The Skook (CL II) occurrence is located at an elevation of approximately 930 metres on a north-facing slope of a small hill north of Chuchi Lake and approximately 7.2 kilometres southeast of Lhole Tse Mountain.
The Skook alteration system contains several small showings and occurs primarily within a Lower Jurassic (late Pliensbachian) sedimentary marker unit of the Chuchi Lake Formation near its contact with Early Jurassic intrusive rocks of the Hogem Intrusive Complex (Fieldwork 1991, page 115). The complex, the southeastern end of which outcrops on the north and south shores of Chuchi Lake, comprises at least three main phases ranging in age from Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous.
The CL II zone is the area of most intense alteration and highest density of crowded porphyry monzonite intrusions. It is exposed in an east-trending gully in a logging cut. The sediments are bleached and hornfelsed; alteration minerals include potassium feldspar, chlorite, pyrite, sericite, epidote, biotite, calcite and minor tourmaline (Assessment Report 18073). These rocks contain disseminated pyrite, pyrrhotite and minor chalcopyrite and bornite. White-weathering siliceous tuffs with limy nodules are baked and have developed weak skarn alteration minerals such as garnet and chlorite. A polymetallic quartz vein contains sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite.
The South zone lies 250 metres south-southwest of this vein and consists of a silicified zone in volcanics that contains quartz, calcite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite.
Work History
In 1967, Tro-Buttle Exploration Ltd. completed a program of soil sampling and geological mapping on the area as the Jay claims.
In 1971, the SRM 1-20, 25-66, and CIR 1-20 claims were held by S.E.R.E.M. Ltd. Work during the year included geological mapping, a geochemical soil survey and a 37.7 line-kilometre magnetometer survey. Further work during 1973 included a geochemical survey comprising 345 soil and 17 silt samples.
Nation River Resources Ltd. staked the SKOOK 3-6 claims in 1987 to cover old showings. These may have included the Creek (093N 083), Skook (093N 140) and Rig Breccia (093N 208) which occur within these claim boundaries. Initial work by Nation River during the fall of 1987 and spring of 1988 focused on gold; a small program of soil (173) and rock ((99) sampling, prospecting and hand trenching returned significant values in gold, copper and silver from veins in propylitically altered Takla volcanics near hypabyssal alklic intrusions. Grab samples from the CL II zone yielded up to 13.4 grams per tonne gold, 16.6 grams per tonne silver and 2.3 per cent zinc, whereas a 1-metre chip sample yielded 2.75 grams per tonne gold and 6.4 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 18073). Also at this time, a 1-metre chip sample from the South zone yielded 4.3 grams per tonne gold and 53 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 18073).
Also in 1988, Noranda Mining and Exploration Inc. completed a program of soil sampling on the surrounding area as the Klaw 1-9 claims.
In 1990, B.P. Resources Canada Ltd. optioned the SKOOK 3-6 and 16 claims from Nation River and conducted a helicopter-borne electromagnetic-VLF-EM survey of 210 line- kilometres over the property. The Wit was now covered by the Skook 16 claim. Purpose of the survey was to delineate magnetite-bearing intrusions that could host porphyry copper-gold deposits (Assessment Report 21108).
In 1991, B.P. also cut and soil sampled 64.35 kilometres of line, collecting 1250 soil and 59 rock samples. B.P. also ran 66.5 kilometres of induced polarization surveys on the SKOOK 3-6 and 16 and 17 claims and completed 1243 metres of NQ diamond drilling in 11 holes. A 1-metre chip sample (135006) from a 20-centimetre-wide quartz vein that cuts strongly silicified andesite yielded 0.49 per cent copper, 0.0045 per cent lead, 0.50 per cent zinc, 11.7 grams per tonne silver and 0.022 gram per tonne gold, whereas a grab sample (135005) from a 0.5-metre wide quartz vein cutting silicified and fractured andesite assayed 0.49 per cent copper, 0.50 per cent zinc and 11.7 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 21820). These samples came from the South zone. A grab sample (135004) from the CL II zone yielded 0.11 per cent lead and 0.34 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 21820).
Also at this time, a drillhole (SK91-04), located approximately 300 metres north-northwest of the CL II zone, is reported to have ended in a silicified and pyritized breccia zone with 3 grams per tonne gold over 2.0 metres (Assessment Report 21820).
The Skook claims were returned to Nation River Resources Ltd. in 1992.
In 1994, Nation Rivers excavator trenching and pit digging on western portions of the Skook property. Trenches S-1 and S-2 were dug in the South Zone (093N 140) where hand trenches had previously exposed copper-gold mineralization. Five trenches were dug in the central zone to check for extension of the CL 11 Zone. Trenches were sampled and map yielding up to 0.48 gram per tonne gold, 5.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.24 per cent copper over 7 metres and 2.79 grams per tonne gold with 39.8 grams per tonne silver over 0.5 metre in trench S-1; 1.48 grams per tonne gold, 31.3 grams per tonne silver, 1.69 per cent lead and 0.12 per cent zinc over 0.25 metre in trench S-7 and 0.191 per cent copper, 3.03 per cent zinc and 9.2 grams per tonne silver over 0.45 metre and 1.97 grams per tonne gold over 0.15 metre in trench S-5 (Assessment Report 24172).
In 2002, Nation River Resources Ltd completed 227 metres of BQ diamond drilling in two holes on the Skook mineral claims (Assessment Report 27087). In 2002, a BQ diamond drill hole (SKO2-01) was collared at the CL II to test gold mineralization previously found trench. It intersected 3.2 metres of overburden then variably carbonate altered andesitic to rhyolitic tuffaceous sediments to a depth of 100.9 metres. The best gold values were 83 parts per billion across 1 metre. Hole SKO2-02 was collared within a few hundred metres to the northwest in order to test to a gold anomaly at the end of drillhole SK91-04 drilled by B.P. in 1991. SK91-04 was re-entered and reamed to a depth of 106.5 metres where BQ drilling continued to 120.75 metres and encountered a bleached, silicified and pyritized breccia zone which averages 59.1 parts per billion gold, 167.5 parts per million copper over 14.25 metres, with a maximum value of 376 parts per billion gold.
During 2009 through 2019, Ronald J. Bilquist conducted programs of prospecting, rock and soil sampling, and geological mapping on the area as the Chuchi 1-10 claims. In 2010, three samples (CH-006 through CH-008) of mineralized quartz veins from the CL II zone yielded values from 0.081 to 0.781 per cent copper, 0.015 to 0.107 per cent lead, 6.0 to 43.6 grams per tonne silver, 0.036 to 2.881 grams per tonne gold and all with greater than 1.00 per cent zinc, whereas four samples (CH-0009 through CH-0012) of mineralized quartz veins from the South zone yielded from 0.011 to 0.302 per cent zinc, 17.2 to 93.2 grams per tonne silver and 1.484 to 5.707 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 31649).
In 2020, Cirrus Gold Corp. completed a program of prospecting, geological mapping, rock sampling and an airborne magnetic survey on the area as the Chuchi South project.
