Work History

Staked as Beaver cl 101-124 (Y27442) in July, 1968 by Cominco Ltd. following regional reconnaissance of the area in 1967.  Cominco carried out geological mapping and soil sampled the claims at the time of staking and subsequently staked Now cl 1-16 (Y26598) 3 km to the northeast.

In August 1968, under a joint agreement with L. Elliott, Cominco staked Won cl 1-24 (Y26831), cl 100-130 (Y26854), cl 201-214 (Y26881) and cl 301-308 (Y26936) in a contiguous block lying south of the Now claims and east-southeast of the Beaver claims. On the basis of their 1968 work program on the Beaver claims and other regional exploration carried out in the area, Cominco elected to maintain an option on Won cl 121-128 (the claims lying immediately adjacent to the Beaver claims). In 1969, the company carried out geological mapping and soil sampling on these claims.
 
Re-staked as Dee cl 1-48 (YA15080) in April 1977 by the Prism Joint Venture (Asamera Oil Corporation, Chieftain Development Company Ltd., Prism Resources Ltd., Siebens Oil & Gas Ltd. and E & B Explorations Ltd.), which carried out geological mapping and grid soil sampling in June 1977, the results of which led the group to stake Dee cl 49-174 (YA15606) in July 1977. Later in the summer the group carried out further soil sampling and an EM geophysical survey.
 
In 1978, Prism hand trenched several targets and performed follow-up soil sampling. In 1979, Dome Petroleum Ltd. replaced Siebens in the joint venture, which carried out minor soil sampling and a limited EM geophysical survey before drilling 6 diamond drill holes (610 m).
  
Re-staked as Won cl 1-16 (YA83637) in August 1987 by NDU Resources Ltd., which collected soil samples from 4 soil pits and 11 rock samples from outcrops located in and around the occurrence area.
 
Re-staked within R cl 105 -1295 (YC68334) in July 2008 by ATAC Resources Ltd., (western portion (Rau Trend) of the Rackla Gold Belt). Following staking, the company performed a helicopter-borne magnetic and variable-time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) survey over the newly staked area, including the Now occurrence. The company carried out prospecting, regional soil and rock sampling and boulder sampling in 2009. In July 2009 the ATAC Resources added S cl 1-700 (YC90801) to the west.
 
In November 2009 ATAC Resources staked ACX cl 1-234 (YD08251) southward from the southwest corner of the S and R claim blocks to the northern limits of the Keno Hill mining district in order to provide an access corridor to the western half of the Rackla Gold Belt. In May 2010, the company staked ACX cl 235-240 (YD33163. During the 2010 exploration season ATAC Resources carried out grid soil sampling and collared 3 diamond drill holes (198.73 m) on the Now occurrence.

In 2011, ATAC Resources collared 3 more drill holes (794.92 m) on the Now occurrence. In 2015 and 2017, ATAC completed rock prospecting and geochemistry over the Now occurrence.

Regional & Property Geology

The occurrence lies with the Rau Trend between the Dawson and Kathleen Lakes thrusts, which form part of a band of regional-scale thrust faults that imbricate rocks of Mackenzie Platform and Selwyn Basin. The occurrence area lies on the western margin of ancestral North America and is underlain primarily by shallow water carbonate and clastic sediment rocks of the Mid-Proterozoic to Paleozoic Mackenzie Platform and the Neo-Proterozoic to Paleozoic, regionally metamorphosed Selwyn Basin clastic rocks. These rocks formed a fault-bounded sediment package which was thrust northeasterly during Jurassic to Cretaceous times by the Dawson and Kathleen Lakes thrust faults onto predominantly Proterozoic rocks. Following thrust faulting, Late Cretaceous (94-90 million years) intermediate to felsic plutons of the Tombstone Suite were emplaced (Mortensen et al., 2000). A second compressional orogenic event around 65 million years saw the emplacement of felsic intrusives assigned to the McQuesten Suite.
 
Other than the immediate area surrounding the Tiger deposit (MINFILE occurrence 106D 098), the occurrence area has not been geologically mapped in detail. ATAC Resources (AR 096936) has mapped 3 main units in the area comprising the Rau Trend:
1. Cambrian to Ordovician massive, grey dolostone,
2. Ordovician and/or Silurian bedded, grey and buff silty limestone and massive white limestone, and
3. Silurian to Devonian thick, bedded dolostone and limestone.

The company has assigned all three units to the Cambrian to Devonian Bouvette Formation. Colpron’s 2013 geological map generally supports this interpretation; however it uses slightly different age dates and doesn’t include the oldest rocks (Cambrian to Ordovician dolostones) within the Bouvette formation.

Thin volcaniclastic horizons assigned to the Ordovician Marmot Formation are interbedded with the Ordovician and/or Silurian limestones and a narrow sliver of Mid-Proterozoic Fifteen Mile Group dolostone underlies the Bouvette Formation rocks to the southwest. Devonian and Mississippian Earn Group comprised of black shale and chert bounds the Bouvette Formation to the south east and north in the southern half of the Rau Trend property.
 
The Now occurrence is located approximately 10 km west of the Tiger deposit (MINFILE occurrence 106D 098) in a northwest trending gully containing abundant mineralized float. Diamond drilling carried out in 1979 intersected 3 distinct rock types. The uppermost unit is reported as a dark grey to black shale usually graphitic and occasionally limy. It commonly contains thin quartz-calcite veinlets which crisscross the core at all angles and are often quite contorted and disjointed. Underlying the shale is a carbonate unit, primarily dolomite, which is massive, light to dark grey when fresh, and characterized by calcite-quartz veining throughout. The veining varies from thin stringers a few millimetres wide to a vein 3 m wide, the latter occurs at or near the shale carbonate contact. The third and final unit intersected is a massive black argillite quite uniform in all intersections except for variations in hardness, probably reflecting the presence or absence of chert. From this description it appears the holes were collared in Devonian to Mississippian Earn Group (?) rocks similar to those underlying the Bengal showing (MINFILE occurrence 106D 119) (see ATAC Resources Press Release 23 Jan/2013, pg. 5).

Mineralization & Results

The Now occurrence consists of anomalous gold, silver, zinc and lead mineralization as gold, boulangerite, galena and sphalerite in quartz veins crosscutting shale and oxidized dolomite.

The Beaver claims were staked over a strong zinc and weak lead silt anomaly outlined by the Geological Survey of Canada's Operation Keno in 1964. Soil sampling outlined a strong zinc anomaly measuring approximately 914 square metres. A second zinc soil anomaly was outlined approximately 2.75 km to the southeast. The source of both zinc anomalies was interpreted as originating from the surrounding argillite rocks. Prospecting led to the discovery of quartz veins containing a few grains of tetrahedrite north of the northeast corner of the claim block.

Grid soil sampling carried out by the Prism joint venture in 1978 returned the same general zinc anomalies found by Cominco Ltd. Trenching carried out by the joint venture within the main anomaly which they called the Dee anomaly uncovered quartz vein rubble containing boulangerite which returned assays up to 39.43 g/t gold, 580.1 g/t silver, 47.2% lead and 0.06% zinc (trench #1).

Diamond drilling carried out in 1979 intersected 3 distinct rock types: dark grey shale crosscut by calcite veinlets; massive dolomite crosscut by calcite-quartz veining; and massive black argillite. Anomalous gold, silver and lead values were intersected in hole D79-2 drilled below trench #1 which returned boulangerite float containing the high gold, silver and lead values. The hole intersected a 15.24 cm (6 inch) wide boulangerite-quartz vein at a depth of 76.97 m. A 0.55 m core intersection, which included the vein returned assays of 2.74% Pb, 5.26% Zn, 54.5 g/t Ag, 1.51 g/t Au and 0.19% Cu. A steeper drill hole (D79-4) collared at the same location cut a 0.61 m wide limonite stained quartz vein at 60.35 m depth. A 1.1 m intersect that included the limonite stained quartz vein returned assays of 4.6% Pb, 0.04% Zn, 60.3 g/t Ag and 3.5 g/t Au. The remaining holes did not return any significant values.
 
NDU Resources collected 9 soil samples from four soil pits dug in zinc anomalies identified by Cominco in 1969. The company also collected 9 rock samples from zinc anomalies identified by the Prism joint venture in 1978. The soil samples returned background values, with deeper samples returning lower values than shallower samples. The results indicate that the zinc anomalies identified by Cominco likely represented hydromorphic concentration in the organic layer. The rock samples returned anomalous values for lead or zinc or silver however the zinc values were not supported by anomalous values in other elements and were judged not to be significant. A rock sample consisting of quartz vein material mineralized with jamesonite and boulangerite returned >1% Pb and >100 g/t Ag. A second sample comprised of quartz vein material mineralized with galena and other unidentified sulphides returned >1% Pb.
 
ATAC Resources discovered abundant mineralized float in 2009 along a 400 m portion of a northwest trending gully near the reported occurrence site. A float sample collected from a white quartz boulder containing galena and boulangerite assayed 1.03 g/t Au, 447 g/t Ag, 13.45% Pb and 350 ppm Zn. Grid soil sampling completed in 2010 outlined an approximately 5 km long by 1 km wide, northwesterly trending gold and antimony anomaly centered over the occurrence location. The three 2010 drill holes targeted mineralization found in and beneath the historic trenches. All thee hole were terminated before reaching their target depths due to poor ground conditions. No significant mineralization was encountered.

In 2011, three holes targeted gold bearing veins exposed in historic trenches and oxidized dolomite beneath a shale layer. Drilling intersected shale overlying dolomite which contained weak gold values. Hole NW-11-04 was moderately oxidized to approximately 50 m and intersected weakly anomalous gold, silver, lead and zinc values. Weak to intensely chlorite altered diopside skarn intervals were seen towards the bottom of holes NW-11-05 and NW-11-06 (AR 096936).

Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence