Work History

The earliest staking in this vicinity was in 1954 by K.G. Sanders and R. Zielinski for Pelly River Exploration Ltd (Pioneer Gold Mines Ltd, American Standard Mines Ltd, New York-Alaska Gold Dredging Corporation and Northwest Ventures Ltd), however no records are available.
Northlake Mines Ltd (Augusta Exploration Ltd, Copper Ridge Mines Ltd, Silver Standard Mines Ltd, Transcontinental Resources Ltd, North Pacific Mines Ltd) staked Gee cl 1-530 (Y90172) in Jan/66. Northlake conducted an airborne mag/EM survey and soil sampling in 1966 (Areas 4 and 16).
In Aug/77 Chevron Canada Ltd discovered tungsten mineralization and staked Boot cl 1-39 (YA25436) overtop the occurrence. The company also staked Marmot cl 1-24 (YA26131) 3 km to the south (Minfile Occurrence #105G 104) at the same time. Over the next year the company explored with mapping, geochem sampling and hand trenching and enlarged the property to over 300 claims in 1978. Subsequent work consisted of more mapping and sampling in 1979-80, 10 drill holes (1 414 m) in 1979 and 8 holes (899 m) and a mag survey in 1980. Chevron sold the remaining Boot claims in Oct/94 to Archer Cathro and Associates (1981) Ltd. In Dec/94 Archer Cathro sold the claims to Nordac Resources Ltd.
In Jul/94 A. McMillan staked Alan cl 1-16 (YB51308) 0.5 km north of the 3 remaining Boot claims. McMillan staked Alan cl 17-24 (YB60935) in Aug/95. In Oct/95 McMillan optioned Alan cl 13-24 (YB51320) to Minfocus International Inc which restaked Alan cl 1-12 (YB70943) and staked Alan cl 25-71 (YB70955) in Nov/95. In Aug/96 Minfocus carried out a reconnaissance geological mapping and sampling program on the claims.
In Jun/2001 Nordac re-organized and changed its name to Strategic Metals Ltd and staked Boot cl 2 (YB93245), cl 4 (YB93246) and cl 6-11 (YB93247) around the three remaining Boot claims. During the winter of 2001-2002 the company completed a digital data compilation of all previous data. In Dec 2002 Strategic staked Boot cl 13-24 (YC23126) 3 km to the south. This block of claims covers Minfile Occurrence #105G104. In the summer of 2003 the company carried out limited prospecting, soil sampling and hand trenching on the claim block.

Capsule Geology

The area is located northeast of the Tintina Fault on the southwest side of the Finlayson Lake massive sulphide district. It has been re-mapped by the Finlayson Lake Targeted Geoscience Initiative (Murphy et al., 2001), a program conducted jointly by the Geological Survey of Canada and the Yukon Geological Survey. It is underlain by the Yukon-Tanana terrane; a terrane comprised of several fault- and unconformity-bound meta-sedimentary and meta-volcanic successions and affiliated meta-plutonic suites.
The occurrence lies in the footwall of the Money Creek thrust which hosts the structurally deepest rocks in the district. Murphy and others report the occurrence is underlain by Upper Devonian and Older rocks assigned to the Grass Lakes succession. The occurrence is predominantly underlain by Murphy's unit Dq consisting of biotite-muscovite-feldspar quartz psammitic schist and quartz-biotite-muscovite metapelitic schist. Archer Cathro, the principal operator of most the exploration programs surrounding the occurrence, noted occurrences of calcareous schist, calcareous phyllite and marble (unit Dqm) and felsic metavolcanic rocks (unit Dfv) in and around the occurrence. These units are likely too small to appear of Murphy's regional map although Murphy does map Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian age quartzofeldspathic-pebble metaconglomerate assigned to unit (DMcg) northeast of the occurrence.
The succession is intruded by a mid-Cretaceous quartz monzonite stock and related quartz monzonite and aplite dyke and sills. The stock is informally known as the Boot stock. Younger Cretaceous age fine grained, quartz-feldspar porphyry dykes and sills intrude all other lithologies. Diamond drilling carried out by Chevron shows that the intrusive appears to dip at a relatively shallow angle to the east and northeast. Relatively thin flat lying sill like (?) apophyses of silicified and altered quartz monzonite extend up to several hundred metres away from the main intrusive contact. This material was apparently injected along the regional, relatively shallow dipping compositional layering of the metamorphic country rocks near the top of the larger parent Boot stock.
The 1954 and 1966 staking was directed toward small lenses of galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite located near the contact between the metamorphic rocks and the granitic intrusive (due north of the occurrence location). Northlake also found pyrrhotite float in the creeks located below this contact but assaying failed to return anomalous results.
The Boot occurrence consists of disseminated scheelite with no associated sulphides that occur in Upper Devonian metamorphic rocks, at the contact with a Cretaceous stock. The mineralization occurs in three subhorizontal, thermally and hydrothermally altered metasedimentary-metavolcanic units (or fold/thrust repeats of a single unit) that lie within a 200 to 300 m wide aureole of thermal metamorphism along the northeast contact of the Boot quartz monzonite stock. The most extensive tungsten mineralization is hosted by a dolomitic biotite-muscovite schist that appears to be the altered equivalent of Murphy's unit Dm, chlorite schist. Limy subunits of this protolith are altered to a colorful chloritic schist that contains garnet, vesuviante, wollastonite and minor pyroxene. Massive dark green pyroxene-garnet skarn occurs as irregular, massive pods of dark green pyroxene and pink garnet in two of the zones. The skarn is occasionally weakly mineralized with pyrrhotite. Intrusive hosted, vein style scheelite mineralization was intersected in a few of the drill holes however as exploration was focused on the contact related mineralization the potential of this type of mineralization was never fully evaluated. Average grades are in the 0.5 to 1.0% tungsten oxide (WO3) range although much richer sections are present.
Minfocus International explored the Alan claims as part of a larger exploration program carried out on their adjoining Lamp claims (Minfile Occurrence #105G 020) located 3 km to the northwest. The company carried out a cursory examination of the Alan claims and collected a few rock samples none of which returned economic values.
It appears Strategic Metals initially acquired the occurrence for its tungsten potential. The data compilation identified several potential targets none of which appear to have been properly tested by previous operators. The 2003 exploration program was focused on evaluating the emerald potential of the expanded claim group. The company felt that the geology of the area was similar to that which hosts emerald mineralization at the Tsa da Gliza (Regal Ridge, Minfile Occurrence #105G 147) emerald prospect where mineralized veins cut chloritic schist of the Fire Lake mafic volcanic unit (Murphy's unit DF). Exploration work related to this occurrence consisted of a single trench dug across part of the upper "B" zone which exposed an outcrop containing scheelite. No assays were reported but abundant tourmaline was noted in and around the trench.

References

CHEVRON CANADA LTD, Feb/79. Assessment Report #090439 by U. Schmidt and R.J. Cathro.

CHEVRON CANADA LTD, Mar/80. Assessment Report #090558 by U. Schmidt and A.R. Archer.

CHEVRON CANADA LTD, Jan/81. Assessment Report #090728 by U. Schmidt and R.J. Cathro.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA Paper 67-40, p. 59

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).

MINERAL INDUSTRY REPORT 1977, p. 86; 1978, p. 65.

MINFOCUS INTERNATIONAL INC, Feb/97. Assessment Report #093554 by J.T Arengi and G. Harper.

MURPHY, D.C. and PIERCEY, S.J., 1999. Geological map of parts of Finlayson Lake (105G/7, 8 and parts of 1, 2, and 9) and Frances Lake (parts of 105H/5 and 12) map areas, southeastern Yukon (1:100 000-scale). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Open File 1999-4.

MURPHY, D.C. AND PIERCEY, S.J., 2000. Syn-mineralization faults and their re-activation, Finlayson Lake massive sulphide district, Yukon-Tanana Terrane, southeastern Yukon. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 1999, D.S. Emond and L.H. Weston (eds.), Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 55-66.

MURPHY, D.C. ET AL., 2001. Preliminary bedrock geological map of northern Finlayson Lake area (NTS 105 G), Yukon Territory (1:100 000 scale). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon Region, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Open File 2001-33.

MURPHY, D.C. ET AL., 2002. Finlayson Lake Targeted Geoscience initiative (southeastern Yukon), Part 1: Bedrock geology. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2001, D.S. Emond, L.H. Weston and L.L. Lewis (eds.), Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon Region, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 189-207.

NORTHLAKE MINES LTD, 1966. Assessment Report *#060252 by N.R. Paterson.

NORTHLAKE MINES LTD, 1967. Assessment Report #019114 by A.J. MacDonald.

NORTHLAKE MINES LTD, 1967 Assessment Report #019115 by P.H. Sevensma.

NORTHLAKE MINES LTD, Apr/68. Assessment Report #060586 by R.G. Gifford.

STRATEGIC METALS LTD, Jun/2002. Assessment Report #094308 by R.C. Carne.

STRATEGIC METALS LTD,Sep/2004. Assessment Report #094467 by W.A. Wengzynowski.

STRATEGIC METALS LTD, News Release, 26 Jun/2001.

STRATEGIC METALS LTD, Feb/2005. Web Site: www.strategicmetalsltd.com

YUKON GEOLOGY AND EXPLORATION 1979-80, p. 181.