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Occurrence Details


Occurrence Number
115I 145
Occurrence Name
Rusk W
Occurrence Type
Hard-rock
Status
Prospect


General Information

Secondary Commodities: gold, silver, copper, lead, molybdenum
Deposit Type(s): Vein Polymetallic Ag-Pb-Zn+/-Au
Location(s): 62.076910 N, -137.251360 W
NTS Mapsheet(s): 115I03
Location Comments: Location provided by Rockhaven Resources 2019
Hand Samples Available at YGS: No

Capsule

Work History

Staked as Bit cl 1-6 (93441) in November 1965 by Mount Nansen Mines Ltd, which performed mapping and geochemical sampling in 1966. Area Exploration Company Ltd (Cyprus Exploration Corporation Ltd) optioned the claims in 1971, added Rusk cl 1-39 (Y66939) in August 1972 and explored with grid soil sampling and mapping in 1972-1973 and one drill-hole (180 m) in 1973.

Re-staked as LD cl 1-14 (YA8225) in September 1976 by G. Dickson, who re-staked as Swiss cl 1-62 (YA24209) in May 1979. Dickson re-staked as J. Bill cl 1-32 (YA78049) in August 1983, added Rat cl 1-24 (YA81428) to the south and Bull cl 1-8 (YA81420) to the east in February 1984. Dickson added Bull cl 9-28 (YA86288) in December 1984.

Part of the property was optioned in 1986 to Chevron Canada Resources Ltd, which explored with grid soil sampling, and trenching in 1987 before dropping the option. In October 1994 the J. Bill, Rat and Bull claims were transferred to Dickson's widow, J. Dickson. In October 1994 the J. Bill, Rat and Bull claims were transferred to Dickson's widow, J. Dickson.

In May 1995, Dickson's claims were transferred to Aurchem Exploration Ltd and combined with the company's other claim holdings in the area, which collectively became known as the Discovery Creek project.

In July 1996, BYG Natural Resources Inc signed a letter of intent to explore Aurchem's claims in the Mount Nansen area. Subsequently in September 97, BYG entered into an agreement with Trumpeter Yukon Gold Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of BYG) whereby Trumpeter would be entitled to earn a 60% interest in the Aurchem claims by assuming a portion of the financial obligations outlined in the original agreement. As of December 1997, BYG and Trumpeter had not completed the terms outlined in the original letter of intent and negotiated a restructuring of the terms with Aurchem. In February 1999, BYG announced plans to temporarily shut down the Mount Nansen Mine to the southeast of the Rusk W occurrence. In March 1999, BYG was placed in receivership and the Nansen mine became a Type II Minesite.

The J. Bill, Rat and Bull claims reverted to Aurchem after the federal government took over maintenance of the adjoining Mount Nansen mine site in July 1999. Aurchem collected a limited number of soil and rock samples on the J. Bill claims located north of Slate creek in 2003. The company also stripped three 75 to 90 m long areas in the same area to allow the ground to thaw out.

In 2009, 101073531 Saskatchewan Corp. flew a regional airborne and magnetic survey that included the Rusk W occurrence.

In 2012, Rockhaven purchased the J. Bill claims that include the Rusk occurrence from Aurchem. These claims now form the eastern edge of the Klaza Property. In 2016 and 2017, Rockhaven performed rock and soil sampling at the Rusk W occurrence and carried out ground magnetic and IP surveys in 2017.

Regional & Property Geology

The occurrence is located in the Dawson Range within Yukon-Tanana Terrane (YTT). The rocks of the YTT in this region consist of Early Mississipian metamorphic rocks separated into meta-sedimentary and meta-igneous suites (Stroshein, 1998). The meta-sedimentary suite consists of micaceous quartz-feldspar gneiss, schist and quartzite of the Nasina Assemblage. The meta-igneous package is comprised of biotite-hornblende feldspar gneiss and coarse-grained granodiorite orthogneiss with lesser amphibolite.

Four rock types dominate the geology surrounding the occurrence and are comprised of:
1. Paleozoic metamorphic Yukon-Tanana gneiss, quartzite, and amphibolite to the south;
2. Triassic to Jurassic metamorphosed alkali-feldspar-rich plutonic suites;
3. Mid-Cretaceous Mount Nansen Suite andesite, felsic lapilli tuffs, basaltic to latite volcanic rocks; and quartz feldspar porphyry, dacite, latite, and quartz monzonite porphyritic hypabyssal rocks; and
4. Mid-Cretaceous Whitehorse granodiorite.

Mineralization & Results

The Rusk W occurrence consists of finely disseminated molybdenite and chalcopyrite with minor pyrite and pyrrhotite in Mount Nansen Group andesite. It is situated about 500 m west of the Rusk vein showing (MINFILE occurrence 115I 096), near the contact of a silicified porphyry stock. Molybdenite also occurs with sugary quartz and minor galena and sphalerite in widely spaced fracture fillings.

A single drill hole from 1973 intersected 3.0 m of sphalerite stringers with assays of 0.01 oz/ton Au and 0.16 oz/ton Ag.

The area sampled in 2003 returned up to 1.6 ppm Au, 9110 ppm As, and 4260 ppm Pb in rock samples.

Location Map

Last Updated: Aug 5, 2020

Work History

Year Work Type Comment
2017 Geochemistry: Rock
2017 Geochemistry: Soil
2017 Ground Geophysics: IP
2017 Ground Geophysics: Magnetics
2016 Geochemistry: Rock
2016 Geochemistry: Soil
2009 Airborne Geophysics: Magnetic And EM.
2003 Geochemistry: Rock
2003 Geochemistry: Soil
1987 Geochemistry: Soil
1987 Trenching: Mechanical
1973 Drilling: Diamond One hole totaling 180 m.
1973 Geochemistry: Soil
1973 Geology: Bedrock Mapping
1972 Geochemistry: Soil
1972 Geology: Bedrock Mapping

Regional Geology - Terrane

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Regional Geology - Bedrock

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Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence

Report Number Year Title Worktypes Holes Drilled Meters Drilled
097138 2017 Assessment Report describing Geology, Mineralization, Soil Geochemistry, Rock Geochemistry, Geophysical Surveys, Excavator and Hand Trenching, Diamond Drilling and Metallurgical Testing Metallurgical Tests - Lab Work/Physical Studies
097000 2016 Assessment Report describing geology, mineralization, soil geochemistry, rock geochemistry, geophysical surveys, excavator and hand trenching, diamond drilling, metallurgical testing and preliminary economics at the Klaza property Diamond - Drilling, Rock - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, IP - Ground Geophysics, Metallurgical Tests - Lab Work/Physical Studies, Process/Interpret - Pre-existing Data, Preliminary Economic Assessment - Studies 44 78873.13
095089 2009 Report on a Geophysical Survey on the Mount Nansen Property and the Tawa Property Electromagnetic - Airborne Geophysics, Magnetic - Airborne Geophysics

Related References

Number Title Page(s) Document Type
YEG1997_14 Geology and mineral deposits of the Mount Nansen camp, Yukon Annual Report Paper
YEG1998_20 A summary report on the geology of the Brown-McDade gold-silver deposit, Mount Nansen mine area, Yukon Annual Report Paper
Citations

Drill Core at YGS Core Library

Number Property Year Drilled Core Size Photos Data
CD-16 Mount Nansen 1973 NTW-BTW 18 4

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