The Ran occurrence is located near the mouth of Plate Creek in the Cassiar Mountains, located approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, in northwestern British Columbia. The property is accessed via the Alaska Highway to within 31 kilometres. A secondary access road leaves the Alaska Highway at Kilometre 1110 and tracks southward to the Silvertip deposit (104O 038) which lies approximately 15 kilometres northeast of the showing.
A stockwork system of white, coarse to microcrystalline quartz veins up to 15 centimetres in width occurs irregularily over an area of approximately 5 square kilometres, within quartz monzonite, granodiorite and augen gneiss of the Early Cretaceous Cassiar batholith. Mineralization within the veins consists of pyrite and less commonly galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite and rare argentite ranging from disseminated to massive clots. Bismuthinite has also been reported. Much of the pyrite has weathered out, leaving boxwork textures. Mineralization is associated with late, medium grained granitic dikes, and sericite alteration. Chloritic vein selvages and envelopes are common.
A grab sample of a vein on the Ran claims, containing visible argentite, assayed 3800 grams per tonne silver (Fieldwork 1986, page 191). The granodiorite and quartz monzonite are sheared and fractured, with shear zones striking from 030 to 040 degrees and dipping vertically.
In 2006, three hand trenches were dug across granodiorite outcrops hosting a series of narrow, east trending quartz veins. The trenches were spaced approximately 5 to 17 metres apart and 6 to 8 metres long. The trenches each encountered three or four narrow quartz veins within sections up to 4 metres wide. Manganese, limonite and silicification are localized in the vicinity of the veins and within some fractures in the adjacent intrusion. The best results were obtained from trench TR-RN-06-06 which yielded a weighted average grade of 14.8 grams per tonne silver across 6.0 metres (Assessment Report 28919).
The Ran property was staked in 1979 and explored annually until 1982 by Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. The work programs consisted of geological mapping and prospecting, rock and soil geochemical surveys and a variety of ground geophysical surveys including radiometric, magnetic and electromagnetic surveys. Occidental's work identified a large area of anomalous lead-silver soil geochemical response. The strongest values reportedly coincide with narrow intermittent quartz veins and shear zones exposed along a northwest trending ridge system. Much of the geochemical anomaly is on an alpine plateau that is largely covered by felsenmeer and glacial till. The best values in this area are from prominent east-trending lineaments believed to mark the surface trace of large structures. The Hat claims (staked in 1986) adjoin the Ran claims, and enclose part of the same system.
Strategic Minerals Ltd. acquired the property in spring 2005 and explored it later that year with prospecting, mapping and hand trenching (23). Valencia Ventures Inc. optioned the property in spring 2006 and conducted a one-day ground VLF-EM survey followed by hand trenching. A total of 74 metres of hand trenching was done in seven trenches and 63 channel samples were collected and sent for analyses.
In 2011, the claims are under option from Strategic Metals Ltd. by Silver Predator Canada Corp. who conducted grid soil sampling and collected 126 samples for analyses. In 2012, Underhill Geomatics Ltd. completed an air photography survey on behalf of Strategic Metals. A subsequent interpretation of the survey data was compiled with results from exploration work done on the property between 1979 and 2006. Locations of outcrops, prominent topographic linears and historical trenches were confirmed or identified.
In 2015-16, Strategic Metals Ltd. conducted rock and soil geochemical sampling and prospecting on the Ranch property. Soil sample results confirmed the tenure of historical surveys. In the same year, orthophoto creation and contour generation was also completed on behalf of Strategic Metals.
