Work History

Originally staked as the Independence 1-4 claim by A.N. Martin, E. Anderson, O. Dahl and C. Williamsen to cover Horseshoe Hill which lies east of McKay Hill across a small valley known as Red Gulch. The staking dates and grant numbers could not be tracked down. 

In Jul/2007 M. Bindig restaked the historic Central zone of McKay Hill (MINFILE 106D 038) as part of the Snoose cl 1-20 (YC56719) and subsequently entered an option agreement with Northex Ventures Inc. In 2009, Northex Ventures Inc. was renamed Monster Mining Corp. whom staked the Snoose 21-90 (YD11201) claims in Aug/2009 to wholly expand the borders of the McKay Hill property and cover the known Independence mineral occurrences.

In 2009, Northex Ventures Inc. was renamed Monster Mining Corp. whom staked the Snoose 21-90 (YD11201) claims in Aug/2009 to wholly expand the borders of the property. Monster Mining Corp. completed a YMIP-funded exploration program completed detailed mapping over the historic Central zone, collection and analysis of 140 soil samples, rock geochemical sampling, prospecting (including the White Hill showing, MINFILE 106D 037) and petrographic work to verify host lithologies.

In Jul/2010, Monster Mining Corp. added the MK 1-54 (YD34936) claims to the northeast. No work program was recorded until 2011 whereby detailed structural mapping, rock sampling and helicopterborne SkyTEM time domain electromagnetic geophysical survey was completed by Monster Mining Corp. No work program was completed on the claims in 2016, at which time they changed their name to Metallic Minerals Corp.

In Oct/2017, Metallic Minerals Corp. expanded the McKay Hill property to the southeast adding the Snoose 91-116 (YF29091) claims. Metallic completed satellite imagery data collection over the property, mapping (1:250- to 1:30,000-scale), prospecting, geochemical rock sampling, hand-pitting over the No. 6 vein and soil sampling. During the 2017 program, Metallic Minerals Corp. completed localized mapping, soil and rock sampling over the Independence occurrence area.

In 2018, the MK 55-96 (YF29201) were added by Metallic Minerals to the west to cover tracked favourable Marmot Group stratigraphy. Metallic completed property-wide mapping and prospecting, cut 16 excavator and hand-trenches which were geochemically channel sampled over the Central zone, and widespread soil sampling (571 samples) over the Bella (MINFILE 106D 100), Red (MINFILE 106D 102), Falls (MINFILE 106D 103)  zones, the Snowdrift Extension vein (MINFILE 106D 104).
 
Capsule Geology
 
The occurrence area is situated on saddle of Horseshoe Hill which lies east of McKay Hill across a small valley known as Red Gulch, approximately 23.5 km northwest of McQuesten Lake. 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 occurrence was interpreted to be underlain by deformed Upper Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian clastic rocks of the Hyland Group. However, industry mapping over 2009-2018 on the project resulted in the interpretation that the host-lithologies in the area are in fact siliciclastic and hypabyssal volcanic rocks interpreted to belong to the Cambrian to Silurian Marmot Group.

Known mineralization at Independence includes four veins and occurs as a series of decimetre to metre-scale brecciated quartz veins with galena ± copper oxides ± sulfosalts veins. The veins have cockade and boiling textures, are internally branded and have brecciation parallel to vein walls and are hosted within vesicular intensely iron-carbonate altered basalts. Metallic Minerals Corp. reported soil and rock geochemical sampling in the Independence area in 2017, however no results are open at the time of writing.