WORK HISTORY
Staked as Ben cl 1-4 (Y20395) in Jul/67 by J.E. Smith, who optioned the property to Esansee Explorations Ltd which added Ben cl 5-6 (Y21026) in Sep/67 and cl 7-22 (Y24902) in May/68. In Jul/68 the company carried out soil sampling and ground magnetic and electromagnetic (EM) geophysical surveys over the occurrence area. It appears Esansee Exploration carried out a minor amount of hand trenching and rock sampling on the occurrence later in the summer.
Restaked as Joe cl 1-28 (YA61399) in Jun/81 by Valor Ventures Ltd. The western end of the claim block covered Minfile Occurrence #105D 197 (Joe Creek).
Restaked as KC cl 1-6 (YC08201) in Sep/97 by G. Grant.
R Hamel staked Hart cl 1 (YC26563) 2 km to the southwest in Mar/2004. ATAC Resources optioned the claim from Hamel in Aug/2004 and immediately added Hart cl 2-4 (YC30014).
Restaked within Les cl 1-10 (YC37081) in Nov/2004 by ATAC Resources which also staked Joe cl 1-10 (YC37091) and Hart cl 5-28 (YC37057) to the southwest at the same time. The company grouped the claims into the Hartless Joe project.
In 2005 ATAC Resources carried out reconnaissance scale prospecting, rock and stream sampling program across the property. The company also collected contour and grid soil sampling with the majority of samples collected between the Ace (this occurrence) and Grumpy (Minfile Occurrence #105D 203) occurrences.
In Jan/2006 ATAC Resources optioned the Hartless Joe project to New Shoshoni Ventures Ltd in return for shares and certain work commitments. New Shoshoni transferred the initial shares to ATAC Resources but never undertook any exploration work and the agreement was terminated in May/2007.
In 2007 ATAC Resources carried out follow-up soil sampling between the Grumpy and Les 2 showings (Minfile Occurrence #105D 203) and continued prospecting the property. Later in the season the company flew a helicopter-borne VTEM and magnetic geophysical survey over the entire project area and conducted a reconnaissance scale, ground, induced polarization and resistivity survey over the Grumpy showing.
In Mar/2008 ATAC Resources optioned the Hartless Joe project to Ferus Resources Ltd in return for cash, shares and certain work commitments. In the summer of 2008 Ferus Resources collared 3 diamond drill holes (612.2 m) on and around the Grumpy showing. In Jan/2009 Ferus terminated the option and returned the claims to ATAC Resources.
In Jan 2010 Strategic Metals paid $300 000.00 to ATAC Resources for a 100 % interest in the Hartless Joe project and 5 other properties owned by ATAC Resources. In Nov/2010 Strategic Metals staked Hart cl 29-40 (YD35289) on the east side of the property. On Jan/2011 Strategic Metals optioned the Hartless Joe property to Alix Resources Corp in return for cash and shares.
In May/2011 Alix Resources attempted to transfer its interest in the property to Caribou Copper Resources Ltd but the agreement fell through. During the 2011 exploration season Alix geologically mapped and sampled all known areas of mineralization. Alix Resources terminated the agreement in Jul/2012 and return the claims to Strategic Metals.
In 2012 Strategic Metals carried out limited rock sampling on the Joe 4, Les 7 and Ace showings and contour soil samples over the central and northern parts of the property. A drill pad was constructed near the center of the Grumpy zone but was never utilized. In Sep/2012 Strategic Metals staked Joe cl 11-12 (YC37091) on the west-central side of the property.
In Aug/2015 Strategic Metals collected a line of soil samples along the west-central side of the property, covering the Joe Creek and Joe 4 showings. The company also collected soil and rock samples along a line trending west-northwest between the Les 2 and Les 7 showings. In Oct/2015 the company flew a LIDAR survey over the property.
In Jul/2015 Strategic Metals staked Joe cl 13-30 (YE43243) and Hart cl 41-46 (YD00305) on the east side of the property. In Oct/2015 the company staked fractional Les cl 11-12 in the center of the property.
In the summer of 2016 Strategic Metals carried out contour soil sampling over the northern portion of the property covered by Joe claims 13-30, staked the previous fall. The company also hand trenched the King showing (formerly called the Les 7 showing) and prospected and rock sampled other mineralized showings. As part of a Land Use Permit, a heritage study was also carried out. In Sep/2016 Strategic Metals collared 5 diamond drill holes (292.6 m) on the King showing and one hole (74.7 m) on the Queen showing.
In Jul/2016 Strategic Metals staked Joe cl 31-94 (YF49391) to the north and in Aug/2016 staked Hart cl 47-98 (YF47807) to the south. In Oct/2016 Strategic Metals added Joe cl 95-170 (YF49875) to the north and Hart cl 99-163 (YF49119) to the south.
GEOLOGY
The occurrence is area is located around Joe Mountain, approximately 29 km northeast of the city of Whitehorse in southeastern Yukon. Access is normally by helicopter although foot access could be obtained from the Alaskan Highway located approximately 25 km to the west. The Hartless Joe property abuts Land Claims Settlement lands to the west, owned by the Ta’an Kwach’an Council.
The area was mapped in detailed in the early 1990’s by Hart et al. employed by the Canada/Yukon Geoscience office which was later incorporated into the Yukon Geology Program, fore runner of the Yukon Geological Survey. Hart and Hunt published a 1:50 000 geological map in 1993 and an updated versions in 1997 and 2003. S. Piercey (2005), under contract with the Yukon Geological Survey released a research paper on the geological and geochemical studies of Joe Mountain which employed Hart’s nomenclature. In 2015 and 16, E. Bordet of the Yukon Geological Survey remapped parts of topographic map sheets 105E 02, 03 and 06 to the north, employing updated nomenclature. In 2016 M. Colpron et al., of the Yukon Geological Survey released a geological compilation of the Yukon.
The Hartless Joe property is located within Stikinia, the largest of the exotic terranes that have been accreted to the western margin of Ancestral North America. The Stikinia is comprised of a package of volcanics and sedimentary rocks that are cut by numerous large-scale and complex faults. All of the known mineralized showings located on the Hartless Joe property are hosted in Middle Triassic Joe Mountain Formation volcanic rocks which underlie the majority of the property. Bordet revised Harts original map units by dividing them into specific rock types, such that all similar rock types like the various basalts form their own unit. In addition Bordet separated mudstones, volcaniclastics and calcareous units into separate units. Bordet did not map any massive gabbro (Hart’s unit MTJM4) in her area and the Yukon Geological Survey’s 2016 geological compilation still lists this as a separate unit (MTrdJ). The gabbro intrudes other Joe Mountain volcanic rocks in the northern part of the property and likely represents a hypabyssal portion of the magma chamber that spawned the Joe Mountain volcanic suite.
In the southwest side of the property the Joe Mountain Formation rocks are overlain by Upper Triassic Aksala Formation sediments, comprised of Casca Member sedimentary rocks and the Hancock Member which forms a distinctive limey sub-unit of limestone, marble and skarn rocks. The youngest formational units are turbiditic mudstones and sandstones assigned to lower to Middle Jurassic Richthofen Formation of the Laberge Group, which overlie Aksala Formation rocks in the southwest side of the property.
A Lower Cretaceous pluton tentatively assigned to the M’Clintock Lake pluton of the Teslin Plutonic Suite intrudes Joe Mountain Formation rocks on the east side of the property. Several mid-Cretaceous rhyolite and dacite flows assigned to the Bing Creek volcanics of the Mount Nansen Group overlie Joe Mountain volcanics in the southeast portion of the property.
The Hartless Joe Property hosts gold and silver bearing epithermal style mineralization that is hosted within Joe Mountain Formation volcanics. Mineralization occurs within veins, silica- and carbonate- breccias and as stratigraphically-controlled horizons. To date mineralization has been identified in 8 separate showings; King (Les 7), Ace, Queen and Jack (this occurrence), Grumpy and Les 2 (Minfile Occurrence #105D 203) and Joe Creek and Joe 4 (Minfile Occurrence # 105D 197).
In 2007 a prospecting and soil sampling program outlined a 500 m by 250 m area on the lower slope of an alpine valley which returned mineralized talus and strong gold and copper soil anomalies. The showing was labeled the Les 7 showing. Rock samples of mineralized talus returned values up to 73 g/t gold, 183 g/t silver, 111 ppm arsenic, 3 ppm antimony, 0.35 % copper, 2.95 % lead and 0.22 % copper. Prospecting conducted in 2015 located in situ mineralization leading to the Les 7 showing to be renamed the King Showing (occurrence location).
The King showing consists of a mineralized quartz-rich band hosted in a recessive, limey and chloritic volcanic mudstone, approximately 2 to 4 m thick which forms the top of a volcanic flow. The mineralization has been traced along strike for 82 m and is either a flat-lying vein or an exhalative horizon. Sulphide minerals within the quartz-rich band include galena, pyrite and chalcopyrite. Enveloping mineralization in the mudstone unit comprises malachite, azurite, plumbojarosite (?), and disseminated pyrite. A continuous chip sample collected across the mineralized band returned 60 g/t gold, 554 g/t silver, 5.01 % lead and 0.35 % copper over 1.2 m.
Hand trenching carried out in 2016 further exposed the mineralized band. A chip sample collected at the same location as the 2015 sample returned 22.7 g/t gold, 195 g/t silver, 4.5 % zinc, 2.02 % lead and 0.22 % copper over 0.5 m. A chip sample collected 82 m along strike to the east returned 44.3 g/t gold, 375 g/t silver, 1.31 % zinc, 2.04 % lead and 0.14 % copper over 2.10 m. In 2016 Strategic Metals collared 5 diamond drill holes (292.6 m) on the King showing. Drilling intersected weakly silicified sediments containing disseminated, banded and fracture filling sulphides, down-dip of mineralized exposures which yielded low gold values, with a maximum of 1.57 g/t gold over 2.78 m in hole HJ-16-001.
The Ace showing (UTM 517128 E, 6753206 N) located 420 m southeast of the King showing was discovered by prospectors in 1967. The showing covers a 10 cm wide, flat-lying, quartz-carbonate band which has been traced northwest for approximately 95 m of strike length. It sits above a pale, feldspar-phyric latite (?) dyke and below a thin-bedded volcanic mudstone which is overlain by pillowed basalt. Sulphides comprise less than 10 % of the mineralized band and include pyrite, galena, sphalerite and rare tetrahedrite. Malachite and limonite are also present. A historic channel sample likely collected by Esansee Explorations reportedly assayed 27.4 g/t gold, 78.9 g/t silver, 2.2% lead and 1.9% zinc across a width of 10 cm. Although the exact source of this assay cannot be verified, the reported assay was quoted in the Northern Cordillera Mineral Inventory, forerunner to the Yukon Minfile Database.
Soil sampling carried out over the Ace showing returned weakly anomalous values for gold, silver and copper. Rock sampling of mineralized talus carried out in 2005 returned values up to 190.5 g/t gold and 5 780 g/t silver. In 2016 four outcrop samples collected from the 10 cm mineralized horizon, over its 95 m strike length returned an average grade 7.4 g/t gold and 462.5 g/t silver.
Prospecting carried out in 2016 led to the discovery of the Queen showing (UTM 517225 E, 6752850 N) approximately 1 km southeast of the King showing. The showing consists of a 50 cm wide flat-lying, rusty weathering, coarse crystalline quartz vein, exposed along strike for approximately 25 m. The vein is hosted in a narrow volcanic mudstone bed at the margin of a 1.1 m wide, plagioclase-phyric, latite dyke. Sulphide minerals are scarce in the vein, but fine grained native gold was observed in illite-filled fractures, with rare chalcopyrite and galena. The showing projects under a talus chute to the southwest and appears to pinch out to the northeast. A chip sample collected across the vein returned 462 g/t gold, 79.6 g/t silver, 1.02 % lead, 0.12 % zinc and 0.28 % copper. Strategic Metals tested the showing with a single diamond drill hole (HJ-16-06, 74.7 m) collared approximately 20 m down-dip of the surface exposure. The drill hole intersected calcareous mudstone near the bottom of the hole but the geochemical response for all elements of interest was low.
The Jack showing (UTM 517650 E, 6752910 N) discovered by prospecting in 2016 is located approximately 1.2 km southeast of the King showing. It consists of a 25 cm wide, flat lying, rusty weathering, coarse-crystalline quartz vein containing rare clots of pyrite, chalcopyrite and goethite, hosted in a narrow horizon of volcanic mudstone. A sample from the vein returned 4.53 g/t gold.
