Work History

Staked as Tom cl 1-8 (YI4164) and Tom cl 9-14 (Y14208) in Oct/67 by the Hess Project (Atlas Explorations Ltd, Quebec Cartier Mining Company and Phillips Brothers (Canada) Ltd), which carried out geological mapping and prospecting in 1968. Agip Canada Ltd staked Dall cl 1-112 (YA77035) 1.6 km northwest in Sep/82 and carried out geological mapping, prospecting and geochemical sampling later in 1983.
Restaked as Jet cl 1-86 (YB03442) in Apr/90 by NDU Resources Ltd which carried out prospecting and geochemical sampling later that year. Falconbridge Ltd optioned the claims in Jun/91 and immediately staked Jet cl 87-104 (YB18309) to the east. The 1991 program which consisted of geochemical sampling and geological mapping was carried out by NDU and funded by Falconbridge under the terms of the option agreement. In 1992, Falconbridge carried out geological mapping, geochemical and lithogeochemical sampling before dropping the option and returning the property to NDU in Feb/93.
In the spring of 1998 NDU merged with United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. Expatriate Resources Ltd carried out hand trenching, geological mapping and geochemical sampling of the Jet claims later that year under a option agreement with NDU which transferred to United Keno Hill. In Oct/98, Expatriate purchased a 100% interest in the claims from United Keno Hill.
In Aug/98 Viceroy Exploration (Canada) Inc staked Pink cl 1-10 (YC01344) and Floyd cl 1-12 (YC01332) 6.5 km and 8 km respectively, to the southwest. Both claim group were sold in May/99 to Nova Gold Resources Inc, which carried out a reconnaisance scale geological mapping and sampling program over the Pink claims later in the year. Both claim groups were later allowed to lapse.

Capsule Geology

The occurrence area is located within the Selwyn Basin. The Selwyn Basin consists of a broad package of Paleozoic age, shallow shelf to off-shelf marine clastic and chemical sediments, as well as basinal clastic sediments derived from the Ancient North American Platform. Age of deposition ranges from Late Precambrian to Permian. Rocks within the basin have been intruded by mid-Cretaceous Selwyn Suite intrusives which are believed to control much of the economic gold mineralization within the Basin.
The occurrence is underlain by Devonian to Mississippian Earn Assemblage black shale, siliceous argillite, chert, limestone and debris-flow conglomerate, which have been intruded by Cretaceous aged biotite-hornblende granite and quartz monzonite stocks.
The Tom group was staked to cover gossan zones that returned anomalous copper-zinc silt response. The gossans occur in a hornfels zone developed in conglomerate and limestone at the margin of a small intrusive stock. The geochemical response was found to be caused by high background levels in the weakly pyritic hornfels zone. Prospecting located a quartz vein with tetrahedrite, a specimen of which assayed 2 297 g/t Ag.
The Dall group covered the contact between lower Earn Assemblage clastic rocks and a small quartz monzonite intrusion. Minor quartz-arsenopyrite veins and a 30 cm wide sphalerite-rich skarn zone were found near the contact. Assays up to 815 ppb Au and 20 ppm Ag were obtained from the veins and skarn. Two baritic lenses up to 30 m thick and 100 m long also occur in Earn Assemblage carbonaceous shale. Assays of barite returned only traces of lead, zinc and precious metals.
NDU followed up a linear multielement geochemical anomaly (major Ni, V and Cu, minor Mo, P, Cu), and found a metalliferous horizon directly overlying a distinctive limestone unit. The limestone is pyritic, vuggy and contains shallow marine fossils of Lower Devonian age and disseminated bitumen. Occasional lenses of grey pyritic chert are stratigraphically equivalent to the limestone. Soil samples taken from the recessive metalliferous horizon returned values up to 3 160 ppm Ni, 1% zinc, and elevated levels of Cu, Cd, Ag, As and Mo. Polymetallic sedex mineralization found on the Nick property in central Yukon (Minfile Occurrence #106D 092) exhibits a similar geochemical response.
The 1992 soil sampling returned values of up to 1 593 ppm for Ni and 10 367 ppm Zn. Metal-rich fault gouge contained up to 3 000 ppm Ni and 10 252 ppm Zn.
Detailed mapping by Expatriate in 1998 indicates that Ordovician to Lower Devonian Road River Assemblage shales, argillites and chert underlie the Earn Assemblage rocks and that the contact between the two groups roughly parallels the northern boundary of the claim group. They suggest that this relatively recessive stratigraphic interval reflects the source horizon for the anomalous Zn, Ni, Cu, Cd and Ag geochemical values in the area. Although no fresh sulfide mineralization was seen in any of the trenches, analysis of chip samples from the trenches returned peak values of 1.29% Zn, 428 ppm Ni, 326 ppm Cu, 205 ppm Cd and 4.6 ppm Ag.
Nova Gold reported that the Pink claims were mainly underlain by Earn Assemblage chert pebble conglomerate and a minor occurrence of shale. Silt sampling returned gold values to 60 ppb gold while grab samples returned weakly anomalous values to 30 ppb gold, with elevated mercury, arsenic and antimony values. Evaluation of pathfinder elements suggests the presence of multiple mineralogical assemblages.

References

AGIP CANADA LTD, Jun/84. Assessment Report #091541 by R. Robertson.

ATLAS EXPLORATIONS LTD, Oct/68. Assessment Report #019040 by T.J. Adamson.

ATLAS EXPLORATIONS LTD, Dec/67. Assessment Report #018947 by C.L. Smith.

ATLAS EXPLORATIONS LTD, Dec/67. Assessment Report #019032 by C.L. Smith.

CECILE, M.P. and ABBOTT, J.G., 1989. Geology of the Niddery Lake Map Area (NTS 105 O), Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 2076.

EXPATRIATE RESOURCES LTD, May/99. Assessment Report #094012 by R.F. Gish.

FALCONBRIDGE LTD AND NDU RESOURCES LTD, Dec/91. Assessment Report #093003 by R.C. Carne.

FALCONBRIDGE LTD, Feb/93. Assessment Report #093095 by M.D. Edwards.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, Paper 69-55, p. 18.

GORDEY, S.P., AND MAKEPEACE, A.J., 1999. Yukon digital geology, S.P. Gordey and A.J. Makepeace (comp.); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File D3826, and Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Open File 1999-1 (D)

NDU RESOURCES LTD, Apr/91. Assessment Report #092940 by D. Parry and R.C. Carne.

NOVA GOLD RESOURCES INC, Feb/2000. Assessment Report #094088 by G. Johnson and C. Schulze.

YUKON EXPLORATION AND GEOLOGY 1983, p. 219; 1984, p. 136-138.