Work History

First staked by Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Limited as the Top cl 1-170 (75213) in Sep/60 and later restaked by Atlas EL as Dub cl 1-167 (89964) in Jan/66. Atlas conducted airborne and ground geophysical surveys in 1966 and drilled 3 holes (252.7 m) in 1967. In 1980 Welcome North Mines Ltd optioned the Dub claims from Atlas Exploration. In 1990 Placer Dome Exploration Ltd optioned the remaining Dub Claims from Welcome North Mines. As part of the option agreement Placer Dome restaked the occurrence within a large block of 192 Fire claims (YB33748).
In Nov/95 Columbia Gold Mines Ltd optioned the Fire claims from Welcome Opportunities Ltd (a successor company to Welcome North Mining Ltd and Atlas Exploration Ltd). The claims were included in a larger claim package which included the Fyre occurrence (Minfile Occurrence #105G 034) and the Top occurrence (Minfile Occurrence 105G 035) both located to the north. Between late June and early Oct/96 Columbia Gold carried out an extensive regional exploration program in the area.
In late 1996 Columbia staked Ember cl 57-99 (YB88864) on the west side of the Fire claims. The next year the company drilled 8 diamond drill holes approximately 1 km north of the occurrence. In May/99, Columbia Gold Mines Limited consolidated its capital on a 3 old for 1 new basis and changed its name to Pacific Ridge Exploration Limited.

Capsule Geology

The Finlayson Lake district is underlain by the Yukon-Tanana Terrane: a Late Proterozoic to Paleozoic metamorphosed volcano-sedimentary assemblage. It is regionally bounded to the southwest by the Tintina Fault. This terrane hosts several known volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits and occurrences, including Kudz Ze Kayah (Minfile Occurrence #105G 117), Wolverine (Minfile Occurrence #105G 072) and Ice (Minfile Occurrence #105G 118).
The area surrounding the occurrence was not examined by Yukon Geology Program geologists during their regional mapping program. However rock units can be extrapolated from mapping reported by Columbia Gold and other companies. Thus the occurrence is probably underlain by unit DMF, Fire Lake mafic metavolcanic unit, a thick package of massive calcareous chloritic schists and lesser carbonaceous phyllite and quartzite, serpentinized ultramafics and fine to coarse grained gabbro. Unit DMF is overlain by unit MK, Kudz Ze Kayah felsic metavolcanic unit, an undifferentiated feldspar-muscovite-quartz schist, feldspar and less commonly quartz augen schist. The lower contact between units DMF and MK is marked by unit MKcp, a carbonaceous muscovite-quartz schist or phyllite and quartz-muscovite (augen) schist (Murphy and Piercey, 1999 map). Mississippian aged variably strained granite (unit MSg) probably occurs as a thrust panel south and east of the occurrence.
Historically, the bulk of exploration work in the region was aimed at exploring the adjoining Fyre occurrence (Minfile Occurrence 105G 034) located 3.5 km to the northwest. Most companies explored the area around the Dub occurrence in hopes of discovering similar VMS mineralization. Various soil sampling and geophysical surveys outlined coincident anomalies in the area but no substantial amount of mineralization has yet been found.
Cassiar Asbestos found boulders of mineralized float in this area grading 1.57% and 2.08% Cu. Atlas found coincident EM and geochemical anomalies in an area underlain by schist and phyllite and covered by extensive overburden in a flat area described as being located ¿at an elevation of about 3,500 feet and 1,200 feet east of the southeast corner of Fyre Lake¿ (GSC Paper 67-40). Drilling in 1967 (400 m in three holes) ¿failed to explain the anomalies¿ (GSC Paper 68-68).
Columbia Gold filed assessment work for two of the eight drill holes (303 m). Both holes were drilled to test coincident geochemical and geophysical anomalies and intersected alternating bands of phyllite and biotite- chlorite-quartz-carbonate schists. Only trace amounts of disseminated pyrite and pyrrhotite were noted.

References

ATLAS EXPLORATIONS LTD, Nov/66. Assessment Report #019793 by T.L. Sadlier-Brown.

ATLAS EXPLORATIONS LTD, Feb/67. Assessment Report #061187 by T.L. Sadlier-Brown

BLANCHFLOWER, D., DEIGHTON, J., AND FOREMAN, I., The Fyre Lake Deposit: A new VMS discovery. 1997. Columbia Gold Mines Ltd, Handout given at Cordilleran Round-up.

COLUMBIA GOLD MINES LTD, May/98. Assessment Report #093569 by J. D. Blanchflower and I. J. Foreman.

COLUMBIA GOLD MINES LTD, May/98. Assessment Report #093778 by J. Deighton and I. J. Foreman.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, Paper 67-40, p. 59-60.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, Paper 68-68, p. 78.

HUNT, J.A. and MURPHY, D.C., 1998. A note on preliminary bedrock mapping in the Fire Lake area. In: Yukon Geology and Exploration 1997: Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p 59-68.

MURPHY, D.C., AND PIERCEY, S.J., 1999. Geological evolution of parts of Finlayson Lake (105G/7, 8 and and 9) and Frances Lake (parts of 105H/5 and 12) map areas, southeastern Yukon (1:100,000 scale). Exploration and Geological Services Division, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Open File 1999-4

MURPHY, D.C. AND PIERCEY, S.J., 2000. Syn-mineralization faults and their re-activation, Finlayson Lake massive sulphide district, Yukon-Tanana Terrane, southeastern Yukon. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 1999, D.S. Emond and L.H. Weston (eds.), Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 55-66.

PLACER DOME INC, Dec/91. Assessment Report #092991 by R.W. Stroshein

YUKON EXPLORATION AND GEOLOGY 1979-80, p.91-95; 1981, p. 135; 1996, p. 16-17, 30, 32; 1997, p. 36, 38.

YUKON EXPLORATION 1991, p. 6, 10.