The Joem occurrence is located on the northwestern flank of Mount Haskin, approximately 105 kilometres north of the community of Dease Lake.

On Mount Haskin, an isolated synclinal outlier of Lower Cambrian Atan Group limestone, underlain by siltstone, occurs near the summit. To the east lies the Eocene Major Hart pluton granite stock. A northwest-trending fault along the northeast end of the limestone separates Atan Group rocks from Upper Proterozoic Ingenika Group clastics to the northeast.

Locally, granitic to aplitic rocks of the Eocene Major Hart pluton intrude Lower Cambrian Atan Group limestones, phyllites and quartzites. A molybdenite-quartz-muscovite stockwork is developed in fine and coarse granitic rocks and extends into the adjacent cherty sediments. An aplitic lens in the centre of the molybdenum zone contains disseminated molybdenite and molybdenum-coated fractures. This appears to represent an earlier phase of intrusion and mineralization. The molybdenum zone measures approximately 600 by 100 metres. Reports also report elevated levels of tungsten, tin and bismuth in the molybdenite mineralized areas.

Two northwest-trending pyrrhotite-sphalerite-galena-chalcopyrite massive skarn lenses occur in calc-silicate hornfels (Atan Group rocks) just to the north of the molybdenum zone. These are cut by faults trending approximately 010 degrees. Sericitic alteration is common. A zone mineralization was revealed in trenches and low benches with approximately 200 square metres of exposure. All rocks in outcrop are siliceous and hornfelsed and are very strongly iron stained due to oxidation of pyrrhotite; freshly broken surfaces have fine- to medium-grained sulphides, mostly pyrrhotite with small amounts of sphalerite and galena.

Work History

The area was first staked in part by Yukon Ranges Prospecting Syndicate in the spring of 1948 and the following year a program of geological mapping, sampling and trenching was performed. The property had been staked originally approximately 40 years before this and was the centre of a promotion that collapsed with the death of the promoter, Haskins. A representative sample of material from a trench dump is reported to have assayed 12.16 per cent zinc, 0.76 per cent lead, 0.70 per cent copper and 16.3 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 00048).

Since 1949, two claims and a fraction lapsed and were restaked in 1954 by G. Hope of Quartzrock Creek and J. Thompson of Watson Lake. Three claims owned by Mr. Turner of Telegraph Creek and two owned by G.C.F. Dalziel of Watson Lake were Crown granted. Since these first miners, the claims have been dropped and restaked many times as the price of metals fluctuated.

Indicated reserves are 12 245 850 tonnes grading 0.15 per cent MoS2; conversion to molybdenum using the factor 1.6681 (Iso Mining Ltd. Annual Report 1971).

In 1997, Demand Gold Ltd. explored the property, completing eight diamond drill holes on the A zone, where Della Mines Ltd. previously established a drill-inferred resource of 275 200 tonnes grading 5 per cent zinc, 3 per cent lead and 34.29 grams per tonne silver (George Cross News Letter No.223 [November 20], 1997). The 1997 drilling yielded intercepts of 0.494 per cent copper, 1.77 per cent lead, 11.54 per cent zinc and 162.1 grams per tonne silver over 0.9 metre in hole AZ97-01; 0.477 per cent molybdenum over 0.78 metre in hole AZ97-02; 0.268 per cent copper and 1.29 per cent zinc over 2.82 metres in hole AZ97-03; 24.85 per cent zinc over 0.6 metre of massive sulphide in hole AZ97-05; 0.113 per cent molybdenum over 21.36 metres in hole AZ97-07 and 0.081 per cent molybdenum, 0.075 per cent copper, 0.072 per cent lead, 0.526 per cent zinc and 8.9 grams per tonne silver over 14.7 metres in hole AZ97-08 (Ostensoe, E.A. [2007-12-01]: Review of Mt. Haskin and Cassiar Moly Molybdenum Prospects).

In 2006, the Haskin claim was prospected by G. Diakow and J. Hope. A reconnaissance geochemical line 2 kilometres in length was sampled at 50-metre intervals and 41 soil samples were collected and analyzed.

In 2007, Velocity Minerals Ltd. acquired the property and in 2009 released an updated inferred resource estimate of 11 019 100 tonnes grading 0.1012 per cent molybdenum using a cut-off grade of 0.05 per cent molybdenum (Velocity Minerals Ltd News Release - June 8, 2009).

In 2008, Velocity Minerals Ltd. completed a drill program of 13 HQ-core drillholes from 10 different setups for a total of 3427 metres. Diamond drilling yielded intercepts of up to 0.09 per cent molybdenum over 115.1 metres, including 0.177 per cent molybdenum over 33.5 metres in hole VEL-04-08 and 0.12 per cent molybdenum over 60.9 metres, including 0.26 per cent molybdenum over 6.0 metres in hole VEL-13-08 (Ostensoe, E.A. [2009-02-26]: Ammended Review of Mt. Haskin and Cassiar Moly Molybdenum Prospects).

In 2009, Velocity Minerals Ltd. continued with a drill program of four NQ-core drillholes from four different setups for a total of 783 metres. The main purpose of the drill program was to confirm one drillhole that had been drilled in the late 1960s by Della Mines and then to step out and drill three holes outside of the known resource with the intent to expand the resource. The drilling program was successful in locating the mineralization that had been originally drilled by Della Mines; the step-out holes did not intersect significant mineralization.