Work History

Staked as Iron cl (2354) in Jun/15 by R. Lhuillier. Restaked as Christal King cl (12207) in Jul/18 by A.E. Erickson and F. Swanson who drove two short adits. The upper of two adits was 10 m long.
The Cain, Pro, Abel, Rex and Horse-shoe cl (55586) were staked 1 km south by J. Boon in Mar/47. The claims were surveyed in 1961 and were recorded as a survey group in Feb/62. N. Swenson carried out hand and bulldozer trenching on these claims (leases) in 1961 and 1962.
The occurrence was restaked as Paddy cl 1 (59313) in Jun/49 by E. Bjonnes who carried out bulldozer trenching in 1950-51 and 1956. A. Smith staked Carol cl 1-4 (80239) 1 km to the west-southwest in Oct/57; purchased the Paddy cl 1 in Jun/60; staked Paddy cl 2-3 (83253) to the north in Oct/63; carried out bulldozer trenching in 1960-63; ground sluicing in 1964-65; drove a short adit in 1965; and drilled two overburden holes (337 m) in 1966.
The property was optioned in 1968 by Silver Spring Mines Ltd, which drilled 14 holes (1 166.8 m) and carried out 136 m of cross-cutting and drifting and 61 m raising in 1969 before entering a joint venture with Canadian Reserve Oil and Gas Ltd in 1970. The joint venture carried out an additional 105 m of drifting and drilled 5 underground holes in 1971; bulldozer trenched in 1975; and drilled 72 overburden percussion holes (2 258.9 m) in 1976.
During 1978, raising and mining were completed above the adit and 224 tonnes of ore were custom milled by United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. The joint venture performed minor trenching in 1981 before the property reverted to Silver Spring and was subsequently transferred to Canada Tungsten Mining Corporation Ltd in 1982, which trenched on the Paddy 2 claim.
The Swenson leases, as the Rex, Pro, etc cl became known as, were aquired by Canada Tungsten sometime prior to the 1980 field season. Canada Tungsten carried out geochemical soil sampling on the leases in 1980.
Springmount Operating Company Ltd, under a lease agreement, shipped 106 tonnes in  1983 and 20 tonnes of hand cobbed ore to a smelter from the Paddy claims in 1984. Springmount trenched in 1986; acquired ownership of the Swenson leases and the Paddy and Carol claims in 1987; and performed additional trenching in 1990 and 1993.
Total production from the mines was 52,129 grams of silver (!,767 oz), 4,706 kg of lead and 1,569 kg of zinc.

Capsule Geology

Silver-lead-zinc mineralization in the Elsa-Keno Hill mining camp occurs in north-northeast to east-northeast striking, steeply southeast dipping vein-faults located within a 23 km long by 6 km wide northeast trending belt of rocks on the south dipping limb of the McQuesten Antiform. The mineralized vein faults cut Devonian to Mississippian Earn Group phyllites, Mississippian Keno Hill quartzite and minor phyllite and Triassic meta-diorites. The vein-faults, are brittle displacement zones that show complex variations in style along their length. Narrow discrete planar fault segments pass into zones of tensional veining or shattered rock, brecciation and stockwork veining. The richest deposits occur in the vein-faults which cut the Keno Hill quartzites.
A branching, transverse type vein system comprised of two divergent vein faults has been intermittently explored on the Paddy claims for a length of 366 m. The vein system cuts Earn Group carbonaceous phyllite and Triassic greenstone underlying Keno Hill quartzite.
The lower of the original adits was barren but the upper adit cut 5 narrow veinlets up to 12.7 cm thick containing arsenopyrite with lesser pyrite, galena and sphalerite in a quartz gangue. Selected specimens assayed up to 10.3 g/t Au and 349.7 g/t Ag.
Later work discovered siderite veins containing narrow, discontinuous lenses of galena, tetrahedrite, sphalerite and gold. Selected specimens have assayed as high as 11 149.4 g/t Ag, 47.7% Pb and 7268.4 g/t Ag, 53.6% Pb, 16.6% Zn, but most assays appear to be in the 343 to 1029 g/t Ag range across widths of 0.3 to 0.9 m.
The 1975 trenching reportedly located two new veins 61 m and 122 m west of the main vein. The closest vein returned an assay of 3359.9 g/t Ag, 2.1 g/t Au, 65% Pb, 5% Zn and 0.06% Cd across 1.8 m while a 1.8 m sample across the second vein assayed 2139.4 g/t Ag, 3.1 g/t Au, 15.9% Pb and 0.7% Zn. One of the 1976 percussion holes was reported to have averaged 1522.2 g/t Ag, 6.2% Pb and 8.7% Zn across 1.5 m from a depth of 26.2 m.
The 1978 shipment to United Keno graded 234.5 g/t Ag, 2.1% Pb and 0.8% Zn. The 1984 shipment graded about 8571.2 g/t Ag.
The 1980 soil sampling of the Swenson leases identified five areas of coincident lead, zinc and silver response. Peak values of 55 ppm Pb, 232 ppm Zn and 9.2 ppm Ag were returned. The largest of the anomalies, measuring 400 by 100 m and possibly trending northeast was delineated on the Pro claim.

References

BOND, J.D., 1998. Surficial geology of Keno Hill, Central Yukon, NTS 105M14. Exploration and Geological Services Division, Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada, Geoscience Map 1998-4, 1:50 000-scale map.

CANADIAN RESERVE OIL AND GAS LTD, Jun/76. Assessment Report #091282 by F.W. Plut and A.W. Goring.

CANADA TUNGSTEN MINING CORPORATION LTD, Mar/83. Assessment Report #091464 by G.M. Rodgers.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA Paper 66-31, p. 17.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA Summary Report 1918, Part B, p. 9-10.

GEORGE CROSS NEWSLETTER, 11 Mar/76, 2 Sep/76.

MINERAL INDUSTRY REPORT, 1969 and 1970, p. 14.

MORIN, J.A., 1989. Yukon Gold-Silver File. Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Open File 1989-3.

MURPHY, D.C. and ROOTS, C.F., 1996. Geological map of Keno Hill area, Central Yukon (105M/14). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Geoscience Map 1996-5, scale-1:50 000.

MURPHY, D.C., 1997. Geology of the McQuesten River Region, Northern McQuesten and Mayo Map Areas, Yukon Territory (115P/14, 15,16; 105M/13, 14). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Bulletin 6, 122 p.

ROOTS, C.F., 1997. Bedrock geology of Mayo map area, central Yukon (105M). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Geoscience Map 1997-1, 1:50 000-scale.

ROOTS, C.F., 1997. Geology of the Mayo Map Area, Yukon Territory (105M). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Bulletin 7, 82 p.

SILVER CITY MINES LTD, 1973. Assessment Report *#061165 by A.W. Goring and G.A.Wilson.

SILVER SPRING MINES LTD, Aug/69. Assessment Report #060078 by H.S. Aikins.

SILVER SPRING MINES LTD, Dec/69. Assessment Report #019027 by H.S. Aikins.

SILVER SPRING MINES LTD, Dec/69. Assessment Report #060031 by H.S. Aikins.

SILVER SPRING MINES LTD, Nov/71. Assessment Report #060943 by A.W. Goring.