Occurrence Details


Occurrence Number:
105D 009
Occurrence Name:
Big Thing
Occurrence Type:
Hard-rock
Status:
Deposit
Date printed:
5/4/2025 8:07:55 AM

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General Information
Capsule
Work History
Assessment Reports
References
Resource / Reserve
Drill Core

General Information

Primary Commodities: gold, silver
Aliases: Arctic, Caribou, Sugarloaf Hill
Deposit Type(s): Vein Polymetallic Ag-Pb-Zn+/-Au
Location(s): 60°4'34" N - -134°42'1" W
NTS Mapsheet(s): 105D02
Location Comments: .1 Kilometres
Hand Samples Available: Yes
Last Reviewed:

Capsule

Work History

Staked as Caribou, Pride of Yukon, etc cl (2997) in Jul/05 by J.H. Conrad and transferred to Conrad Cons ML. The claims were surveyed and taken to lease in 1910 by British Yukon Gold ML. Development completed by Conrad consisted of a 137.2 m incline shaft and 230.1 m of drifting on 4 levels, plus a 707.1 m crosscutting adit with several raises, about 67 m below the bottom of the shaft. 2290 tonnes of ore were mined in 1910-12 by Conrad Cons, a small amount of underground development was done under option by Alaska Corp in 1915-16, and Inca Mg CL did some surface trenching in 1936-37.
The property then lay idle until Jun/62 when the Peerless cl (77828) were staked on three sides of the original two claims. These were transferred in Mar/66 to Lion Nickel ML, which extended the lower adit 229 m in 1967 and drilled 33 holes (1617.3 m) underground in 1968 before transferring the claims to Indian Mountain Met ML in Oct/71. National Malarctic Gold ML tied on the Jack cl (Y775) to the northwest in Mar/66. Arctic Mg & EL optioned the three original leased claims in Jul/65 from J. Phelps and J. Scott, who had acquired them in 1942, added the adjoining Eagle, etc cl (92327), and rehabilitated the old mine and started a new adit, 6 m below the lowest original level, later in the year. The name was changed to Arctic Gold & Silver ML in early 1968.
After extensive underground development in 1966 and 1967, construction of a 272 tonne mill commenced in Jun/67 on ore reserves of 231 262 tonnes grading 23.32 g/t Au and 675.42 g/t Ag. The mill operated between May-Dec/68 and Mar-Oct/69 and treated 50 751 tonnes, some of which was development muck, before closing due to unsatisfactory recoveries. Arctic did some underground rehabilitation in 1975 and 1976 and stockpiled a small tonnage of ore. In 1976 the company announced plans to mine 19.6 tonnes of ore per day from Block A and process it at the Mt Nansen mill (Minfile Occurrence #115 066), located south of Carmacks, Yukon. The plan was never implimented.
The original leases were transferred in 1978 to Peso Silver Mines Ltd, which changed its name to Rex Silver Mines Ltd in 1979. In the fall of 1982 Rex Silver Mines contracted Dolmage Campbell & Associates Ltd to carry out a compilation study on the property which included an updated reserve calculation.
Recent fringe staking includes Silver cl (Y78158) in Mar/74 by D. Waugh; Sherrill cl (Y98645) in Jun/75 by R. McConnell; B.K. cl (YA24078) in Aug/79 by D. Gleeson, AC and AU cl (YA48675) to the north in Apr/80 by D. Branigan, and Ski-Doo cl (YA81129) to the NE in Dec/83 by Tally-Ho EL.
The leased claims were surrounded by Barb cl (YA86607) in May/85 by Boreal Eng Service Ltd, for Feather Gold Resources Ltd, who performed hand trenching in 1986, conducted VLF and magnetometer surveys in 1989, soil sampled and trenched in 1989 and added further Barb cl (YB27807) and trenched in 1990.
Andria Res Inc tied on Tag cl (YA94438) to the NE in May/86, while L. Brault tied on Tap cl (YB27127) to the southeast in Feb/90.

Capsule Geology

Gold and silver occur in three east-striking veins which dip 20-45° N and cut granodiorite of the Coast Plutonic Complex. Original mining and most of the Arctic & Lion Nickel work was done on the No. 2 or Big Thing Vein. Two other veins, No. 1 and Adit, were found in the 1965 Arctic adit in the footwall of No. 2. No. 1 was extensively drifted by Arctic and proved to be lower in grade. These veins are not true fissure fillings but consist, rather, of a discontinuous silicified zone on one or both walls of a tension fracture which sometimes horsetails and weakens. They were followed underground for over 800 m. An envelope of bleaching and pyritization extends up to 9.1 m either side of the vein. Mineralization consists of pyrite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena and minor chalcopyrite. Weakly disseminated molybdenite is sometimes present in the alteration envelope.
The ore mined in 1910-12 had an average grade of about 35.3 g/t Au and 949.7 g/t Ag, while the 1968-69 production yielded 445 725 g of gold and 13 268 747 g of silver from ore reportedly grading 8.9 g/t Au and 308.6 g/t Ag. In 1976, Arctic reported that Block A held an estimated ore reserve of 2 268 tonnes grading 25.72 g/t Au and1 337.12 g/t Ag.
As of Mar/83 the property contained proven and probable ore reserves of 74 526 tonnes grading 13.38 g/t Au and 329.14 g/t Ag (Rex Silver Mines, Annual Report 1983).
The Barb claims cover the old Peerless adit which intersected extensions of the No. 1 and No. 2 Veins. Sampling indicated that the dumps contain approximately 1,820 tonnes of mineralized quartz vein material. VLF surveys identified several major vein faults striking northeast across the claims.
Work at the Tag cl located moderately anomalous gold values up to 220 ppb which coincide with an east-trending moderate to weak VLF conductor.

References

ARCTIC GOLD AND SILVER MINES LTD, 1968. Assessment Report #019788 by D.D. Campbell and C.R. Saunders.

ARCTIC GOLD AND SILVER MINES LTD, Apr/76. Assessment report #061722 by E. Livgard.

ARCTIC MINING AND EXPLORATION LTD, Nov/66. Prospectus Report #018628 by D.D. Campbell.

ARCTIC MINING AND EXPLORATION LTD, Nov/66. Assessment Report #018924 by D.D. Campbell.

ARCTIC MINING AND EXPLORATION LTD, 1967. Assessment Report *#018935 by D.D. Campbell and C.R. Saunders.

ARCTIC MINING AND EXPLORATION LTD, Apr.68. Assessment Report #092546 by unknown.

ARCTIC MINING AND EXPLORATION LTD, 1968. Assessment Report *#062229 by A.T. Jordan.

BARRETT, L., Apr/87. Assessment Report *#091932 by A.J. Reed.

BOSTOCK, H.S., 1957. Selected field reports of the Geological Survey of Canada, 1898-1933. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 284, p. 447-460.

BOSTOCK, H.S., 1941. Mining industry of Yukon, 1939 and 1940. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 234, p. 26.

CANADIAN MINES HANDBOOK 1976-77, p. 30; 1988-89, p. 391.

FEATHER GOLD RESOURCES LTD, Apr/88. Assessment Report #092707 by G.A. Hendrickson.

FEATHER GOLD RESOURCES LTD, Nov/90. Assessment Report #092986 by L.W. Carlyle.

FINDLAY, D.C., 1968. The mineral industry of Yukon Territory and southwestern District of Mackenzie. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 69-55, p. 35-37.

FOWLER, W.L., Jul/87. Assessment Report *#091719 by G.S. Davidson.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, 1907. Summary Report, 1906, p. 24-25.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, 1917. Summary Report, 1916, p. 36-38.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, Paper 68-68, p. 58-60.

GEORGE CROSS NEWSLETTER, 2 Mar/90; 8 Jun/93.

INTERNATIONAL MINE SERVICES LTD, 1966. Assessment Report *#018629 by J.L. Tindale.

LION NICKEL MINES LTD, Feb/68. Prospectus Report by R.J. Cathro.

LION NICKEL MINES LTD, 1968. Assessment Report *#091113 by J. McMullin.

MINERAL INDUSTRY REPORTS, 1969-70, p.117-118; 1975, p.97-98

REX SILVER MINES LTD, ANNUAL REPORT 1983.

VANCOUVER STOCK EXCHANGE, 1990. Open File.

YUKON EXPLORATION 1987, p. 102-103; 1989, p. 33.

Work History

Date Work Type Comment
12/31/1976 Development, Underground
12/31/1976 Other
12/31/1975 Development, Underground
12/31/1975 Other
12/31/1969 Other
12/31/1968 Development, Surface Built 300 Ton per day mill.
12/31/1967 Other
12/31/1966 Other
12/31/1965 Development, Underground
12/31/1965 Other Drove new adit.
12/31/1937 Trenching
12/31/1936 Trenching
12/31/1916 Other
12/31/1915 Other
12/31/1912 Other Amount of work done: 1074 METRES Work consisted of 137 m shafting, 230 m drifting, 707 m cross-cut raises. Carried out between 1911 and 1912.
12/31/1911 Other
12/31/1910 Other

Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence

Report Number Year Title Worktypes Holes Drilled Meters Drilled
093215 1993 A Report on the Montana Mountain Property Rock - Geochemistry, Prospecting - Other
093216 1993 A Report on a Diamond Drilling Project on the Barb and TB Claims Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry 10 783.64
092986 1990 Report on the 1990 Work Program, Barb and Rat Claim Groups Rock - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Line Cutting - Other, Backhoe - Trenching, Mechanical - Trenching
092707 1988 Geophysical Report on the Barb 1-34 and Rat Claims EM - Ground Geophysics, Magnetics - Ground Geophysics
092614 1988 Report on the Montana Mountain Property, Whitehorse Mining District Rock - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Heavy Mineral Concentrate - Lab Work/Physical Studies, Mechanical - Trenching
091932 1986 Evaluation Report on the Barb 1-34 Mineral Claims Cursory Property Visit - Other, Property Evaluation - Other, Process/Interpret - Pre-existing Data
061722 1975 Re-Evaluation of Ore Reserves at the Carcross Mine owned by Arctic Gold and Silver Mines Ltd. Rehabilitation - Development, Underground, Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Cursory Property Visit - Other, Process/Interpret - Pre-existing Data
062229 1968 An Evaluation of the ARCTIC MINING and EXPLORATION Ltd. Project Data Compilation - Pre-existing Data, Process/Interpret - Pre-existing Data
091113 1968 [Diamond Drill Logs for the Peerless Property] Drifting/Raising - Development, Underground, Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry 33 1597.15
018935 1967 Summary Report, Exploration Work on Carcross, Y.T. Property Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry 138 4904.84
019788 1967 Summary Report, Exploration Work on Carcross, Y.T Property Drifting/Raising - Development, Underground, Diamond - Drilling, Rock - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Mechanical - Trenching 127 5806.44
018628 1967 Summary Report, Exploration Work on Carcross, Y.T Property Drifting/Raising - Development, Underground, Diamond - Drilling, Soil - Geochemistry 127 5806.44
018629 1966 Assessment Report, Geological Report on the Peerless Claims All Weather Road - Development, Surface, Rehabilitation - Development, Underground, Rock - Geochemistry
018924 1966 Summary Report Montana Mountain Resources Property Evaluation - Other

Related References

Number Title Page(s) Reference Type Document Type
ARMC013508 Plan map - Big Thing mine Property File Collection Geoscience Map (General)
ARMC013504 Map showing ore reserves - Big Thing Property File Collection Geoscience Map (General)
ARMC013507 Map showing topography & location of Big Thing - Broken Hill group of mineral claims Property File Collection Geoscience Map (General)
ARMC013513 Summary report - Arctic Gold & Silver Mines Ltd., Carcross, Y.T. - Examination 4-7 October, 1968 Property File Collection Report
ARMC013506 Mine map - Big Thing mine - after R.F. Hill Property File Collection Geoscience Map (General)
ARMC013509 Section and plan map - Big Thing mine Property File Collection Geoscience Map (General)
ARMC013510 Section and plan map - Big Thing mine Property File Collection Geoscience Map (General)
ARMC013505 Assay plan map no. 3 - Big Thing mine Property File Collection Geoscience Map (General)

Resource/Reserve

Year Zone Type Commodity Grade Tonnage Amount Reported Amount 43-101 Compliant Cut-off
1983 BIG THING - TOTAL RESERVES (UNDERGROUND) Historical Estimate gold 13.38 g/t 74,526 No No Unknown
Figures based on compilation report written by Dolmage Campbell & Associates Ltd. Figures represent Proven and Probable Reserves. Also 181,439 tonnes of possible ore (no grade reported).; Figure from Rex Silver Mines Ltd 1983 Annual Report. Also Canadian Mines Handbook 1983-84, p. 295. Figures not National instrument 43-101 compliant. Reported for historical purposes only.
1983 BIG THING - TOTAL RESERVES (UNDERGROUND) Historical Estimate silver 329.14 g/t 74,526 No No Unknown
Figures based on compilation report written by Dolmage Campbell & Associates Ltd. Figures represent Proven and Probable Reserves. Also 181,439 tonnes of possible ore (no grade reported).; Figure from Rex Silver Mines Ltd 1983 Annual Report. Also Canadian Mines Handbook 1983-84, p. 295. Figures not National instrument 43-101 compliant. Reported for historical purposes only.
1976 BIG THING - BLOCK A (UNDERGROUND) Historical Estimate gold 25.72 g/t 2,268 No No Unknown
Estimated ore reserve in Block A. Company planed to mine 19.6 tonnes of ore per day from Block A and process it at Mt. Nansen mill located south of Carmack, Yukon. Plan never implemented.; Canadian Mines Handbook 1976-77, p. 30.
1976 BIG THING - BLOCK A (UNDERGROUND) Historical Estimate silver 1337.12 g/t 2,268 No No Unknown
Estimated ore reserve in Block A. Company planed to mine 19.6 tonnes of ore per day from Block A and process it at Mt. Nansen mill located south of Carmack, Yukon. Plan never implemented.; Canadian Mines Handbook 1976-77, p. 30.
1967 BIG THING - TOTAL RESERVES (UNDERGROUND) Historical Estimate gold 23.32 g/t 231,262 No No Unknown
Combination of Proven, Probable and Inferred Reserves. Figure wasn't broken out into individual categories. Based on underground drilling and exploration drifting.; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 68-68. Figure came from Arctic Gold and Silver Mines Ltd, 1967 Annual Report. See also Mineral industry Report 1969-1970 p. 118.
1967 BIG THING - TOTAL RESERVES (UNDERGROUND) Historical Estimate silver 675.42 g/t 231,262 No No Unknown
Combination of Proven, Probable and Inferred Reserves. Figure wasn't broken out into individual categories. Based on underground drilling and exploration drifting.; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 68-68. Figure came from Arctic Gold and Silver Mines Ltd, 1967 Annual Report. See also Mineral industry Report 1969-1970 p. 118.

Drill core at YGS core library

Number Property Year Drilled Core Size Photos Data
109-1 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-10 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-13 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-15 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-17 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-18 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-19 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-2 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-23 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-26 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
109-7 Big Thing 1968 AQ 0 1
113 Big Thing 1967 BQ 0 2
114 Big Thing 1967 BQ 0 2
121 Big Thing 1967 BQ 0 2
135 Big Thing 1967 BQ 0 2
29-15 Big Thing 1967 AQ 0 0
29-16 Big Thing 1967 AQ 0 0
GS-1 Big Thing 1967 AQ 0 0
S-3 Big Thing 1967 AQ 0 2
U-175 Big Thing 1967 BQ 0 2
U-176 Big Thing 1967 BQ 0 2