Work History

The claim block (Val cl 1-318, YA30884) covering the occurrence was staked in July and Aug 1978 by Prism Joint Venture (Asame ra Oil Corporation, Chieftain Development Company Ltd., Prism Resources Ltd., Siebens Oil and Gas Ltd. and E & B Exploration Ltd.). In 1979, Dome Petroleum Ltd. replaced Siebens in the joint venture, and staked Val cl 319-376 (YA40125). In 1981, sixteen holes (1629.5 m) were drilled on the Siltstone vein. Dome dropped its interest and E & B Exploration's interest was transferred to Imperial Metals Ltd. in 1983. In Oct/1997, 15966 Yukon Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Manson Creek Resources Ltd., staked Rusty cl 1-131 (YB99989) surrounding the Vera claims and forming one contiguous block of claims. A regional airborne geophysical survey was conducted over the claim block in 2001 (no report available). Strategic Metals Ltd. re-staked the historical Val area as the Rusty series claims (e.g., Rusty 182, YD33422) in 2010, covering the occurrence. Strategic took grab samples in over the Siltstone occurrence in 2010. Silver Predator Canada Corp. optioned the Rusty claims from Strategic and drilled nine diamond drill holes (1335.59 m) in 2011.

Regional & Property Geology

The Siltstone deposit is located at the southern edge of the Mackenzie Platform, a predominantly shallow water carbonate and clastic sequence that formed on the western margin of the North American craton during Lower Proterozoic through Paleozoic times. The regional geology consists of Upper Proterozoic Rapitan(?) Group mudstones overlain by Upper Proterozoic Profeit Formation dolostones and Upper Proterozoic Nadaleen Formation silty limestone. Over these units are minor clastic and carbonate rocks of the Neoproterozoic to Lower Cambrian Hyland Group. Lower Paleozoic platform carbonates unconformably overlie these units. The southern portion of the historical Val (Rusty) claims associated with the Siltstone occurrence is regionally correlated with Upper Proterozoic Hyland Group and Upper Cambrian to Lower Devonian Bouvette Formation. Collectively, this succession comprises mostly dolostone, quartzite and shale.

The following property description is summarized from Prism’s work in 1979 and 1980 (Sivertz, 1981):

The dolostone, quartzite, shale units in the southern part of the property trend northwesterly, and dip steeply to the northeast at roughly 40° to 60°. These units are in fault contact with clastic rocks striking east-west and dipping moderately to the south by a number of northeasterly trending faults with displacements of up to 500 m present in the area. North of an east-west trending fault is a highly cleaved, thinly laminated, southeast dipping pale to dark green sericitic siltstone unit that is the host for the Siltstone vein.
 
Mineralization & Results
 
The Siltstone showing is a 0.2 m to 2 m wide quartz-dolomite vein hosted in green sericitic siltstone. An alteration halo of light green to white sericite-rich siltstone extends up to five meters into the wall rocks. The vein strikes 040 degrees, almost parallel to the siltstone host rock strike, and was intermittently exposed in a trench over a strike length of 200 m. Vein mineralization consists of  massive, fine- to coarse-grained galena, dark brown sphalerite, tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite and pyrite (AR 095720).
 
Diamond drilling in 2011 near the Siltstone occurrence noted mineralization in core as “stockwork quartz-carbonate veinlets with galena ± sphalerite ± chalcopyrite and a discontinuous, poddy vein of massive galena-tetrahedrite-sphalerite parallel to and truncated by a fault” (AR 096253). The veinlets fill fractures within the deformed host rock and appear extensional in nature. Galena and sphalerite mineralization within the veinlets is irregular. This stockwork zone is associated with sericitization of the siltstone (AR 096253).

The Siltstone Zone was discovered by Prism in 1980 who performed trenching and diamond drilling in 1981. A total of 1629.5 m of drilling was completed in sixteen holes during the 1981 program. Four of these holes outlined a lens of high grade silver, lead and zinc material over a strike length of about 50 m. One of the best holes of the program returned 10.46 m of 292.4 g/t Ag, 6.63% Pb and 2.17% Zn (AR 090923; AR 095720).

In 2010, Strategic visited the showing and collected a single sample of typical high grade material composed of massive galena with tetrahedrite and strong malachite stains found near the northeast end of the vein. The sample and assayed 4460 g/t Ag, 75.98% Pb, and 2.19% Cu. The area north of the trenches was prospected in hopes of extending the vein. No evidence of vein material was found, but the nature of the colluvium in this area makes prospecting and hand trenching ineffective (AR095720).

Nine holes were drilled by Silver Predator in 2011, with the best intercept returning 1008.0 g/t Ag, 222.7 % Pb, 38.8 % Zn, and 2.6 % Cu over 5.4 m, including 1.59 m of 3,099 g/t Ag, 71.27% Pb and 3.32% Zn in hole RM11-007. Significant results also include 0.74 m of 1,055 g/t Ag, 2.95% Pb and 5.27% Zn from a depth of 18.5 m in hole RM11-003 and 0.66 m of 386 g/t Ag, 7.80% Pb and 10.17% Zn from a depth of 102.8 m in hole RM11-009.