Work History

Staked within a large group of Ram claims (1-758, YA71575) in Sep/84 by Regional Resources Ltd, which carried out an extensive program of geological mapping, rock, soil and silt sampling and geophysical surveys in 1985. The claims were transferred to Fairfield Minerals Limited in 1986. Fairfield carried out additional geological mapping and soil sampling in 1987 and transferred a 100% working interest in the Ram claims to Pacific Comox Resources in Jan/93.
Restaked as Falcon cl 1-8 (YB84547) in Jun/96 by Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. No assessment work was carried out on the claims and they were allowed to lapse the following year.
Restaked as Melt cl 1-40 (YB92946) in Sep/2000 by Eagle Plains Resources Ltd, which consolidated them with their larger Fire and Ice claim blocks (Minfile Occurrences #105F 071 & 073) located to the south. In 2001 the company carried out extensive reconnaissance geological mapping, silt and soil sampling programs on the claims. In 2002 the company collected 5 lines of soil samples and numerous rock and silt samples in the vicinity of this occurrence. The company also began archiving all previously collected data using a Geographic Information System.

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 northwest 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 Wolf (Minfile Occurrence #105G 008) and MM (Minfile Occurrence #105F 012) and numerous other historical showings including the Bnob ((Ice) - Minfile Occurrence #105F 073) and Chzerpnough ((Fire) ¿ Minfile Occurrence #105F 071).
The volcanic rocks are predominantly felsic but in some areas significant accumulations of andesite to basalt occur. The most common feature of the belt are flows, epi-zonal sills, and small plugs of trachyte. The trachyte flows and/or sills are laterally very extensive, probably due to low magmatic viscosity caused in part by high alkali element content. Typically the trachyte contains significant amounts of pyrite which gives rise to extensive gossans. The trachytes are commonly cream colored, with fine to medium grained phenocrysts of feldspar and rare quartz and locally massive, amygdaloidal or brecciated. Syenite intrusions have been noted at a number of locations within the Pelly Mountains volcanic belt and are thought to represent volcanic feeders. Although these intrusions were originally thought to represent plugs recent diamond drilling suggests that they are really sills.
Regional Resources Ltd discovered the original occurrence in 1985 and called it the Falcon showing. The showing is described in assessment reports as pyritized felsic volcanic boulders containing massive barite and barite-galena veins. Although only observed in talus the felsic volcanics likely belong to the Pelly Mountain volcanics unit. Grab (?) samples from the showing area returned up to 5.95% lead, 39.8 g/t silver, 0.07 g/t gold and <0.01% zinc. Soil sampling outlined strongly anomalous lead and moderately anomalous silver values in the vicinity of the showing.
Follow-up soil sampling undertaken to the south in 1987 by Fairfield Minerals Ltd detected a second showing, the Fox/Falcon, 2.5 km to the south. This showing, is described as consisting of ankerite-quartz veins and disseminated pyrite and galena in a rusty metavolcanic (rhyolite (?)) horizon. Grab samples from outcrop returned up to 1 700 ppm lead, 3 200 ppm zinc and 4.1 ppm silver. This occurrence is also likely hosted by Pelly Mountain volcanic rocks.
Although Eagle Plains Resources Ltd noted the existence of the original showing in their 2001 assessment report, it appears the showing only received a cursory examination. Instead the company focused their efforts on mapping and sampling those Melt claims located north of the showing. Prospecting associated with this program uncovered a new mineralized showing 1.5 km to the northwest. This showing is described as a 2 m by 5 m lens of silicified rhyolitic volcanics hosting massive sulphide mineralization consisting of massive pyrite with disseminated galena and sphalerite. Samples collected from the showing were highly anomalous in silver, copper, lead, zinc, mercury, cadmium and tungsten. A grab sample of strongly weathered silicified felsic tuff containing 5-10% fine grained to coarsely disseminated pyrite +/- sphalerite +/- galena in a weakly remnant boxwork texture returned values of 3 g/t silver, 5.4% zinc, 227 ppm copper, 368 ppm lead, 152 ppm mercury, 414.4 ppm cadmium and 353 ppm tungsten.
Soil and silt samples collected along creeks located on the Melt claims outlined 2 main anomalous drainages located approximately 1.5 km northeast and northwest (respectively) of this occurrence. The northeast drainage returned a 2 km long anomaly with average values of 304 ppm zinc and 407 ppm barium. The northwest drainage returned average values of 5.7 ppm silver and 804 ppm lead over 500 m.
Follow-up soil and silt sampling carried out in 2002 identified a gossanous basin located due north of this occurrence that returned wide spread anomalous lead, silver and molybdenum values. The best result was returned from a soil sample located approximately 250 m north of this occurrence which returned 3 348.8 ppm lead, 7.3 ppm silver and 555.1 ppm molybdenum.

References

EAGLE PLAINS RESOURCES LTD, Dec/01. Assessment Report #094267 by C.C. Downie.

EAGLE PLAINS RESOURCES LTD, Nov/02. Assessment Report #094392 by C.C. Downie and C. Gallagher.

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

FAIRFIELD MINERALS LTD, Sep/87. Assessment Report #092096 by J.J. Hylands.

FAIRFIELD MINERALS LTD, Nov/88. Assessment Report *#092604 by J.J. Hylands.

GORDEY, S.P. AND MAKEPEACE, A.J. 2003: Yukon Digital Geology, version 2.0, S.P. Gordey and A.J. Makepeace (comp); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 1749 and Yukon Geological Survey, Open File 2003-9 (D).

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., 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.

REGIONAL RESOURCES LTD, Jan/86. Assessment Report #091768 by M.A. Stammers.

YUKON EXPLORATION 1985-86, p. 219-221; 1987, p. 154;

YUKON EXPLORATION AND GEOLOGY 2001, p. 10-11, 24.