Work History

Staked as Zink cl 1-4 (Y54558) and 5-8 (Y54634) in Oct/70 by Spartan Exploration Ltd in a joint venture with Mitsui Mining & Smelting Company Ltd. Mitsui advanced $50 00.00 towards exploration work on this and two other properties. No work appears to have been carried out on these claims and Mitsui converted its interest into 151 474 shares of Spartan in 1971.
Restaked as MM cl 1-76 (Y73864) in Jul/73 by Anvil Mining Corporation Ltd which carried out geological mapping, prospecting, soil sampling and magnetic surveying before adding JJ cl 1-81 (Y74337) in Sep/73. The company then completed a gravity survey and drilled two holes (245.4 m) later in the year. In 1974 Anvil carried out soil sampling and magnetic surveying and drilled two holes (612.6 m). The property was transferred to Cyprus Anvil Mining Corporation Ltd in 1975, which entered a joint venture with Hudson's Bay Oil & Gas Ltd. In Aug/76 the companies staked DD cl 1-32 (YA625) to the north of the occurrence and drilled 7 holes (1 677.9 m) later in the year. They carried out soil sampling, magnetic and EM surveying and drilled 4 holes (1 642.3 m) in 1977 and carried out detailed geological mapping, prospecting, soil sampling and geophysical surveying in 1978.
The property was transferred in 1985 to Curragh Resources Inc, which carried out trenching in 1987 and 1988. Anvil Range Mining Corporation acquired the property and other assets of Curragh Resources and drilled four holes (1 889 m) in 1996. In Apr/98 creditors of Anvil Range requested the appointment of an Interim Receiver and the company filed for bankruptcy. Its was subsequently delisted from the TSE in Jan/99.
Restaked as MM cl 1-12 (YB93603) in Feb/2002 by Eagle Plains Resources Ltd which carried out geological mapping, prospecting, soil and silt sampling and added MM cl 13-22 (YB94149) in Jul/2002.

Capsule Geology

The area is located southwest of the Tintina Fault on the Cassiar Platform. The Cassiar Platform is a curvilinear shelf that formed, between mid-Cambrian and Silurian time, roughly parallel to the western margin of the North American craton but separated from it by the Selwyn Basin. Shallow water deposition on the Cassiar Platform continued until Late Devonian time. Block faulting and local uplift during Late Devonian and Mississippian resulted in deposition of carbonaceous shale and chert pebble conglomerate in the Selwyn Basin and across the platform. Local explosive volcanism produced thick tuff and flows whose extremities intertongue with surrounding black shale. Some of these centres contain base metal mineralization. Calcareous argillite of Upper Paleozoic to Triassic age was deposited above the shale and volcanic sequence (Hunt, 1999).
The occurrence is located at the extreme southwest end of the Pelly Mountains volcanic belt, an arcuate belt approximately 80 km long and up to 25 km wide that forms part of the Cassiar Platform. The belt is comprised of localized volcanic centers separated by basins in-filled with sediments and volcaniclastic rocks. The present deformed thickness of the volcanic section is highly variable, ranging from less than 100 m to as much as 1 700 m. Associated with these volcanic rocks are at least two volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits, the MM (this occurrence) and Wolf (Minfile Occurrence #105G 008) and numerous other historical showings including Chzerpnough (Minfile Occurrence #105F 071) and the Bnob (Minfile Occurrence #105F 073).
Zinc-lead-silver +/- copper mineralization occurs within a rusty-weathering volcanic-dominated sequence about 200 m thick that is over- and underlain by carbonaceous pelitic sediments. The mineralization is made up of several sulphide lenses along a roughly east-west trend that propagates from a central trachyte dome and associated volcanic breccia. The style of mineralization varies from east to west.
On the east side of the trend, mineralization consists of three separate mineralized lenses each about 100 m long and several tens of metres thick. Mineralogy of the massive sulphides includes massive to semi-massive pyrite with lesser sphalerite, galena, pyrrhotite and rare chalcopyrite and magnetite. The lenses are comprised of sulphide-silicate gneiss, quartzite, massive sulphide and barite. Smaller, increasingly baritic lenses are reported to extend for over 3 km to the east. Massive pyrite alternates with barite in the upper portion of the mineralized zone and forms the topmost unit in which sulphides are concentrated. The mineralization is hosted by a pyritic quartzite layer sandwiched between intermediate and felsic metavolcanic rocks. This volcanic sequence has been traced, through drilling to the southwest where it passes laterally into a trachyte dome flanked by volcanic breccia.
These mineralized horizons are thought to have at least in part an igneous protolith. Individual sulphide lenses display a wide variation in grade and metal ratio between diamond drill holes. Several drill holes intersected classic Kuroko style mineralization. Galena and sphalerite content increases towards the top of the lens, with an extensive chalcopyrite and quartz stringer zone underlying the lens.
On the west side of the trend mineralization occurs as narrow lenses in the middle and upper parts of the volcanic sequence. The largest lens in this area is about 2 m in thickness directly above the trachyte dome. West of the dome, mineralization consists of disseminated to laminated, semi-massive to massive pyrite to sphalerite-rich sulphides with lesser pyrrhotite, galena and chalcopyrite. Pyrite and pyrrhotite occur as disseminated grains, blebs, and veinlets. Relict mafic and feldspar minerals are consistent with an igneous protolith.
The majority of exploration data collected by Cyprus Anvil-Curragh-Anvil Range was never filed for assessment credit. The bankruptcy of Anvil Range and the resulting uncertainty of the Faro mine site have further delayed public release of the data. Based on Morin¿s work (1977), a few general results can be stated. The massive sulphide zone returned assays of up to 10% zinc, 0.4% copper, 4.2% lead and 41.1 g/t silver although average grades run approximately 5% zinc+lead. Assessment Report #060999 reports that at least some of the massive sulphide zones display coincident magnetic and gravity anomalies.
Eagle Plains Resources 2002 exploration program was preliminary in nature and was undertaken to verify the results of previous operators. The results verified the existence of volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralization. Rock samples collected in situ of massive pyrite-galena-chalcopyrite mineralization returned average values of up to > 10% zinc and 2% lead. Calcopyrite rich mineralization returned values up to 2% copper. Elements such as arsenic, copper, silver, gold, cadium and antimony returned sporadic anomalous values across the claims. Silt samples returned anomalous values for copper, lead, zinc, barite +/- gold. Soil samples returned strongly anomalous values for lead, zinc +/- copper and sporadic anomalous values for silver, arsenic and molybdenium.

References

ANVIL MINING CORPORATION LTD, Aug/74. Assessment Report #060999 by P.E. Walcott.

ANVIL RANGE MINING CORPORATION, Oct/96. Assessment Report #093693 by D. Mattila.

ANVIL MINING CORPORATION LTD, Apr/98. News Release.

CANADIAN MINES HANDBOOK 1972-73, p. 306.

CURRAGH RESOURCES INC, Jun/88. Assessment Report #092482 by L.C. Pigage.

CURRAGH RESOURCES INC, Nov/88. Assessment Report #092590 by L.C. Pigage.

CYPRUS ANVIL MINING CORPORATION LTD, Oct/74. Assessment Report #091136 by P.E. Walcott.

CYPRUS ANVIL MINING CORPORATION LTD, Dec/76. Assessment Report #091137.

CYPRUS ANVIL MINING CORPORATION LTD, Oct/77. Assessment Report #091138.

EAGLE PLAINS RESOURCES LTD, Nov/2002. Assessment Report #094346 by C. Gallagher and C.C. Downie.

EAGLE PLAINS RESOURCES LTD, Aug/2004. Web Site: www.eagleplains.ca

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, Paper 76-lA, p. 105.

HUNT, J.A., 1999. Preliminary stratigraphy and distribution of Devono-Mississippian massive sulphide-bearing volcanic rocks in the Mount Vermillion area, Pelly Mountains (105G/5 and G/6), southeast Yukon. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 1998, C.F. Roots and D.S. Emond (eds.), Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 73-89.

HUNT, J.A., 2002., Volcanic-associated massive sulphide (VMS) mineralization in the Yukon-Tanana Terrane and coeval strata of the North American miogeocline, in the Yukon and adjacent areas. Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon Region, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Bulletin 12, 107 p.

MORIN, J.A., 1977. Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization in the MM deposit and associated Mississippian felsic volcanic rocks in the St. Cyr Range, Pelly Mountains. In Mineral Industry Report, 1976, Yukon Territory. Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon Region, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 1977-1, p. 83-97.

MORTENSEN, J.K., and GODWIN, C.I., 1982. Volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits associated with highly alkaline rift volcanics in the southeastern Yukon Territory. Economic Geology, Vol. 77, p. 1225-1230.

MINERAL INDUSTRY REPORT, 1973, p. 84-85; 1976, p. 88-96; 1978, p. 60.

YUKON EXPLORATION AND GEOLOGY 2002, p. 18, 24.