The Skarn zone (on the Pavey property) is located near Pavey, between Bennett - and Tutshi Lake, about 70 kilometres west-northwest of Atlin.
The area overlies the contact between the Intermontane Belt and the Coast Plutonic Complex. Major faults occur primarily along river - and lake valleys, associated with movement in the Coast Plutonic Complex and with early Tertiary volcanism.
A large south-southeast trending skarn zone occurs along the sheared unconformity between the Stuhini Group and Boundary Ranges Metamorphic Suite rocks. This unconformity was previously interpreted as the Paddy fault. The skarn is hosted by intercalated porphyry volcaniclastic and flow rocks of the Upper Triassic Stuhini Group. A small exposure of a hornblende-feldspar+/-biotite porphyry sill occurs in the vicinity. The skarn alteration, comprising chlorite, actinolite and lesser epidote, as well as secondary biotite, quartz, and carbonate, has been traced for over 700 metres and up to 150 metres along width. Values range from more than 1 gram per tonne gold across 1 to 9 metres to over 100 grams per tonne gold across much narrower widths (Assessment Report 20581).
At the showing, visible gold mineralization in en échelon quartz-calcite stringer vein structures, occurs in a slightly gossanous 100 by 50 metre area. Visible gold is associated with actinolite-chlorite veinlets which cut host rocks near the sill. Mineralization consists of disseminated pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, minor pyrite and fracture-controlled gold and/or electrum.
Drilling indicates a relatively consistent, near-surface, shallow dipping layer of gold-bearing mineralization which is open to the south and west. Drilling intersected a sequence of altered lapilli and lithic tuffs and augite porphyry flows and a hornblende-feldspar+/-biotite porphyry sill. Visible gold crystals, less than or equal to 1 millimetre in size, were hosted in quartz-carbonate veinlets. All drillholes on the zone intersected highly anomalous sections of gold. These sections occur above and close to the sill; the underlying units have no significant gold values.
The best results from the 2014/2015 program came from sample GE14-42 that yielded 0.36 grams per tonne gold, 69.7 grams per tonne silver and 0.2 per cent lead; and from GE 14-43 that returned 0.05 grams per tonne gold, 147 grams per tonne silver, 0.35 per cent copper, 0.55 per cent lead and 0.15 per cent zinc (Assessment Report 35678). These samples were collected 100 metres apart on the ridge south of the Skarn showing. Most or all of the 2014 samples were collected around the Skarn prospect area. Prospecting here identified elevated to anomalous gold, silver, bismuth, copper, mercury, antimony and tellurium within an area of approximately 1300 by 900 metres along the Paddy Fault system. Troymet Exploration Corporation reports the fault system itself to be traceable for over 17 kilometres and up to 500 metres in width.
Work History
The following is a detailed work history of the Pavey property, also known as Gaug and Bennett, and which contains 15 showings (104M 002, 3, 28, 38-47, 85, 86). The Bennett Lake and Tagish Lake districts were first explored by prospectors during construction of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad in 1878, and later in the 1890s when prospectors traveled to the famous Klondike Gold Rush. Numerous old trenches and adits show that exploration has occurred intermittently in the past, although none of this work was recorded in assessment records or Minister of Mines Annual Reports.
During 1981 to 1986, DuPont held the Gaug claims, which covered 15 documented showings (104M 002, 3, 28, 38-47, 85, 86)). During 1982 and 1983, DuPont completed geological and geochemical surveys on the upland plateau and over a steep rocky gully; they rediscovered old adits in the gully. In 1983, Texaco Canada Resources Ltd. staked the Ben 1 to 4 mineral claims following a limited prospecting and reconnaissance mapping program in 1982. Their 1983 exploration program included: prospecting, geologic mapping, geochemical sampling, geophysical surveying, and trenching. This program identified seventeen occurrences with greater than or equal to 1000 parts per billion gold and 70 parts per million silver. In 1986 and 1987, the LQ and Pavey claims (Pavey 1 to 6) were staked by Messrs. G. Harris and G. Davidson to cover the area previously held by the lapsed Gaug claims and now covered by the Lew claims. Shortly after, Lodestar Explorations Inc. optioned this group of claims and began prospecting, reconnaissance mapping, trenching, and sampling (Assessment Report 16569). In 1987, pits were excavated on quartz-sulphide veins in the “main gully” and beside a small tarn at the south end of the grid (Pavey 4). Thirty rock samples were collected and assayed. In 1988, mapping and prospecting was conducted by Lodestar Resources on the LQ claim; 12 samples were collected. Lodestar added the Willard claim in 1988 and optioned the adjoining Ben claims in 1988 from Texaco. No exploration, however, was conducted that year. Texaco Canada Resources Ltd. merged with Esso Resources Ltd. in 1989, and the merged company (Esso Resources Ltd.), subsequently underwent a name change in 1993 to Imperial Oil Resources Production Limited.
In 1990, Lodestar embarked on an extensive exploration program that tested all of the more prospective showings on their claim group and in the process discovered two new gold occurrences - the Skarn zone (104M 085) and the Cowboy zone (104M 086). The exploration program included: prospecting, lithogeochemical sampling (55 samples), road restoration (4.75 kilometres from the South Klondike Highway to the 1989 field camp), road building (8.8 kilometres. from the 1989 field camp to the various work sites), and mechanical trenching (55 trenches totalling 2463.7 metres with geological mapping at a scale of 1:250 and the collection of 122 lithogeochemical samples). Diamond drilling using NQ equipment totalled 11 holes for 694 metres and the collection of 352 core samples. Drilling yielded intersections of up to 7.4 grams per tonne gold and 8.5 grams per tonne silver over 4.0 metres in hole 90-03 and 3.4 grams per tonne gold with 3.7 grams per tonne silver over 8.0 metres in hole 90-07 (Assessment Report 20581; Aurora Geosciences Ltd. (2012-07-09): Technical Report – Golden Eagle Property).
Trenching was attempted on the LQ vein in 1991 but the trenches flooded. At the Cowboy zone, thirteen trenches were excavated, and three diamond drill holes tested the zone.
Hemlo Gold Mines Inc. acquired an option on Lodestar's claim group (Ben, Willard, Pavey and Fin properties collectively known as the Pavey property) in 1993 and conducted limited prospecting in 1993 and 1994 with Noranda Exploration Company Limited acting as the operator on behalf of Hemlo. The work program consisted of sampling, mapping, and prospecting the Skarn zone and Stibnite zone (104M 041, 042) areas with reconnaissance sampling over three nearby target areas. In 1993, Lodestar Explorations Inc. changed its name to Precision International Resources Corporation. Precision allowed the Pavey claims (Pavey 1 to 6) to lapse in August and November 1995, and the ground was re-staked by Westmin Resources Ltd. in November 1995. In December 1995, the Ben 3 and Fin claims (Fin 1 to 5) were also forfeited by Precision and some of the ground they formerly covered was re-staked by Westmin in the same month. In July 1996, Imperial Oil let the Ben 1, 2, and 4 claims expire. The same month Precision forfeited the LQ claim. Westmin subsequently re-staked the ground covered by all these claims. The 14 claims (LQ and Lew 1 to 13) assembled by Westmin constitute what is known as the Bennett Property. Between August 3 and September 12, 1996, Westmin completed a program of geological mapping, lithogeochemical sampling, geophysical surveying, and limited percussion drilling on the Bennett Property. Only 3 of the planned 150 holes (producing 12 samples from 45 metres of chipped core) were drilled due to poor ground conditions and the inability of the drill to 'back-hammer out of the holes’ (in other words, pull the rods). The drill program was abandoned after ten days. The 1.60-kilometre-wide by 1.8-kilometre-long grid constructed on the plateau (termed the “Bennett Grid”), subsequently, was used for detailed ground geophysical studies. These studies included induced polarization (IP), magnetometer, and very low frequency electromagnetic (VLF-EM) surveying.
In 1997, Brett Resources Inc. had an option to acquire a minimum 66 per cent interest in the property and an additional option to increase to a 75 per cent interest pursuant to certain terms and conditions of an agreement between Westmin Resources Ltd. and Brett. In the same year, Westmin conducted a diamond drilling program over the Skarn zone of the Bennett Property, totalling 8 completed holes over 1073 metres. In the Skarn zone area, the 1997 fence of drillholes (EN-97135, 06, and 07) were located south of Lodestar’s early 1990s fan of holes (which intersected gold mineralization), but these failed to intersect significant mineralization. These holes confirm the observations made from surface outcrops that the auriferous quartz veins, associated with the mineralization both in the main trench and in Lodestar’s first seven holes, are narrow and discontinuous. Drilling yielded intersections of up to 10.08 grams per tonne gold over 2 metres in hole BN97-09 and 5.96 grams per tonne gold over 1.5 metres in hole BN97-10 (Assessment Report 25417; Aurora Geosciences Ltd. (2012-07-09): Technical Report – Golden Eagle Property).
Marksmen Resources Limited purchased the Bennett Lake property outright in 2003 and owned 100 per cent with no encumbrances. In 2003, work on the Skarn zone conducted by Marksmen Resources consisted of limited rock sampling. In 2004, Marksmen Resources carried out a 670-kilometre airborne survey on its Golden Eagle property (including the former Pavey property) near Bennett Lake, recovering EM, magnetic and gamma ray spectrometry data. In 2005, Signet Minerals acquired the mineral interests of Marksmen Resources Limited and performed horizontal loop-EM and IP surveys, trenching, and drilled 7 holes to follow up prospecting and airborne geophysical targets. Two holes were drilled in the Skarn zone and Bennett Lake zone (104M 044) but assessment work publication is pending. One hole on the Skarn encountered 14.1 metres grading 2.20 grams per tonne gold with 2.6 grams per tonne silver (private report by Casselman, 2007 (as reported in Assessment Report 33081)).
In 2006, Signet Minerals Inc. completed two diamond drill holes on the Northwest block; one tested the Skarn Zone and the other tested the Plateau (West Gully) Zone. The 2006 exploration program was a follow up on recommendation of a 2005 exploration program conducted by Aurora Geosciences Ltd (private report by Casselman, 2007 (as reported in Assessment Report 33081)). On the Skarn Zone, DDH SIG06-05 targeted an IP chargeability anomaly and gold mineralization associated with contact metasomatized volcanics. This DDH intersected intervals of 1 to 3 per cent disseminated pyrrhotite and pyrite mineralization, thus explaining the IP anomaly, but failed to intersect any significant gold mineralization.
On the West Gully (104M 039) (Plateau area) zone, a hole was completed (SIG06-06) to test an IP chargeability anomaly previously drill-tested by Westmin. SIG06-06 targeted the eastern extremity of the IP anomaly and encountered graphitic mudstone and shale with disseminated pyrite. No significant gold mineralization was reported (private report by Casselman, 2007 (as reported in Assessment Report 33081)).
In 2009, Casselman Geological Services Ltd. was retained by Troymet Exploration Corporation to manage a diamond drilling program and Coureur Des Bois Ltd was contracted by Troymet to conduct a prospecting and soil/stream sediment sampling program. Results of the 2009 work program are described in an unpublished report prepared by Casselman Geological Services Ltd. for Troymet. The 2009 prospecting and geochemical sampling field work was largely directed toward the Northwest Block, but some sampling was done on the Central Block as well. All drilling targets were confined to the North prospect area (West Gully, LQ, Stibnite and Cowboy zones).
In November and December 2010, Aurora Geosciences Ltd. was contracted to conduct a modified pole-dipole induced polarization (IP) survey over the Plateau area on the Northwest Block of the property. A total of 350 metres of modified pole-dipole data were obtained on a single line (Line 400). The area surveyed on the Plateau zone was re-done in 2011 by Aurora Geosciences. Other work completed in 2010 included a petrographic study by Mineral Services Canada Inc. A total of 22 core samples were examined from the 2009 drill core. Representative samples were taken from each of the five holes drilled in 2009.
In 2011, Aurora Geosciences Ltd. was contracted by Troymet Exploration Corp to conduct a modified pole-dipole induced polarization (IP) survey over the Plateau area on the Northwest Block of the property. A total of 10.5-line-kilometres of modified pole-dipole data were obtained. In 2011, five NQ diamond-drill holes (N1101 to N1105) totalling 826.17 metres were drilled to test the IP anomalies and gold-in-stream sediments in the West Gully – Plateau area. One NQ drill hole totaling 60.98 metres (N1106) was completed on the Skarn Zone to test an area of historic drilling from which no drill core exists. Skarn zone drill hole DDH N1106 encountered essentially two different lithological units; one described as an andesite tuff and the other as a hornblende-feldspar porphyry. This hole was sampled from top to bottom and intersected a 36.45-metre-wide zone of gold mineralization averaging 1.27 grams per tonne gold (Assessment Report 33081).
In September 2014 and July 2015, Troymet completed a total of 7 days of prospecting and sampling at the Skarn, Catfish (104M 074) and Ben (104M 045, 046, 047) showings in the Bennett Lake claim block (Assessment Report 35678). In 2014, two men collected a total 48 rock samples over five days and in 2015, two men collected 8 samples over two days.
