The Dardanelle showing, located approximately 17 kilometres north of Fort Steele, is regionally underlain by predominantly Creston Formation rocks of Precambrian age. The Creston Formation consists of argillaceous quartzites, purer quartzites and argillites whose beds average approximately 1 foot in thickness.

On the Dardanelle showing, the country rock is composed of shales, slates, schists, and beds of quartzite, the shales being predominant. A quartz vein striking northwest by southeast and dipping southwest at an angle of 23 to 33 degrees contains a small amount of iron pyrites and galena in addition to gold values. The vein can be traced for 1200 metres in the country rock of slate.

A northwest-striking mineralized quartz vein occurs within schist and quartzite host rock, striking north 10 degrees west, and dipping 60 degrees west. The vein has been traced for some length from the main workings. Assays from the vein are reported up to 26.66 grams per tonne gold across 1.2 metres. The high values reportedly occur with the galena or are confined to enriched streaks near the walls of the vein.

Between 1974 and 1975, Magnum Enterprises Ltd. mined 87 tonnes, producing 1372 grams of gold, 5355 grams of silver, 4040 kilograms of lead, and 65 kilograms of zinc (BC METAL MM00527).

WORK HISTORY

Mineralization in the property area was first located in 1892, when prospectors discovered gold-bearing quartz material in the Shepherds Gulch area. In 1986, an ore-crushing facility was constructed on Victoria Creek to handle ore from the Dardanelles vein system.

Historically this area was known as the Dardanelles and Motherlode Crown grants which were surveyed by the Crown in 1898. An arrastra was built on nearby Victoria Creek to process gold-bearing massive quartz from two adits drifted on the Dardanelles claim at the end of the nineteenth century. Apparently metallurgical issues prevented liberation of free gold from the quartz and work ceased.

The property remained relatively inactive until 1975, when Magnum Enterprises Ltd. shipped a 95.93-tonne bulk sample of gold-bearing quartz vein material to the Cominco Ltd. smelter in Trail, BC. Smelter sheets averaged 15.43 grams per tonne gold, 60.23 grams per tonne silver, minor lead-zinc, copper, iron, and traces of antimony, arsenic, and bismuth (Assessment Report 32287).

In 1985, Justice Mining Corp conducted soil sampling in several area north and northeast of the Dardanelle area, "Area D" possibly being in the Copper Creek showing (082GNW102) area, that was found in 1996 (Assessment Report 15036).

In 1986, a 10-hole diamond drilling and surface program was carried out by Justice Mining Corporation. This work concluded that the vein system was variable in width and grade at depth and that traces of vein mineralization were evident in previously untested areas. Limited geological mapping was also carried out during this program (Assessment Report 16327).

In 1992, a geological investigation and sampling program was conducted by Toklat Resources Ltd. in specific areas of interest. Of the eight samples taken of vein material, all returned anomalous gold values, several of which were high grade. Values ranged from 0.9 to 42.6 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 22856). The conclusion was that the upper and lower elevation adits exploited massive quartz veins separated by thrust faulting.

In 1996, Tim Termuende conducted a field program near the Dardanelle occurrence to investigate the Copper Creek drainage above 1600 metres elevation, where chalcopyrite was found in quartzite (Assessment Report 25011). Soil, silt, and rock float samples were geochemically analyzed. High grades of copper were observed. Grab samples specifically returning values in the 0.21 to 0.519 per cent range for copper, and 5 to 20 grams per tonne silver (Pighin, D. (2010-03-12): Technical Report on the Wildhorse Property). See Copper Creek (082GNW102) for further details.

No further work was conducted on the property until 2003, when Eagle Plains Resources acquired 100 per cent title to the eight-unit claim block that covers the Dardanelle gold occurrence located in the Wildhorse River area (Eagle Plains Resources, News Release, January 16, 2003).

In 2004, an exploration program carried out by Eagle Plains Resources consisted of an airborne 26.0 km airborne high-resolution time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) geophysical survey. Results showed that no significant anomalies correlated with the Copper Creek, Dardanelles, and Tit for Tat (Lily May) (082GNW020) mineralized zones (Assessment Report 27934).

In 2008, Eagle Plains Resources conducted a drilling program consisting of 731.0 metres between 9 drill holes targeting the Dardanelles auriferous massive quartz vein. Highlighted results included but are not limited to 1.2 metres grading 2.12 grams per tonne gold in hole WH08-002, 0.86 metres grading 2.02 grams per tonne gold in hole WH08-005, and 0.40 metres grading 6.95 grams per tonne gold in hole WH08-006 (Pighin, D. (2010-03-12): Technical Report on the Wildhorse Property).

The 2010 exploration program consisted of nine NQ2-size diamond drillholes oriented to test mineralization potential of quartzites of the Spar Lake horizon and vein-hosted gold mineralization at the Dardanelles showing. The most significant copper intervals were returned from the Copper Creek showing area with up to 0.67 per cent copper over 0.44 metre in one sample. Weakly anomalous gold was returned from two out of five holes from the Copper Creek Showing area and all four of the holes from the Dardanelles showing area (Assessment Report 32287).

In 2012, Turnberry Resources Ltd. conducted a program on their Wildhorse Claim consisting of 555.4 metres of NQ2-size diamond drilling (on the Dardanelles) along with geological mapping and a geochemical sampling program resulting in the collection of 16 rock samples and 303 soil samples near the three mineral occurrences on the claim. The claims covered the Dardanelle (082GNW019), Lily May (Tit for Tat) (082GNW020), and the Copper Creek (082GNW102) occurrences. A 0.87-metres drill intercept of the Dardanelle vein in hole WH12013 returned 2.29 grams per tonne gold, 3.2 grams per tonne silver, and 0.19 per cent lead (Assessment Report 34199). Geochemical surveys identified some new prospective targets, two gold anomalies, one possibly structurally controlled, and mineralization hosted in the mafic intrusive sill on the property. The highest gold value in soil returned 193 parts per billion (sample WHL009) taken from directly beside a creek draining from the Dardanelles zone. Two days were spent during the program working on the understanding of the Copper Creek showing with the base of the overlying Kitchener Formation being successfully mapped out and followed along strike. This is reported to be the horizon that is stratigraphically equivalent to the Spar Lake horizon at the Spar Lake mine in Montana.

Refer to Bird Dog (082GNW098), Lily May Ext. (082GNW011), Lily May (082GNW020), and Copper Creek (082GNW102) for related geological and work history.