The Creek zone, which is located east of the Big Missouri deposit, lies within south-southeast striking, moderately dipping andesite, agglomerate and lapilli tuff, with interbedded cherty tuff of the Lower Jurassic Unuk River Formation. (See Big Missouri (104B 046) for enhanced geology). The occurrence lies west of the north trending Union Creek Fault. Dioritic dikes less than 1 metre wide and striking 120 to 140 degrees cut the rocks.

A mineralized cherty tuff horizon occurs within bleached andesite layers of the Lower Horizon. A 35-metre-long segment of the horizon, which strikes north and dips 30 to 40 degrees west, is exposed on the east bank of Harris Creek. Fifty metres east, this horizon was intercepted at a lower level by diamond drilling, indicating down-dropping by faulting.

The cherty tuff, which is about 25 metres wide and 1 to 2 metres thick, is white to grey quartz with blue-grey chert fragments, carbon and disseminated pyrite, sphalerite, and galena with gold and silver values. Along the base of the chert bed are lenses of banded semi-massive to massive pyrite, sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite. The hangingwall, quartz-sericite rich andesite tuffs contain disseminated pyrite, pyrite veinlets, and carbonaceous veinlets. Veins of chalcopyrite up to 1 metre long and numerous contorted quartz stringers cut the chert bed and hangingwall rocks.

Several samples taken from the zone gave average assays of 54.2 grams per tonne silver, 0.84 per cent copper, 3.04 per cent lead, and 4.3 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 3013). Mineable reserves, with an average waste to ore ratio of 2.0 to 1, are 7500 tonnes grading 2.40 grams per tonne gold and 116.23 grams per tonne silver (George Cross Newsletter No.102, 1988).

Work History

In 1987, diamond drilling by Westmin Resources Limited occurred on the Laura, Golden Crown and Pass Fraction (Assessment Report 16806). The purpose of the drilling on the Laura was to test the Creek zone.

Ascot Resources Ltd conducted exploration on the Dilworth Property in 2007 and 2008 and subsequently acquired the Premier Gold Property from Boliden Ltd under the terms of a 2009 option agreement.

In 2010 Ascot Resources drilled three drill holes on individual pads on the S1/Creek Zone, all oriented to the east. See S-1 (104B 084) for results and discussion of these 3 holes (Assessment Report 32357). The Creek showing is located to the east of the S1 Pit near the bottom of a creek draw, where a continuous series of five 1.0-metre chip samples (T10-001) were collected in 2010 by Ascot Resources. Exposed rocks are rusty weathered and heavily silica and sericite altered andesite with abundant pyrite and minor base metals. The best sample yielded 0.59 grams per tonne gold over 1.0 metre, while other results were <0.10 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 32357). The trace of drill hole P10-072 was near the showing and in the suspected vicinity yielded 3.54 grams per tonne gold over 2.0 metres in unaltered andesite. There were several intersections of quartz breccia further down the hole, this may be part of the same mineralized zone. Mapping by Westmin indicates the creek is part of the Union Creek Fault and continues north through the Unicorn Zone.

Drilling in 2011 by Ascot on the Creek zone consisted of 12 holes divided equally on 6 pads. Drill holes encountered a near surface zone of mineralization then drilled through the Cascade Creek Fault with several additional mineralized zones below the fault. Grades of mineralized intervals are variable, with zones above the Cascade Creek Fault of 0.28 gram per tonne Gold over 36.43 metres and a lower zone of 0.23 gram per tonne Gold over 58.86 metres, both from P11-149. The best mineralized zone was the upper portion of P11-141 above the Cascade Creek Fault that returned 1.94 grams per tonne Gold over 92.50 metres although the adjacent drill hole from the same pad returned 0.16 gram per tonne Gold over 25.12 metres at the top in P11-146. The mineralized zones seen in the Creek Zone continue north into the southern part of the Unicorn Zone.

The Creek Zone is located to the north of Dago at the junction of the Cascade Creek and Union Creek Faults with the mineralization bound between the faults, similar to the observations at Dago 104B 045). The Creek Zone mineralization may represent a connection between the mineralization at Dago and continues north into the Unicorn Zone. Also, a deeper low-grade, mineralized zone was encountered on the east side of the unnamed fault first observed at Dago.

See Big Missouri (104B 046) for related and specific historical work prior to the 2000s. See also Yellowstone (104B 039) and Premier (104B 054) for details of the Dilworth and Premier properties (that includes the Creek, S1 (104B 084) and Big Missouri.