Work History

The early history of the occurrence area has been well documented by H.S.  Bostock in: A History of Russell Creek, Yukon Territory released in 1973. The only additional early information is a record in the Dawson Recording Office of the Jessie Copper claim (3008), which was recorded in Jul/03 by F.R. Alley 0.4 km east of Russell Creek at a point 16 km above the mouth.
 
Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Ltd staked Deb cl 1-6 (Y31501), in the area in Oct/68.  
 
Noranda staked Ram cl 1-16 (YA76562) in Jul/82 over the junction of Russell and Limestone Creeks, in conjunction with placer mining.
 
Bernie Kreft explored the area in 1996 as part of a Yukon Mining Incentive Program grant.
 
Staked within Luke cl 1-32 (YD01127) by in Nov/2010 by Strategic Metals Ltd. On March 2, 2011 the company optioned the claims to New Dimension Resources Ltd in return for cash, shares and certain work commitments. The claims were included within a larger number of claim groups optioned from Strategic Metals, collectively known as the Lansing Project.
 
In 2011 New Dimension Resources collected silt and contour soil samples over the Luke claims. No further work was carried out and the claims were eventually dropped.

Capsule Geology

The area is located approximately 13 km southwest of Mount Armstrong at the junction of Russell and Limestone Creeks in east central Yukon. Access is by helicopter.
 
The occurrence area lies within northern Selwyn Basin, a predominately off-shelf metasedimentary and metavolcanic sequence that formed on the western margin of the North American craton from Upper Proterozoic to Lower Paleozoic times. C. Roots a geologist employed by the Geological Survey of Canada and seconded to the Yukon Geological Survey remapped the Lansing map sheet (105N,) during the mid to late 1990’s. In 2003 Roots released the completed 1:250 000 scale map.
 
The Luke claims are underlain by folded Hyland Group quartzose clastic rocks (PCH4) which conformably surround limestone horizons (PCH2). A steeply-dipping, southeast-trending fault crosses the northeast part of the claim block. 
 
H.S. Bostock wrote, “A history of Russel Creek, Yukon Territory” using information gleamed from diaries written by Lieutenant  Colonel Neville Alexander Drummond Armstrong who prospected and placer mined on Russell Creek between 1901 and 1926. On page 25 of the report, Armstrong reports that while prospecting two newly staked placer leases he discovered a boulder carrying high grade silver. Although not been specified, it was assumed the boulder was found in the creek.
 
Yukon Exploration and/or Geology volumes published in the 1980’s show the Armstrong occurrence located northwest of the junction between Russell and Limestone Creeks in an area above the creeks. This occurrence appears to mark a minor tungsten-copper skarn occurrence within the limestone horizons. The reference for this occurrence appears to be incorrect. Mulligan, (1975, p.74) refers to heavy mineral concentrate samples collected from two streams draining Mount Armstrong to the north. Thus the exact location of the original occurrence is unknown.
 
In August 2015 the Armstrong occurrence was moved to the northwest stream bank located at the junction of Russel and Limestone creeks. Minor amounts of gold, scheelite and cassiterite have been recovered in the area by placer miners.
 
No records can be found regarding whether Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting ever carried out any work on the Deb claims. Noranda appears to have staked the Ram claims to protect their placer holdings. Prospecting carried out by Kreft determined that Russell Creek held potential for placer mining however the areas which returned the best gold panning results were already staked. The amount of mineralization and quartz veining observed in the surrounding bedrock was negligible.
 
Strategic Metals staked the Luke claims to explore for Carlin-style gold mineralization. Soil and stream sediment sampling carried out by New Dimension Resources covered the potential uphill and upstream sources of the historical placer working. Assay results were slightly above background limits and did not identify a specific source for the gold.