The HOMESTAKE deposit is located on Crown grant Lot 589S, approximately 650 metres southwest of the summit of Mount Franklin. Numerous trenches and pits occur in the general area of the Crown grant north of the HOMESTAKE adit. These are included in this occurrence.
The deposit consists of silver-rich, and locally gold-rich, quartz veins hosted by andesite and dacite flows and tuffs of the Eocene Marron Formation, Penticton Group. In places the veins project under the Kettle River unconformity into volcanic and metasedimentary rock of the underlying Devonian-Triassic Harper Ranch Group. Mineralization in the quartz veins, which are 1 to 3 metres wide, consists of minor amounts of pyrite and local concentrations of galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and tetrahedrite. The veins pinch and swell, displaying sharp contacts in some areas, while in others, grading into diffuse zones of silicification, kaolinization and pyritization.
The HOMESTAKE property dates from the early 1900s. The earliest report refers to 3 quartz veins which carry values in gold and silver (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1900, page 871). The HOMESTAKE claim was Crown granted to Alex McDonald, Peter Wolf and Frank Coryell in 1907.
In 1931, development on the HOMESTAKE property consisted of 6 open-cuts and shallow shafts, the deepest of which was 3 metres deep. A 12-metre crosscut was driven to intersect a vein below one of the shafts. A 1.2-metre sample across the vein assayed 20.5 grams per tonne gold (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1931, page A120). The sulphide mineralogy consists of pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and to a lesser extent, chalcopyrite in a gangue of quartz.
In 1932, the Crown grant was bonded to J.F. McCarthy who carried out diamond-drilling and sunk a 30-meter shaft on the vein. Drifts were driven to the northwest and southeast along the vein from the bottom of the shaft. The drilling indicated continuous mineralization over about 90 metres.
In 1933, the shaft was sunk to 47 metres and the vein was explored by about 120 metres of crosscuts and drifting, and 282 metres of diamond-drilling. Ore produced by the underground development work may have been milled at the adjacent UNION mine (082ENE003). The structure was found to be badly displaced by faults and none of the ore shoots were more than 4.5 metres long.
In 1940, the property was operated by H. Brunner and V. Tishhouser of Greenwood, and by the Homestake Syndicate of Grand Forks in 1941. Production during 1940-41 amounted to 453 tonnes which yielded 6936 grams of gold, 13592 grams of silver, 259 kilograms of lead and 553 kilograms of zinc (Minister of Mines Index No. 3, page 200). Trenching and hand-stripping was carried out by W.E. McArthur in 1942; however, he was unsuccessful in finding more ore.
In 1984, Pearl Resources Ltd. optioned the HOMESTAKE Crown grant from Hecla Mining Co. as part of a large property position they had assembled around the UNION (082ENE003) mine. Most of their work was directed at the UNION mine, none of the work recorded included the HOMESTAKE property.
In 1986, Longreach Resources Ltd. staked and optioned much of the Franklin camp area, including the HOMESTAKE Crown grant. It is probable that Longreach prospected this area, although no reports were filed which included the HOMESTAKE area.
In 1987, the property, now known as the PLATINUM BLONDE property, was optioned to Placer Dome Inc. who proceeded to carry out a major exploration program. In the HOMESTAKE area, Placer sampled the numerous trenches and the adit. Many of the veins assayed over 1 gram per tonne gold and some were as high as 35 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 17273). A vein, exposed in a trench 160 metres northwest of the HOMESTAKE adit, assayed 30 grams per tonne silver, 12.6 grams per tonne gold, 0.066 per cent copper, 0.047 per cent zinc and 0.44 per cent lead (Assessment Report 17273). Placer focused much of their attention in this area on the LAURA (082ENE066) showing, located several hundred metres to the southeast.
In 1993, Sway Resources Inc. optioned a large number of Crown grants and claims in this area, including the HOMESTAKE Crown grant. In late 1993 they carried out a program of prospecting, sampling, geological mapping and a 16-hole rotary and diamond-drill program on the BANNER and HOMESTAKE Crown grants. A 1.2-metre drill intersection in the north HOMESTAKE area assayed 7.5 grams per tonne gold (Property File - Sway Resources Inc., Statement of Material Facts, February 14, 1994). A 1995 press release refers to a 1.82-metre intersection which assayed 34.5 grams per tonne gold with a 0.3-metre section of 110.7 grams per tonne gold (George Cross News Letter, No. 82, April 28, 1995). The location of these drillholes is not recorded.
No further exploration, apart from minor assessment work programs to keep some of the claims in good standing, was completed on the property until it was acquired as a listing property by Tuxedo Resources Ltd. in 2001. Tuxedo assembled a very large land package, by way of 7 separate option agreements. An airborne geophysical survey was completed over the property in 2001.
The focus of the 2003 program by Tuxedo was to test the Homestake (082ENE051) - Banner vein (082ENE002) area. Most of the significant work was done on the Banner vein and the reader is referred to that MINFILE occurrence for details.
