Work History

Staked as Standard and Lottie cl (16417) by J.A. Anderson and R. McNeil in July 1916. Re-staked as Armagh, etc cl (38773) in September 1933 by J. Hawthorne and R. Rasmusen, who explored with hand trenching until 1965 and added numerous claims during the years. In 1965, Hawthorne sold the claims to A.H. Moisey, who conducted bulldozer trenching.

Re-staked by Hawthorne in Jan and September 1968 as the Armagh and P. Cutter cl (Y14254) and Mag cl (Y31251) in Jan-Sep 1968, which were trenched 1969-1979.

R. Riepe tied on Gant & Pearl cl (YA93206) to the north and west in July 1986 and added Ade cl (YB2570) and Wad cl (YB2578) to the east and southwest in July 1988. Rock and soil geochemistry, as well as hand trenching were carried out in 1987. Riepe performed road building and trenching on the Gant claims in 1992.

In August 1991, H6000 Holdings Ltd staked a large block of Che claims (YB19090) in and around Scheelite Dome. H6000 performed a reconnaissance geochemical survey and mapping on the Che claims in 1992, and grid geochemistry and bulldozer trenching over known intrusions.

In January 1994, Kennecott Canada Inc optioned the Ade (YA83747) and Gant (YA83206) claims and staked a large block of SC cl 1-150 (YB42504) east and south of the Gant claims. During the 1994 field season Kennecott carried out prospecting, reconnaissance geological mapping and silt, soil and rock sampling on the SC cl 1-80. Between August and October 1995 the company completed 4 diamond drill holes (573 m) at Hawthorne. In January 1996 Kennecott completed an airborne geophysical survey over the entire Scheelite Dome property. During the summer of 1997 Kennecott carried out geological mapping, prospecting, excavator trenching and a reverse circulation drill program consisting of 13 holes totaling 1 052 m.

In November 1997 Kennecott granted La Teko Resources Ltd an option to earn a 100% interest in the Scheelite Dome property. In 1998 La Teko carried out a multi-phase exploration program consisting of reconnaissance soil geochemistry and prospecting followed by induced polarization and resistivity surveys and further grid based soil sampling. 

In February 1999 Le Teko was acquired by Kinross Gold Corp. Kinross subsequently transferred the Scheelite Dome property to Copper Ridge Explorations Ltd., which carried out a multidisciplinary work program involving, structural mapping, additional soil sampling and geophysical programs. In 2007, Copper Ridge Explorations carried out diamond drilling of 5 holes (601 m) at Hawthorne.

Golden Predator carried out diamond drilling at Hawthorne in 2009 (8 holes, 580 m) with further diamond drilling (11 holes) in 2010, as well as RC drilling (17 holes) and soil geochemistry. 

Regional & Property Geology

The Scheelite Dome area is underlain by the Yusezyu Formation, a Late Proterozoic siliciclastic unit of the Upper Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian Hyland Group. The metasedimentary rocks include strongly foliated muscovite-chlorite phyllites, quartzofeldspathic and micaceous psammites (quartzite), and gritty psammites that locally form massive outcrops. Rare marble and calc-silicate layers are best developed in the northwest portion of the property in the vicinity of the Cominco Zone, located on the north side of the Scheelite Dome Stock, although pods and boudins of marble and limy psammite can be found throughout the property.

The property is located on the south-dipping limb of the southwesterly striking McQuesten Antiform within the Tombstone Strain Zone. This package of rocks lies above the northeasterly vergent Tombstone Thrust. Fold and thrust deformation is believed to have occurred in Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous times. A strong, northeasterly striking, moderately southeast dipping foliation affects the metasedimentary rocks and is the most prominent ductile fabric on the property. Small-scale isoclinal folds and crenulations are common.

Following Jurassic-Cretaceous deformation, the Yusezyu Formation was intruded by metaluminous and reduced I-type granitic intrusions of the 94-90 million year Tombstone Plutonic Suite. The Scheelite Dome stock and others are massive, salt and pepper gray, medium grained quartz-, biotite- and hornblende bearing granite with local feldspar megacrysts. Contact metamorphic aureoles containing biotites and andulusite surround the intrusions.

Thin, medium- to fine-grained felsic to intermediate dykes and sills, commonly quartz and/or feldspar porphyries, and narrow lamprophyre dykes are common and are probably part of the Tombstone Plutonic Suite. The dykes preferentially intrude the east-west structures (Hulstein et al, 1999).

Mineralization & Results

The Hawthorne occurrence is a example of metasediment-hosted quartz-sulphide veins. Stibnite, arsenopyrite and minor galena occur in irregular, lensoidal northwest-trending quartz veins cutting Yusezyu Formation in the Tombstone Strain Zone near the mid-Cretaceous Scheelite Dome stock. The veins strike northwest and dip steeply northeast, in at least three separate zones and are cut by a later quartz-stibnite breccia. The vein is up to 1 m wide and pinches and swells within an 8 m wide zone of shearing, bleaching and sericite alteration. A parallel zone of jointing, veining and minor shearing approximately 8 m wide occurs in the footwall. 

Kennecott’s early work identified geochemical and geophysical anomalous areas on the property. Fine fraction stream sediment sampling carried out by Kennecott returned values as high as 140 ppb Au, while heavy mineral concentrate returned up to 6 560 ppm Au. Rock samples of quartz and arsenopyrite with lessor to trace amounts of stibnite, galena and pyrite returned up to 21.6 g/t Au.

Kennecott and later companies adapted a multidisciplinary work program involving a combination of detailed structural mapping and the concentrated interpretation of geophysical (magnetic, resistivity and IP) and surface-geochemistry data to help guide exploration. Soil sampling outlined a 3 km by 6 km soil geochemistry anomaly with prominent > 40 ppb Au highs. Detailed geophysical programs over the geochemical highs identified northwest-southeast fault zones and adjacent arrays of east-west striking gold-sulphide tension veins. These fault zones represent primary fluid conduits, which are linked hydrothermally by east-west trending tension veins and tension fractures. Areas endowed with a high density of closely spaced NW faults and associated veins have the highest likelihood of hosting economic concentration of Au. Mineralization was also found to occur along reactivated ,early N striking faults.

Several of the holes drilled by Kennecott in 1995 returned significant results. The best intersection, hole 95-5 returned 1.20 g/t Au over 4.41 m from a bleached, light grey-green moderately foliated phyllite containing calcite and grey quartz veinlets and moderate amounts of pyrite and arsenopyrite. Hole 95-2 returned 1.03 g/t Au over 3 m from a similar rock unit.

Kennecott’s 1997 reverse circulation drilling program tested areas within the large gold in soil anomaly located east of the Hawthorne vein structure. All of the holes intersected mineralization. Selected results include: 0.48 g/t Au over 29 m in hole 97-4 which was abandoned at a depth of 29 m and hole 97-11 which assayed 0.415 g/t Au over its entire 60.1 m length.

Diamond drilling in 2007 returned several >1 g/t Au intervals over 10 m, including: 10.18 m of 2.03 g/t Au in SD07-34 and 10.1 m of 2.21 g/t Au in SD097-37 (AR 095636). 

Drilling in 2009 by Golden Predator intersected up to 5% arsenopyrite and pyrite with accessory scorodite and stibnite. The best results from this program included 5.17 g/t Au over 2.52 meters in drill hole GD09-015 and 3.79 g/t Au over 2.15 meters in drill hole GD09-012 (AR 095709). 

Eleven of the drill holes carried out at Hawthorne in 2010 by Golden Predator encountered significant gold mineralization with highlights of 0.65 g/t Au over 22.2 m at 118.10 m in GDDH10- 028 and 0.54 g/t Au over 22.86 m at 150.88 m in GDRC10-028 (AR 095715).