History

Although silver-lead-gold veins were likely found in the Sixtymile area in the late 1890s, the first reported discovery was made by J. Lerner and M. Chefkoi in 1965. Lerner and Chefkoi optioned the claims to A. Moisey, who later transferred them to the Sixtymile Mining Company Ltd.

In 1966 and 1967, Sixtymile Mining carried out bulldozer trenching and electromagnetic surveys. The trenching uncovered substantial lenses of massive galena on the No. 1 and No. 3 veins. In summer 1966, a total of 22.7 tonnes of hand sorted material was collected from open cuts on the No. 1 and No. 3 veins, and shipped to the Cominco smelter in Trail, British Columbia. This shipment averaged 2.1 g/t gold, 2297 g/t silver and 67.3% lead.

During 1968 and 1969, the property was held under option by Connaught Mines Ltd, which completed geological mapping, geochemical sampling, 35200 m3 of bulldozer trenching and 431.8 m of diamond drilling in eight holes. The 1969 soil sampling covered much of the property and generated new silver-lead targets. It also identified strong copper response in irregular clusters away from the veins. Bulldozer trenching on the geochemical anomalies led to the discovery or delineation of more vein zones, the best of which were the No. 4, No. 7 and No. 8. Six of the diamond drill holes tested the No. 1 Vein and the other two holes explored the No. 3 Vein. Most of the holes intersected variably mineralized vein structures.

In 1976, Connaught Mines transferred its interest to A. Tottrup, who optioned the property to J. Lerner. That summer J. Lerner extracted an additional 218 tonnes of ore from shallow pits on the No. 1 and No. 3 veins and shipped it to the Asarco smelter in East Helena, Montana. Combined, the 1966 and 1976 shipments totalled 240.7 tonnes at an average grade of 1.0 g/t gold, 2228.5 g/t silver and 60% lead.

In 1979, A. Tottrup re-optioned the claims to Westley Mines Ltd. but there is no record of work by that company and the option was dropped after one year.

In 1981, J. Lerner staked sixteen additional claims. The entire claim block was then sold to Lougheed Resources Ltd., which cut trenches on the No. 1 Vein totalling 4134 m3 . These trenches were not mapped or sampled until 1982 due to an early snowstorm. The claims were held in good standing by Lougheed Resources for four years but were allowed to lapse in 1986.

In spring 1987, Walhalla Exploration Ltd. re-staked the core of the property and optioned the claims to Croesus Resources Inc., which sub-optioned part of the claim block to Red Fox Minerals Ltd. and Kelan Resources Ltd. Aurum Geological Consultants Inc. was contracted to conduct an exploration program that consisted of geological mapping, geochemical sampling, geophysical surveys and bulldozer trenching. The following year, Kelan Resources and Croesus Resources completed 315.8 m of diamond drilling in ten holes. Three of the holes tested the No. 9 Vein, which lies within claims that adjoined the Connaught project. Another of the holes tested the No. 8 Vein and the other six holes explored beneath a magnetite skarn. Also in 1988, Red Fox Minerals drilled a total of 296.4 m in eight holes on the No. 4 Vein. Results from the drilling were not considered to be encouraging and all of the claims were allowed to lapse.

In 1998, 17363 Yukon Inc. re-staked the main showings, while P. Ledwidge staked the OM claims in the area of the No. 9 Vein, and the MUG claims over the headwaters of Mosquito Creek. 17363 conducted minor prospecting and geochemical sampling before contracting Equity Engineering Ltd. to perform geological mapping and geochemical sampling across the known veins and showings.

In 1999, Ledwidge optioned the OM and MUG claims to Carta Resources Ltd., which enlarged the project by staking the TOM claims to the northeast. Later that year, Carta performed geological mapping and soil sampling on both claim blocks.

In January 2000, Carta sold all of its claims to H. Leo King and Associates Inc. Following this, King staked the MI 1-10 claims at the eastern end of the project. The OM, TOM and MI claims, collectively referred to as the Ami property, were subsequently optioned to Grid Capital Corporation. In 2001, Grid Capital performed soil sampling, prospecting and limited geological mapping.

In 2003, Grid Capital conducted induced polarization (IP) surveying and drilled five holes (813.8 m).

In 2005, R. Nordling staked the MAG claims to cover the No. 8 Vein and the magnetite skarn.

In spring 2006, the CN and NC claims were staked by ATAC Resources Ltd, which immediately entered a joint venture with Klondike Silver Corp. A property-wide helicopter borne VTEM survey was flown that summer.

In 2007, Klondike Silver preformed prospecting, geochemical sampling, excavator trenching and 556 m of diamond drilling in seven holes. The program lead to the discovery of the Stirling and Rain Veins and  re-located the Core Shack Vein. Diamond drilling confirmed down dip continuity of mineralization at the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4 veins.

In fall 2007, ATAC and Klondike Silver optioned Mag claims from R. Nordling.

In 2008, ATAC and Klondike Silver continued with geochemical sampling, excavator trenching and excavator stripping of veins. Prospecting and excavator trenching resulted in the discovery of the AC/DC, Ice, Rain and PP veins.

In 2009, a program of prospecting, geochemical sampling and excavator stripping was undertaken by Klondike Silver on behalf of the ATAC-Klondike Silver joint venture. The No. 1, No. 3, No. 8 and Stirling veins were stripped within existing excavations with the intention of improving access for future bulk sampling. Prospecting in areas of anomalous soils discovered or re-discovered several mineralized veins not previously documented, notably the 69-3 Vein from the 1969 exploration program and a north-easterly extension of the No.7 Vein. The Nordling option was terminated at the end of 2009.

In 2011, Seafield Explorations Ltd. staked the KAM claims, which surrounded the Connaught property to the north, northeast and southwest. That year, Seafield optioned the claims, collectively referred to as the Fifty Mile Project, to 0908937 B.C. Ltd., which collected reconnaissance soil samples across the entirety of the project. The claims subsequently allowed to lapse.

In 2012, ATAC purchased Klondike Silver’s 50% interest in the Connaught claims.

In January 2015, ATAC staked the non-contiguous OM 1-48 claims, which covered a large portion of the historical Ami property. Later that year, ATAC conducted a program of soil sampling, prospecting and geological mapping. Samples of altered and/or mineralized porphyry material returned encouraging results, including up to 36.8 g/t silver, 0.14% copper, 2.43% lead and 2.14% zinc, while prospecting up to 1000 m along strike of the No. 9 Vein returned 7.5 g/t gold, 1040 g/t silver and 15% lead.

In April 2017, ATAC staked the CN 265 to 289 claims, to connect the Connaught claims to the OM claims, and the CN 290 to 301 claims, expanding the property to the south. That summer, ATAC performed grid and contour-controlled soil sampling in three areas of the property, which highlighted a previously unrecognized, broad, silver- and lead-in-soil anomaly.

In 2017, Independence Gold Corp. staked the Stinger property, immediately southwest of Connaught and performed ridge-and-spur soil sampling, which identified an area of weakly elevated lead, silver and zinc in the southwest part of the property.

In August 2018, ATAC purchased the Stinger property from Independence Gold Corp.

In 2019, ATAC conducted a program consisting of grid soil sampling and prospecting. Grid soil sampling extended coverage to the southwest of two existing soil grids anomalies and reconnaissance soil sampling covered areas with limited previous sampling.

Geology

The No. 8 and No. 9 veins are located immediately east to the Connaught property. These veins are similar to the veins exposed on the Connaught property, but have a slightly higher silver-to-lead ratio. The No. 9 Vein also has a substantial percentage of crystalline barite within the vein. Prospecting on the Connaught property up to 1000 m along strike of the No. 9 Vein resulted in the discovery of three mineralized quartz vein occurrences. Four composite grab samples were collected and returned peak values of 7.5 g/t gold, 1040 g/t silver and 15% lead.