geology

The Blende Far West occurrence is a Mississippi Valley Type zin-lead-silver prospect on the southern edge of the Mackenzie Platform, hosted by Lower Proterozoic Gillespie Group dolomite.  The occurrence is along trend with the Blende deposit (MINFILE 106D 064) 600 m to the southeast. The Gillespie Lake Group is a 1200 m thick sequence of interbedded clastic and carbonate sedimentary rocks that transitions upward from deep water mudstones to shallow water stromatolitic dolomite. Extension after deposition led to the deposition of Late Proterozoic sedimentary rocks in small local basins. Paleozoic limestone and dolomite unconformably overlie these strata. Mesoproterozoic Hart River gabbro and diorite sills cross-cut stratigraphy.

The occurrence is located within a mineralized corridor cored by a major southeast plunging anticline with a strongly developed axial planar cleavage that strikes northwest and dips steeply to the southwest. Mineralization occurs in a steeply southwest-dipping structural zone.

The mineralized zone averages 25 m wide and has been traced over a strike length of 900 m. The zone is recessively weathered and largely talus covered. Pelitic units sandwich the competent dolomite unit, and as a result the mineralization pinches at the upper and lower dolomite contacts. A 3 to 8 metre wide iron carbonate and silica alteration zone flanks the footwall of the mineralization zone. This alteration is a complete replacement of bedded dolomite by structureless, fine-grained siderite and quartz. Several parallel mineralized zones occur in the hanging wall of Zone 5. (AR 062294)
 
The mineralization is stratabound and consists of yellow sphalerite and argentiferous galena in dolomite gangue. Other sulphide minerals include galena, pyrite and minor chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite. Some syngenetic or early diagenetic mineralization has been found associated with oolites and dewatering structures. A limited sampling program demonstrated that some of the sphalerite contains significant germanium values.
 
The first six holes of the 1994 drilling program all intersected significant mineralization The mineralization is hosted in strongly fractured and locally brecciated dolomite beds cemented by secondary dolomite or siderite. Drillhole 94-81 returned 14.86 m of 9.71% Pb, 5.48% Zn, 0.78% Cu and 228.4 g/t Ag.

Diamond drilling was carried out in 2007 and 2008. Difficult drilling conditions were encountered in 2008, but three of five holes encountered mineralization. BE08131 intersected 61.0 m of 3.78% combined Pb+Zn and 40.5 g/t Ag.

64.409590

-134.677480

Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence

Report Number	Year	Title	Worktypes	Holes Drilled	Meters Drilled
097217	2018	Assessment Report Describing Heritage Resource Overview & Impact Assessments of the Blende Property	Heritage/Archeological - Studies
095670	2008	Diamond Drilling for the Blende Property	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry	7	1047.30
095641	2007	Diamond Drilling, Geological and Geochemical Report for the Blende Property	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Prospecting - Other	15	3410.90
094955	2006	Diamond Drilling, Geological and Geochemical Report for the Blende Property	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Rock - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology	23	5550.40
094971	2005	Geological Report for the Target Evaluation 05-043, Blende Deposit Area - Far East Zone	Gravity - Airborne Geophysics, Reverse Circulation - Airborne Geophysics, Rock - Geochemistry, Rock - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Prospecting - Other, Research/Summarize - Pre-existing Data
094407	2003	Assessment Report for the Blende Property, Mix 1-16 Claims	Property Evaluation - Other
093288	1994	Assessment Report Describing Diamond Drilling on the Blende Property	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry	7	596
093005	1991	Assessment Report, Blende 123-169, Fr 1-28 and Zinc 1-48 Claims	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry	62	11525.10
092942	1990	Assessment Report, Blende 1-128 and Fr. 1-28 Claims]	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Environmental Assessment/Impact - Studies	15	3659.70
092795	1989	Blende Property 1989 Final Report	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, EM - Ground Geophysics	3	720.32
092684	1988	Geological Report on the Blende Mineral Property, Blende 1-66 Quartz Claims	Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Rock - Geochemistry, Prospecting - Other, Hand - Trenching	3	718
062294	1987	Geologic Report on the Blende Mineral Property	Soil - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology
091665	1985	Geological Report, Blende 16-88 Claims	Rock - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology
091586	1984	Geologic Report Blende 1-15 Claims	Rock - Geochemistry, Hand - Trenching
091475	1982	Geologic Report Blende 1-15 Claims	Rock - Geochemistry, Prospecting - Other
090998	1981	Geological and Geochemical Report	Rock - Geochemistry, Data Compilation - Pre-existing Data
090076	1975	Geological and Geochemical Report on the Will Claims	Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Prospecting - Other