Work History

Staked as the Q cl 1-8 (84296) in Apr/65 by United Keno Hill Mines Ltd, which carried out prospecting and grid soil sampling. Restaked as Plat cl 1-32 (Y57767) in Apr/72 by Plateau Metals & Industries Ltd. The adjoining NWS cl 1-62 (Y57825) to the south were staked in Apr/72 by Galveston Mines Ltd, and partially restaked as Lead cl 1-8 (Y85630) in Sep/73 by J. Strebchuk, who trenched in 1974 and 1980.
The Plat group was restaked as But cl 1-6 (YA1426) in Nov/75 by W. Malicky, who optioned the claims to the Lenora Syndicate which carried out a brief property examination later in the month.
The occurrence now lies within Category A Lands of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun.

Capsule Geology

The occurrence area is centered over the headwaters of the western branch of Centre Creek approximately 6 km northeast of Rambler Hill in north-central Yukon. The area was regionally mapped by L. Green (1972) of the Geological Survey of Canada in 1961 as part of a helicopter-supported party known as Operation Ogilvie. The creek was also sampled for heavy minerals at this time as part of the Geological Survey of Canada's Operation Keno (1964). C. Roots (1997) of the Geological Survey of Canada remapped topographic map sheet 105 M, located to the immediate south in the 1990's. In 2003 Gordey and Makepeace of the Geological Survey of Canada released a geological compilation which included this area.
Gordey and Makepeace extrapolated Roots geological mapping to produce their geological compilation of the occurrence area. According to their compilation the area is underlain by Middle to Late Devonian Earn Group carbonaceous metasediments and felsic metavolcanics which have been overlain by Early Carboniferous Keno Hill Quartzite. Numerous Triassic age mafic intrusion intrude both units.
The occurrence marks the presumed centre point of a series of weak heavy metal stream sediment anomalies located by the Geological Survey of Canada's Operation Keno (1964). United Keno Hill Mines staked several hundred claims in the region to cover the various anomalies detected by the geochemical survey. Although no records can be found pertaining to the "Q" claims, the company generally carried out grid soil sampling and a thorough prospecting program on each claim group. No mineralization appears to have been found and the company attributed the geochemical anomalies to high zinc background values found in the area.
The Lenora Syndicate carried out a brief property examination in Nov/75. The company noted quartz mica schist, and quartzite in the occurrence area. A rusty oxidized gossan in quartzite was discovered near the headwaters of the creek. Grab samples of oxidized rock assayed as high as 17.1 g/t silver and 0.3% lead. Although a follow-up program of geological mapping and prospecting was proposed, it appears that the program was never undertaken.

References

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA Map 29-1964.

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).

GREEN, L.H. 1972. Geology of Nash Creek, Larsen Creek and Dawson Map-Areas, Yukon Territory. Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 364, p. 143.

LENORA SYNDICATE, Nov/75. Assessment Report #062019 by D.C. Malcolm.

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