Exploration History

The first recorded staking in this area was by R. Lavoie who staked Laura cl 1-8 (YB30400) 7 km to the east in May/90. Lavoie added Laura cl 9-18 (YB31135) in Jul/90. There is no record of any work being filed on these claims.

The CL 1-24 cl (YB47939) were staked in Dec/93 by C. Little. The claims were transferred to Klondike Reef Mines in March/94. In Jun/94 Klondike Reef carried out a soil sampling program on the claims.

J.P. Ross staked Nina cl 1-74 (YC17172) 6 km to the south east in Jul/99. Ross prospected and collected rock, silt and pan concentrate samples later in the summer. In Jun/2000 Ross staked Nina cl 81-84 (YC19979) and cl 88-99 (YC19983). Ross subsequently optioned the claims to Copper Ridge Exploration Inc which carried out a soil sampling program on and off the claim block before dropping the option at the end of the year.

In Aug/99, V. Nedechev staked Vlad cl 1-12 (YC17416) 3 km east of the occurrence, midway between it and the Nina claims. Nedechev added Vlad cl 13-23 (YC20234) and Vlad cl 24-25 (YC20297) in Aug/2000.

In 2002, Ross collected additional rock and soil samples.

In 2003, Kennecott Canada Exploration Inc. conducted a reconnaissance soil sampling and prospecting in the region and outlined copper, molybdenum, and lead spot anomalies (Pautler, 2011).

From 2004-2005, Copper Ridge Exploration Ltd. completed a reconnaissance and grid soil sampling program and outlined copper anomaly with maximum values of 701 ppm Cu (Pautler, 2011).

In 2009, prospector Shawn Ryan staked the JP claims and optioned the property to Ethos Gold Corp. in 2011. Ethos completed an exploration program that consisted of prospecting, geochemical soil sampling, an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey, and an orthophoto survey that year, but later dropped the option.

In September 2016, White Gold Corp. optioned the property and conducted reconnaissance soil sampling.

In 2018, White Gold conducted grid soil sampling.

In 2019, White Gold focused their attention on the nearby Titan target conducting soil and rock sampling, GT Probe drilling, VLF-EM and magnetic surveying, Induced Polarization surveying, RAB drilling and a LiDAR survey.

Capsule Geology

The area is located at the northwest end of the Yukon portion of the Yukon-Tanana terrane. The region  was mapped by Ryan and Gordey (2002, 2003) as part of the Ancient Pacific Margin NATMAP Project initiated by the Geological Survey of Canada, Yukon Geological Survey and British Columbia Geological Survey Branch.

The occurrence area is underlain by a large exposure of grey gneiss described as intermediate to mafic orthogneiss of variable state of strain. It is composed chiefly of grey-weathering tonalite to diorite sheets and veinlets, giving the rock an intensely layered and banded appearance. It is interpreted as subvolcanic intrusions to volcanic piles (represented by amphibolite) with which it is intimately associated, essentially forming a volcano-plutonic complex. Felsic gneiss, composed of pink- to orange-weathering granite to granodiorite sheets and veinlets crosscut the diorite and tonalite sheets, with which they were transposed.

To the southeast of the occurrence is quartz-mica schist. The unit includes mica-quartz schist and paragneiss of psammitic, semipelitic, and rare pelitic origin. Although transposed, they generally preserve primary compositional layering. These mica-bearing metasedimentary rocks almost ubiquitously contain garnet, whereas other index minerals such as staurolite or aluminum silicate material are very rare. The quartz-mica schist unit is overlain by amphibolite schist and gneiss of highly variable composition and strain. The amphibolite is interstratified with the underlying metasedimentary rocks and although their protolith is difficult to determine due to regional metamorphism; a mafic volcanic to volcaniclastic protolith is likely.

Gold related Alteration/Mineralization on the JPR Property tends to be structurally controlled, often occurring along large-scale E-W and N-S oriented normal faults and along major lithological contacts. Thin, stacked, high-grade veinlets are known to occur as second and third order splays from primary structures which are often oriented NE-SW and NW-SE proximal to major structures. Geochemical associations with gold are target specific with mineralization occurring as Au-only or associated with any combination of Pb, Bi, As, Ag, Cu, Te, Sb.

Mineralization at the Vertigo is hosted within a network of WNW trending, moderate to steeply south dipping, shallow structures that are subparallel to topography. Individual structures are typically up to 3m and host high-grade mineralization associated with quartz veining, brecciation, and strong sericite-quartz alteration with local fine-grained visible gold, disseminated to locally massive arsenopyrite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrite. The high-grade intervals pinch and swell both laterally and vertically with the strongest mineralization occurring where the structures cross lithologic contacts; particularly fine-grained amphibolite and felsic gneiss. The high-grade mineralization occurs within broader envelopes of lower grade mineralization (<0.1 g/t Au) that define a SE plunge to the overall system. The system also appears to have been cut by at least 3, late, NE oriented structures which have locally truncated and offset the mineralization. To date (2019) the drilling has defined the system approximately 300m along strike, 200m in width, and 275m down-dip. The system is open along strike and down plunge to the SE with strong potential for expansion (White Gold Corp website, July 2022).

Drilling at Vertigo in 2019 returned 9.61 g/t Au over 4.15m in hole JPRVER19D0005, 3.92 g/t Au over 1.68 m in hole JPRVER19D0049 and 2.6 g/t Au over 3.1m in hole JPRVER19D0050.