The Vega copper-gold occurrence is located on Vega Creek, eight kilometres northwest of Uslika Lake, approximately 56 kilometres northwest of the community of Germansen Landing or 200 kilometres northwest of Fort St. James.
The occurrence consists of disseminated chalcopyrite, bornite and pyrite in andesitic breccias of the Triassic to Jurassic Takla Group. Syenite and syenodiorite dikes associated with the Early Jurassic Hogem Plutonic Suite intrude the volcanic pile. The volcanic assemblage is propylitically altered, consisting of calcite, epidote, chlorite, hematite and quartz. Secondary biotite and pink feldspar and chalcedony veinlets locally filling fractures indicate a potassic overprint. A major north to northwest trending shear zone within calcareous and siliceous andesite breccia contains disseminated cinnabar.
Work in the 1930s concentrated on copper and gold mineralization related to a major northwest-trending fault. Cominco Ltd. staked a number of claims on Vega, Thane and Pluto creeks in 1935. From 1936 to 1938, approximately 200 metres of underground workings were completed with an ore section reported to grade 1.46 per cent copper and 4.82 grams per tonne gold for 10.5 metres (Property File Placer Dome - Weishaupt, P.J., 1989).
During the 1960s, a 200-metre-long trench, 1200 metres south of an adit on Vega Creek, exposed propylitically altered andesite breccia containing disseminated chalcopyrite.
Work during the 1970s examined the copper porphyry potential of the property and included a program of airborne geophysics, geological mapping, ground geophysics, geochemical surveys and diamond drilling (2052 metres). Six metres of drill core averaged 0.05 gram per tonne gold (Assessment Report 18044). During the 1980s, Canmine Development Company and Cyprus Gold completed the staking of two additional claims to cover anomalous areas found during geochemical and geophysical surveys and a further eight diamond-drill holes (1071 metres) were completed to test these.
The Vega property was dormant from 1988 to 2011, however, more recent RGS (Regional Geochemical Survey) sampling has identified numerous drainages on the property that are anomalous in gold, mercury and copper.
In 2011, Canmine Development Co. Ltd. completed geochemical analysis of samples, which suggested a stratabound sulphide deposit shown by sulphide-rich gossans, interbedded with green intermediate volcanic flows at the Pluto showing (094C 019). The results from other showings were unimpressive. It was then recommended to either complete mapping around the Pluto showing, or obtain the entire Vega claim, followed by a review of all data and follow-up field work. The Pluto occurrence is located 5.4 kilometres west-southwest of the Vega.
Canmine Development Co. Ltd. was a predecessor of Canasil Resources Inc. In 2013 and 2014, Canasil Resources Inc. completed a remote sensing data acquisition survey for the Vega project covering approximately 11,407 hectares of surface area, consisting of 34 mineral tenures. The Vega property encompasses six occurrences: Pluto, 094C 019; Thane, 094C 020; Vega; MJW, 094C 108; Bottle, 094C 110; and Ten, 094C 134.
In 2014, Canasil Resources Inc. conducted a limited program consisting of one short soil contour line, and prospecting and rock sampling in two areas; this work did not generate any new areas of interest. The program did, however, locate the Vega occurrence which consists of a partially caved, inclined shaft, a mine dump, several possible drillhole collars, a series of trenches and two collapsed cabins along Vega Creek. A select grab sample of potassic altered andesite/latite with fracture controlled chalcopyrite-pyrite collected from the dump below the Vega shaft graded 0.24 per cent copper, 0.36 gram per tonne gold and 3.1 grams per tonne silver (Assessment Report 35169).
In 2015, Canasil contracted PhotoSat to produce a satellite elevation grid covering ten square kilometres on its Vega property. The coverage was split equally between, and centred on, the Pluto and Vega prospects. The Vega and Pluto 1 metre stereo satellite elevation grids and 50 centimetre precision orthophotos were produced from 50 centimeter pixel resolution Pleiades stereo satellite photos. The 2015 satellite elevation mapping program on the Vega property provides a valuable set of baseline data in the form of elevation models for the two main mineral prospects (Pluto and Vega).
