The Star Klondike occurrence is located about 7 kilometres southeast of the community of Houston.
Lower Jurassic Hazelton Group volcanic rocks are intruded by an Eocene Nanika Intrusions quartz feldspar porphyry stock dated at 56.2 plus or minus 3.0 million years (Preliminary Map 11). The volcanic rocks range in composition from basalt to rhyolite and are comprised mainly of pyroclastics and breccias. Copper, zinc and silver mineralization occur in the volcanics (refer to Deer, 093L 011).
Mineralization consisting mainly of chalcopyrite, magnetite, molybdenite and pyrite occurs as disseminations and fracture fillings in the porphyry intrusion and in the immediately adjacent Hazelton volcanics. Minor bornite has also been reported. Some albitization, carbonate alteration, sericitization, and kaolinization have taken place and one zone exhibits intense silicification. Only subeconomic grades of mineralization were intersected in fairly extensive drilling.
Copper grades from within the porphyry system ranged from 0.01 to 0.54 per cent while grades from the country rock ranged from 0.01 to 0.18 per cent (Church, 1972). Gold grades from trace to 0.69 gram per tonne and silver grades from 0.69 to 13.7 grams per tonne were reported from Noranda's drill core samples (Assessment Report 5935).
In 1986, samples collected from the Star Klondike zone ranged from 0.05 to 0.36 gram per tonne gold, 2.1 to 2.7 grams per tonne silver and 0.07 to 0.19 per cent copper (1988 Prospectus for Amanda Resources).
In 2019, a rock sample (2596468) from a historical trench assayed 0.309 gram per tonne gold and 0.543 per cent copper (Laird, B. [2019-11-12]: NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Dungate Project, Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia).
Work History
In about 1962, the initial discovery of copper and molybdenite mineralization was made in a shallow excavation on the newly constructed Dungate Creek logging road. Subsequent trenching parallel to the road failed to reveal any important extension of the mineralization and the owners allowed the claims to lapse. In July 1964, E. Westgarde of Houston re-staked the showing. Additional claims were staked in 1965 and the property was then optioned to Southwest Potash Corporation. A period of detailed exploration followed which included a magnetometer survey, a limited program of soil and rock geochemistry, 914 metres of bulldozer trenching, and geological mapping. Early in 1966, Normont Copper Ltd. gained control of the property and initiated a new phase of investigation. Anco Exploration Ltd. was contracted for general fieldwork including a geochemical survey and in the fall of the same year Huntec Ltd. completed an induced polarization (IP) survey. In 1967, Chapman, Wood and Griswold Ltd. ran another detailed IP survey to pinpoint diamond drill targets. Normont optioned the property to Noranda Exploration Company, Limited in December 1967 and by April 1968 drilling began. The programme included seven AQ wireline drillholes totalling 609 metres. Results were disappointing and the property remained dormant from 1969 to 1972. In April 1972, R. Blusson re-staked the Westgarde holdings for Passport Mines Ltd. The claims were re-staked in 1973 by Chinook Resources and Maverick Mountain Resources who controlled the claims. During March 1974, Canadian Superior Exploration Limited optioned the property and undertook a percussion drilling program between March 22 and April 12, 1974. Six percussion holes were drilled for a total of 548 metres. In 1975, a single diamond-drill hole totalling 337 metres in length was completed by Cities Service Minerals Corporation on the Dungate Creek copper prospect. In 1976, a program of percussion drilling was carried out on the Hot and Cu claims on behalf of Cities Service Minerals Corporation; ten vertical holes were completed totalling 884 metres. From 2018 to 2020, Edgemont Gold Corp. completed geological mapping, prospecting, geophysical surveying, and geochemical (rock and soil) sampling on the area as part of the Dungate property.
