The Day occurrence is located approximately 5 kilometres north of the confluence of Red Creek and the Sustut River, on a tributary of the Sustut River informally named Day Creek, about 151 kilometres north-northwest of Germansen Landing (Assessment Report 5107). This occurrence comprises the Day occurrence and the new Porcupine zone, which is located about 200 metres to the northwest.
The showing is hosted within a large fault block of Lower Jurassic Telkwa Formation (Hazelton Group) volcanics. The volcanics dip 30 degrees to the southwest and are intruded by Early Jurassic leucocratic porphyry plugs.
The uppermost 1000 metres of the Telkwa Formation are exposed locally. The base of the sequence is predominantly tuffs and volcanic conglomerates overlain by a rhyodacite ash flow which is overlain by an intercalation of andesites and dacite tephras (Geology in British Columbia 1976). In the immediate area of the showing, small altered dioritic bodies intrude the volcanics.
The Day occurrence is hosted in altered granodiorite, which intrudes andesitic to dacitic volcanics. Mineralization consists of pyrite, magnetite, chalcopyrite and trace molybdenite. The sulphides occur as disseminations, fracture fillings and in vuggy quartz veinlets. The veinlets occur within the granodiorite and adjacent to the altered volcanic rocks. The highest assay from 1991 sampling came from a sample of tuffaceous andesite containing pyritic layers. This sample assayed 0.066 gram per tonne gold, 0.46 gram per tonne silver and 0.013 per cent copper (Assessment Report 21857).
After the discovery of the Day occurrence, exploration by Wesfrob Mines Ltd. continued on the Day, Birch and Fir claims. In 1973, Wesfrob performed geochemical and geophysical programs on claims that surrounded the Birch showing (094D 077), located 2.8 kilometres northwest of the Day showing, and gave anomalous soil values and anomalous copper-silver values in its drainage. Wesfrob also drilled one inclined diamond-drill hole totalling 238.96 metres in the area of the Day occurrence in 1973, and two holes totalling 30.48 metres in 1972, both of unknown results. In 1974, Wesfrob Mines Ltd. conducted an eight hole, 1382 metre diamond drill program on the company’s mineral claims at the main Day showing. A drill hole (74-1) yielded 0.67 per cent copper and 0.93 gram per tonne gold over 58.83 metres (McCrea, J.A. (2011-03-07): Technical Report on the Day Property).
Another diamond-drill hole was completed to the northwest of the Day showing on Wesfrob’s Bird claims (see Birch, 094D 077) during the same program, the assay results of which are unknown. Drillcore from the Day and Bird claims was stored at the Falconbridge Sustut claims, located 13 kilometres to the north.
In 1990 and 1991, Skeena Resources Ltd. staked the Cisco 1 to 7 claims over areas covering the Day, Cisco-Porcupine and Birch showings. Skeena entered a joint venture with Beauchamps Exploration Ltd. from 1990 to 1991 and hired Taiga Exploration Consultants to explore the property. Exploration in 1991 and 1992 encompassed photogeological interpretation, silt sampling, reconnaissance and grid-controlled soil sampling, grid-controlled magnetic and very low-frequency electromagnetic surveys, orientation induced polarization surveys, prospecting, trenching and lithogeochemical sampling. Two flagged grids, the Porcupine and Day grids, were used as a control for the exploration program. Selected targets were drilled off the grid in 1992 and consisted of eight holes totalling 842 metres. Drillcore was reported to have been stored on the property. The Porcupine zone identified only sporadic and discontinuous mineralization; however, the Day showing yielded encouraging results: drilling yielded a significant intercept of 0.54 per cent copper and 0.688 gram per tonne gold over 57 metres from DDH 92-1 and 0.36 per cent copper over 8 metres from DDH 92-7 (Assessment Report 32550).
In 1996, Madrona Mining Ltd. incurred the option to earn 50 per cent interest in the Cisco property by issuing 50,000 shares to Skeena and Beauchamps in addition to spending CAD$235,000 on the property in exploration over two years. Madrona contracted Aerodat Inc. to conduct airborne magnetic and electromagnetic geophysical surveys over the Cisco 1 to 6 claims. Taiga Exploration Consultants were contracted to investigate the geophysical anomalies. In 1996, Taiga collected a number of soil and rock samples, although no significant findings were reported (Assessment Report 32550).
In early 2011, Equitas and Dahrouge contracted Geo Data Solutions Inc. (GDS) to perform a helicopter-borne aeromagnetic survey on the Day property. The GDS survey consisted of a 992-line kilometre grid across the entire property, including 821 kilometres of traverse lines and 171 kilometres of tie lines. The traverse lines had an approximately east azimuth with 100 metres spacing; the tie lines were oriented north with 500 metres spacing (Assessment Report 32550).
In late July 2011, staff of Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd. completed a follow-up prospecting and soil/rock sampling program on the Day property. A total of 210 rock samples and one soil sample were collected during the 2011 exploration. In total, 31 samples assayed greater than 0.5 gram per tonne gold and 68 samples assayed greater than 0.1 per cent copper. Of the five historic showings, Roy (094D 078, located 3.1 kilometres north of the Day showing), Day and Porcupine returned the most promising results (Assessment Report 32550).
