The Buck property comprises 80 claim units that straddle Fawnie Creek and the Kluskus-Ootsa forest service road about 120 kilometres southwest of Vanderhoof.
The Buck claims are underlain by Middle Jurassic Hazelton Group (Naglico Formation) felsic to intermediate flows and lapilli tuffs and fine to coarse-grained, locally fossiliferous volcaniclastics (Fieldwork 1994). Regionally, these units are broadly folded. On the property, bedding typically strikes north-northeast and dips gently to the east. Post-Early Jurassic intrusions crop out in the south and northeast parts of the property.
The main area of interest is underlain by a mixed succession of Hazelton Group mafic and felsic volcanic and sedimentary rocks that generally strike north with gentle to moderate east dips. Exposures of pyritic, rusty weathering, dark grey argillites and siltstones are conformably overlain by rhyolitic tuffs and tuff breccias that resemble those that occur west of the Fawn (093F 043) property. However, the breccias on the Buck property contain abundant clasts of the underlying argillite and siltstone as well as clasts of rhyolite and porphyry. Fine to coarse-grained clastic sedimentary rocks conformably overly the rhyolite package. Dikes and sills of augite-phyric andesite cut the sedimentary and felsic volcanics and may be feeders to augite-phyric andesite flows that are exposed up-section on both the Fawn and Buck properties.
The Rutt zone crops out discontinuously and is exposed in several hand-excavated trenches along a north trend for about 450 metres. Mineralization occurs in clay, sericite, chlorite and silica-altered lapilli tuffs, tuffaceous siltstones and argillites that overlie flow-banded rhyolite. Disseminated sphalerite, pyrite and pyrrhotite are present within the altered tuff; traces of chalcopyrite were also noted. Sphalerite also occurs as a cement or matrix to discrete layers of lapilli. The width of the mineralized horizon is not known but a 3.0-metre chip sample within the zone yielded 2.01 per cent zinc and 0.0306 per cent copper; precious metal values were negligible (Assessment Report 22569).
Float boulders, containing conformable bands of disseminated pyrrhotite and sphalerite, are exposed in a roadcut along the Kluskus-Ootsa forest service road. They are presumably derived from the west-facing hillside west of the Rutt showing (West Slope) and expand the size of the exploration target.
The L14S Trench zone is centred about 1 kilometre due south of the Rutt zone and consists of ankerite breccia with weakly anomalous zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver geochemical values.
The Christmas Cake showing, discovered during the 1994 exploration program, is approximately 300 metres southeast of the Rutt zone. It consists of stockwork and semi-massive to massive sulphide mineralization exposed in two shallow trenches. Mineralization consists of intergrowths of sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and galena that are the matrix for angular clasts of rhyolite tuff. The same sulphides are disseminated throughout vuggy fine-grained milky white quartz-flooded zones. A grab sample from one of the trenches assayed 541 grams per tonne silver, 7.38 per cent zinc and 2.25 per cent lead (Assessment Report 23513). Outcrop exposure is poor in the area of the showing and the trend of the mineralization is not known. The Christmas Cake showing is less than 100 metres west of a quartz feldspar porphyry intrusion. Its genetic relationship to the intrusion and to the Rutt zone is unknown.
Work History
In 1981, BP Minerals Limited staked the Range claims to cover silver-lead-zinc geochemical lake sediment anomalies following the discovery of the Capoose silver occurrence 10 kilometres to the northwest.
In 1982, geological mapping, geochemical soil and stream sediment sampling and bulldozer trenching were performed. Coincident lead-, zinc- and arsenic-in-soil anomalies were delineated within an area about 2,400 metres by 900 metres across within the current Buck and Buck 2 mineral claims. A siltstone crosscut by quartz veinlets contained 86 parts per million zinc, 0.7 parts per million silver and 395 parts per billion gold; felsic tuff or silicified siltstone assayed 4,305 parts per million zinc, 1.8 parts per million silver and 10 parts per billion gold; and, dacite breccia assayed 210 parts per million zinc, 2.1 parts per million silver and 90 parts per billion gold (Assessment Report 10899). Additional 1982 geochemical soil sampling was performed on the Rocks claim, located along the western side of the BP Minerals Limited property area; this area was since covered by the Buck 2 mineral claim. Soils were found to contain anomalous concentrations of lead, zinc, and silver (Assessment Report 10787); this work expanded a geochemical soil anomaly outlined earlier by BP Minerals uphill to the east. The Rocks and the Range claims were later allowed to lapse.
In 1991, the Buck 1 - 4 claims were staked over the area. Western Keltic Mines Inc. did geological mapping, prospecting, and soil sampling on the Buck1-4 property in 1992. The geochemical soil anomalies were confirmed, and stratabound pyrrhotite-sphalerite mineralization was traced for 450 metres along strike within a clay-, chlorite-, sericite- and silica-altered lapilli tuff. This mineralization was named the Rutt Zone; assays ranged up to 2.73 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 22569).
In 1994, Western Keltic Mines Inc. continued work on the Bucks 1-4 property by geological mapping, prospecting, soil sampling and VLF-EM and magnetic surveying. A massive sulphide showing, the “Christmas Cake”, was discovered. Breccia fragments of felsic volcanic rock and pyrite here occur within a sulphide matrix. A chip sample (8301) assayed up to 7.38 per cent zinc, 2.25 per cent lead, 0.12 per cent copper, 541.7 grams per tonne silver and 0.095 gram per tonne gold over 0.40 metre (Assessment Report 23513). Also at this time, samples form the South Grid zone, located approximately 2.2 kilometres south-southeast of the Rutt zone, of disseminated galena-sphalerite mineralization in quartz veins hosted near the contact of a carbonate-sericite–altered quartz-feldspar porphyry and sediments yielded up to 27.0 grams per tonne silver, 1.83 per cent lead and 4.33 per cent zinc from a float sample (484480) and from 0.4 to 5.8 grams per tonne silver, 0.01 to 0.16 per cent lead and 0.28 to 0.44 per cent zinc from three outcrop samples (509315, 545960 and 545961; Assessment Report 23513).
In 1996, Blackstone Resources Inc. completed six diamond drill holes totaling 1,176 m at the Buck 1-4 claims in 1996. These holes tested the Rutt Zone, the Christmas Cake breccia and coincident geophysical and geochemical soil anomalies. Drill results from the Christmas Cake breccia indicated that the breccia is structurally controlled, and assays of drill core were lower than surface samples from this occurrence. An intercept of 1,295 parts per billion gold across 4.0 metres was cut near the bottom of hole BCK96-01. Geophysical conductors were determined to be caused by epithermal style alteration zones (Assessment Report 24549).
In 1998, Pacific Star Resources Inc. completed seven diamond drill holes near the Rutt zone totaling 918.2 metres at the Buck 1 – 4 claims in 1998. Five of these holes tested VLF-EM conductors and geochemical soil anomalies from 1994 work on the property; only weak mineralization was intersected within these holes. In addition, two holes were drilled to test the up-dip projections of the 1.3 grams per tonne gold across 4.0 metres intercept within the feldspar porphyry in hole BCK96-01. The extension of this mineralization was not intersected by the 1998 drill holes. The best result from the 1998 drilling was 1.16 per cent zinc across 1.5 metres, from 4.6 metres to 6.1 metres depth in hole BCK98-06 (Assessment Report 25774).
In 2010, Silver Quest Resources Ltd. conducted a small geochemical rock sampling and prospecting program on the Buck claims. Four geochemical rock samples were collected from the Buck and Buck2 claims. Analytical results showed that these rock samples contained low metal concentrations (Assessment Report 31732).
In 2011, four holes totaling 1083 metres were drilled at the Buck property. Weakly mineralized, well banded rhyolite ash tuff, quartz feldspar porphyry, argillite and andesite were intersected. The best assay was 0.038 gram per tonne gold and 17.4 grams per tonne silver across 0.6 metre in drill hole BCK-11-08 (Assessment Report 32537).
In 2014, New Gold Inc. completed a program silt and till (indicator mineral) sampling on the area as part of the Blackwater and Capoose properties.
