Work History
Discovered in Jun/52 by W. Green, C.A. Aird, and C.E. Hankins for Yukon Mining Company Ltd and optioned shortly afterward to Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Ltd.
The property was fringe staked in 1952 by Callinan Flin Flon Mines Ltd to the southwest (Bit, Bridgle, etc. cl (63890)) and to the northeast by Snoline cl (63451); and by Teck Exploration Company Ltd to the north. Also to the north, E.M. Flynn staked Mars (63475), Venus and 68 other claims which were optioned to Jersey Yukon Mines Ltd and then transferred to New Alger Mines Ltd. The Vic cl (68684) were staked nearby in Apr/54 by Brikon Explorations Ltd, a syndicate formed by Transcontinental Resources Ltd, Dome Mines Ltd, Timmins Corporation, Chemical Research Corporation, Sapphire Petroleum Ltd and Yellowknife Bear Mines Ltd.
Between 1952 and 1956, Hudson Bay completed 4 267 m of drifting and rising on 4 levels, 2 internal shafts and 19 812 m of surface and underground drilling (47 holes). In 1955 Hudson Bay transferred the claims to a subsidiary; Hudson-Yukon Mining Company Ltd. The property was idle from 1957 through to 1968 when Hudson-Yukon carried out Turam EM and magnetic geophysical surveys. In 1969 the company completed 13 surface diamond drill holes (762 m) and completed a feasibility study. In Mar/70 a production decision was announced and underground and surface development work began. Later in the year the company signed a marketing agreement with Sumitomo Metal Mining Company of Tokyo, Japan.
Due to underground problems, initial production from the 544 tonne/day mill was delayed from Sep/71 to May/72. Mining was suspended in Jul/73 due to falling metal prices, excessive dilution and unexpected erratic distribution of massive sulphide lenses. A total of 171 652 tonnes of ore was milled which produced 33 853 tonnes of concentrate grading 2.23% nickel, 1.39% copper, 1 300 ppb platinum, 920 ppb palladium, 171 ppb gold, 400 ppb rhodium, 420 ppb ruthenium, 250 ppb iridium 200 ppb osmium and 200 ppb rhenium. Following closure Hudson-Yukon dismantled the mill and shipped it and any other useable mining equipment to Hudson Bay’s mining operations located in Snow Lake, Manitoba.
The property was optioned in Jun/86 by Kluane Joint Venture (All-North Resources Ltd and Chevron Minerals Ltd), which carried out prospecting, grid soil sampling, geological mapping, systematic rock sampling, bulldozer trenching and test geophysical surveys in 1986. Hudson-Yukon Mines Ltd was purchased by Galactic Resources Ltd in Jun/86 and merged with All-North Resources Ltd in Nov/86. Chevron Minerals retained its 25% interest in the property.
In 1987 the joint venture reassayed the mineralized portions of 53 previously drilled drill holes. In addition the joint venture geologically remapped all known areas of mineralization, rehabilitated the 4250 underground level to permit underground access, carried out additional geophysical and soil sampling surveys, bulldozer and excavator trenched mineralized areas identified by the geophysical and geochemical surveys and drilled 45 surface diamond drill holes (4 932 m).
In 1988, the 4250 level was further rehabilitated and 34 underground holes were drilled totaling 5 567 m. On surface, bulldozer trenching was carried out and 37 holes total ling 5 881.4 m were drilled. Metallurgical tests and a preliminary feasibility study were carried out in 1988/89. In Jan/89 All-North Resources released a historic estimate for the Wellgreen deposit prepared by Watts, Griffis and McOuat, an independent consulting firm. In May/89 the company released a pre-feasibility study summarizing metallurgical testing conducted by Lakefield Research Ltd, Inco Technical Services Ltd and CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory.
In May/94 Northern Platinum Ltd optioned the Wellgreen property from All-North Resources Ltd for cash shares and certain work commitments. The agreement was conditional on Belleterre Quebec Mines Ltd (J.P. Sheridan – principal) being granted back-in rights for 50% of Northern Platinum’s interest upon completion of a positive feasibility study, for 50% of monies spent by Northern Platinum. In 1996 Northern Platinum drilled 57, 11.43 cm(4.5 inches), wide rotary percussion drill holes (3 900 m) on the property.
In Apr/99 Northern Platinum purchased All-North Resources’ remaining 20% interest in the Wellgreen property becoming the sole owner of the property.
In Jul/2005 Coronation Minerals Inc entered an agreement with Northern Platinum giving Coronation the right to purchase a 100% interest in the Wellgreen deposit for $25 million. During 2005 Coronation Minerals funded a chip sampling program centred over the North Zone. In 2006 Coronation Minerals collared 11 diamond drill holes (2 016 m) on the property. The holes were designed to twin historical drilling, as well as upgrade the resource to comply with National Instrument 43-101 standards. The following year Coronation drilled three underground diamond drill holes (577 m).
In 2008 Coronation Minerals collared 12 diamond drill holes (4 526 m – 3 holes collared underground) on the Wellgreen property. In addition the company flew an airborne electromagnetic/magnetic geophysical survey over the property. In Jul/2008 Coronation released a NI 43-101 compliant technical report and mineral resource estimate compiled by Watts, Griffis and McOuat Ltd. On October 31, 2008 Coronation Minerals announced that due to market conditions Coronation dropped its option to acquire the Wellgreen property.
Northern Platinum drilled 10 diamond drill holes (2 058 m) in 2009 and a further 6 diamond drill holes (2 138 m) in 2010. In Jun/2010 Prophecy Resource Corp announced that they had entered in to a binding letter of agreement to purchase all shares of Northern Platinum Ltd. As part of the deal Prophecy Resources purchased Belleterre Quebec Mines’ 50% back-in rights covering the Wellgreen property. The deal was completed on September 23, 2010. Prophecy Resources completed 1 diamond drill hole (117 m) in 2010. As part of the agreement Prophecy Resource commissioned Wardrop, a consulting engineering company to complete a technical review of the Wellgreen property. The report was released on July, 26, 2010 and included a potential quantity and grade calculation that is not NI 43- compliant.
On January 18, 2011 Pacific Coast Nickel Corp announced plans to acquire Prophecy Resources’ nickel-platinum group elements (Nickel-PGE) projects, including the Wellgreen project by issuing common shares to Prophecy Resources. Following receipt of an independent fairness opinion and shareholder approval from both companies the agreement closed on June 13, 2011. As part of the agreement Prophecy Resources changed its name to Prophecy Coal Corp and Pacific Coast Nickel changed its name to Prophecy Platinum Corp after consolidating its share capital on a 10 old for 1 new basis. Prophecy Coal also agreed to fund up to $2 000 000.00 of qualified flow through expenditures on Prophecy Platinum’s exploration properties including the Wellgreen property.
In Jun/2011 Prophecy Platinum announced receipt of an independent National Instrument (NI) 43-101 compliant report and mineral resource estimate for the Wellgreen property. In Sep/2011 the company initiated a metallurgical and mineralogy study on the property in order to determine the various options for milling and recovering PGE and nickel concentrates. During the latter half of 2011 Prophecy completed 6 diamond drill holes (1 925 m) on the property.
In May/2012 Prophecy announced the preliminary metallurgical test results for the Wellgreen property and in Jun/2012 Prophecy announced the results of an independent NI 43-101 compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the property. The latest version of the reoprt is dated August 01 2012. On August 2, 2012 Prophecy Platinum announced that they had signed a cooperation and benefits agreement with the Kluane First Nation to support the company’s exploration program and environmental studies for the development of the Wellgreen property.
During the 2012 field season Prophecy Platinum drilled 29 underground diamond drill holes (5 416 m), 22 surface diamond drill holes (5 566 m) and carried out soil sampling and geophysical surveys.
The 2013 work consisted of extensive re-logging and re-sampling of historical drill core, drilling, metallurgical studies and engineering and mine plan optimization (News release July 17, 2013)
Capsule Geology
The occurrence area is located 14 km west of the Alaska Highway, approximately 317 km northwest of Whitehorse, in southwestern Yukon. A gravel mine access road which runs along Quill Creek connects the property to the highway. S. Israel (2004) of the Yukon Geological Survey and others have steadily remapped the region’s geology including the area surrounding this occurrence. L.J. Hulbert (1996) a geologist employed by the Geological Survey of Canada has carried out extensive research in the area.
The occurrence area is located within the Kluane Ultramafic Belt. The Kluane Ultramafic Belt is situated within the Wrangellia Terrane, which is a complex and variable terrane extending from Vancouver Island to central Alaska. This terrane is most commonly characterized by widespread exposures of Triassic flood basalts and complementary intrusive rocks. The ultramafic intrusives of the Wrangellia Terrane represent one of the largest tracts of nickel-copper-Platinum Group Elements (PGM) mineralization in North America.
The exposed base of the Wrangellia is comprised of Pennsylvanian to Permian arc volcanic rocks and Permian sedimentary rocks of the Skolai Group and includes the Hansen Creek Formation and the Station Creek Formation. The Skolai Group is unconformably overlain by the Middle to Late Triassic Nikolai Group consisting of basalt flows with minor intercalated limestone. Mafic and ultramafic intrusions are common throughout the area and have been mostly intruded near the contact between the Station Creek and Hansen Creek formations. These sills, which form the Kluane mafic-ultramafic complex, are thought to be part of a sub-volcanic system that fed the Nikolai Formation flood basalts. These intrusions commonly contain associated magmatic sulphide concentrations of nickel-copper-PGE and gold. The Kluane Ultramafic Belt is bound on the northeast by the Shakwak Fault, which is a major terrane boundary. The fault’s latest movement is described as dextral (right-lateral).
The oldest rocks in the occurrence area are volcanic breccia, tuff and tuffaceous sandstone assigned to the Pennsylvanian (?) and Permian Station Creek Formation. The Station Creek Formation is gradationally overlain by Hansen Creek Formation. The Hansen Creek Formation is dominated by siltstone, argillite and greywacke turbidite with local development of conglomerate, limestone, chert and minor volcanic rocks. The Hansen Creek Formation is unconformably overlain by amygdaloidal flood basalt, volcanic breccias and metasediments of the Upper Triassic Nikolai Group.
Mineralization at the Wellgreen deposit occurs along the lower margin of an Upper Triassic ultramafic body known as the Quill Creek Complex. The Quill Creek Complex is a local component of the Kluane Ultramafic Belt. The Quill Creek Complex measures approximately 20 km long and closely intrudes along the contact between the Station Creek and Hansen Creek formations. The main mass of the Quill Creek Complex measures approximately 4.2 km long and 700 m wide and is centred over the Wellgreen property. Smaller bodies of similar intrusive are located along strike to the northwest and southeast.
The Quill Creek Complex consists of a main intrusion and an associated group of upright to locally overturned, steeply south dipping sills. These associated sills may be remnants of the main intrusion separated from the main mass by folding and shearing. The intrusions are crudely layered, variably serpentinized and deformed. Locally, the sills have a lower gabbroic margin adjacent to a chilled contact with Paleozoic rocks. Mafic-rich skarns occur in the floor rocks adjacent to the marginal facies gabbro; particularly where the metasediments hosts includes limestone or calcareous rocks.
Nickel, copper and platinum group elements occur near the base of the 600 m thick Upper Triassic Quill Creek ultramafic sill A MSc thesis by Miller (1991) reported that the sill consists of a basal non-cumulus marginal gabbro, overlain by an olivine clinopyroxenite (wehrlite) cumulate, followed by cycles of olivine clinopyroxenite, peridotite and dunite cumulates, and a dunite cap. The layers formed by fractional crystallization of olivine from a basaltic melt. Sulphide mineralization occurs as both massive sulphides at the base of the marginal gabbro, and as disseminated sulphides within the marginal gabbro and olivine clinopyroxenites.
Exploration to date has outlined three zones of gabbro-hosted massive and disseminated mineralization known as the East, West and North zones. The East zone has received the most detailed exploration, including 4 267 m of underground development and over 500 surface and underground diamond drill holes. The East zone is gently west-plunging and moderately to steeply south-dipping and is in contact with Hansen Creek Formation calcareous sediments. At the base of this zone of mineralized peridotite are discontinuous massive sulphide lenses as well as skarn zones in the calcareous footwall. The mineralized portion of the East zone has been outlined by surface and underground diamond drilling over a strike length of 1 500m and an average vertical extent of 700 m.
The West zone was discovered by Hudson Yukon Mining and was further delineated by All-North Resources’ 1987 drilling program. At present the zone extends over a strike length of 1 300 m and a vertical depth of 400 m. The zone is located above the base of the Quill Creek Complex where its trend changes from northwest-southeast to east-west. Similar to the East zone the majority of the mineralized zones occur in gabbro and in clinopyroxenite however mineralization also occurs to a considerable extent in inter-digitated gabbro-clinopyroxenite units. The west zone has only limited exposure by underground workings and consists of multiple mineralized units cut by several westerly shallow dipping north-easterly trending cross-faults.
The sill that hosts the mineralized West zone appears to have a gabbroic margin on both its north and south contacts. The marginal zones measure up to 110 m thick and hosts the nickel-copper massive sulphide mineralization that forms the higher grade portions of the Wellgreen deposit. The clinopyroxene magmatic zones which range up to 100 m in thickness, host disseminated nickel-copper sulphides and minor net-textured and semi-massive sulphide lenses.
The North zone is located in the east-central portion of a narrow 1 200 m long, northerly dipping sill lying approximately 150 m below the main ultramafic unit. Mineralization consists of massive sulphide lenses, disseminations in gabbro and ultramafic rocks, and as fracture fillings in footwall quartzite. Three drill holes completed in 1987, all intersected mineralization with the best intersect returning 0.51% copper, 2.01% nickel, 0.96 g/t platinum and 6.5 g/t palladium over a core length of 3.4 m.
Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting's early drilling outlined a historical estimate of 669 150 tonnes grading 2.04% nickel, 1.42% copper, 0.07% cobalt, 1.3 g/t platinum, 0.93 g/t palladium and 0.17 g/t gold, contained in massive sulphide lenses along the footwall contact. This mineralization was targeted by Hudson Bay’s underground mining efforts in 1972 and 1973.
Research conducted by Campbell (1976) and others after Hudson Bay ceased production found that the massive sulphide lenses are fine grained and consist mostly of pyrrhotite with lesser amounts of chalcopyrite, pentlandite and magnetite. The pentlandite occurs as exsolution flames in pyrrhotite. Individual sulphide lenses vary from 1 to 18 m thick and are interpreted as magmatic segregation deposits. Assays as high as 4.57% nickel, 1.58% copper, 0.10% cobalt, 4.14 g/t platinum and 3.08 g/t palladium over 6 m have been recorded, and a 9.8 m chip sample across the East zone lens gave a representative grade of 2.44% nickel, 2.07% copper, 0.94% cobalt, 2 400 ppb platinum, 2 200 ppb palladium, 1 020 ppb gold, 560 ppb rhodium, 650 ppb ruthenium, 440 ppb osmium and 550 ppb iridium. These numbers show that the Wellgreen massive sulphides contain an unusually high proportion of the rarer platinum group elements, especially osmium, iridium, ruthenium and rhodium.
Net-textured and disseminated chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and pentlandite occur in gabbro and peridotite above the massive sulphide lenses, and extend as high as 100 m above the gabbro-peridotite contact. 1986 assays of disseminated mineralization returned average values of 0.33% nickel, 0.56% copper, 0.018% cobalt, 103 ppb gold, 800 ppb platinum and 833 ppb palladium.
Kluane Joint Venture’s exploration program in 1986 and diamond drilling programs carried out in 1987 and 1988 were designed to 1) expand the property’s minable reserves to include disseminated sulphides in the basal gabbro and overlying peridotite and; 2) examine the property’s open pit potential. In Jan/89 Watts, Griffis and McOuat, consulting geologists and engineers on the project released an open pit mineable “historical estimate” of 42 326 000 tonnes (classified probable – not NI 43-101 compatible) grading 0.35% copper, 0.36% nickel, 0.51 g/t platinum and 0.34 g/t palladium. A further “historical estimate” of 7 706 000 tonnes (classified possible – not NI 43-101 compatible) grading 0.36% copper, 0.35 nickel, 0.71 g/t platinum and 0.308 g/t palladium was reported. Metallurgical tests using conventional flotation techniques indicate recoveries of 80-85% for nickel, 95% for copper and 70% for platinum and palladium. The report estimated an open pit life of 13 years, which could be increased if underground mining was undertaken.
Analyses by Fayek (1989) of skarn formed at the lower contact of the main Wellgreen sill showed that platinum is associated with nickel and palladium is associated with copper. Gold shows a strong inverse correlation with platinum and palladium, and correlates poorly with copper and nickel.
Miller (1991) found that the disseminated mineralization is preferentially enriched in copper, platinum, palladium and gold compared to the massive sulphides. Sulphur isotope data suggest that most of the sulphur was assimilated from deep crustal sources and was not derived from footwall rocks.
The 1996 rotary percussion drill program appears to have been undertaken to try and reduce drilling costs. Few details have been publicly released.
The 2005 chip sampling program was carried out across a steeply dipping altered shear zone believed to be the surface expression of the North Zone. The highest grade chip sample assayed 38.9 g/t platinum, 65.0 g/t palladium, 3.9 g/t gold, 33.9 g/t silver, 0.07% nickel and 0.10% copper over 1 m (Coronation Minerals/Northern Platinum News Release Nov. 24 2005). The sampled zone is located 400 to 500 m north and 100 to 400 m in elevation above the surface expression of the East Zone.
The 2006, 2007 and 2008 diamond drill programs were carried out to twin historical holes and to upgrade the property’s resources to NI 43-101 standards. One diamond drill hole (WS-06-153) was drilled to test the thickness of the ultramafic body. It reached a final depth of 561.14 m, far deeper than historical records indicated. The twined holes generally confirmed historical results however differences in collar locations and elevations between the two sets of data prevented a definitive conclusion from being reached. Underground drilling was carried out to explore the deposit at depth. Surface exploration programs targeted the relatively unexplored eastern portion of the property.
Watts, Griffis and McOuat’ s 2008 technical report for Coronation Minerals summarized exploration work completed to date on the Wellgreen property and included a new mineral resource estimate. The estimate included diamond drilling completed to the end of the 2007 drilling program. Employing a 0.2% nickel equivalent cutoff for all calculations, the East zone hosts an Indicated Resource of 6 400 000 tonnes grading 0.45% copper, 0.43% nickel, (equal to 0.61% nickel equivalent), 0.309 ppm palladium and 0.377 ppm platinum. Inferred Resources for the East zone equal 5 500 000 tonnes grading 0.26% copper, 0.37% nickel (equal to 0.47% nickel equivalent), 0.274 ppm palladium and 0.309 ppm platinum. The West zone hosts an Inferred Resource of 18 400 000 tonnes grading 0.29% copper, 0.26% nickel (equal to 0.37% nickel equivalent), 0.274 ppm palladium and 0.411 ppm platinum. Watts, Griffis and McOuat believed that with additional infill diamond drilling, further verification of some drill hole locations, completion of a new topographic survey and further validation of existing data through additional check sampling and specific gravity determinations it would be possible to upgrade the mineral resource classifications.
Wardrop’s 2010 technical report was completed as part of the due diligence required for Prophecy Resources’ purchase of Northern Platinum. It found that work completed to date was generally satisfactory and there were no concerns regarding the purchase of Northern Platinum. Although the report provided several calculations regarding quantity and grade of mineralization it was noted that they were conceptual in nature and could not be considered a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource.
The 2010, 2011 and 2012 diamond drilling programs were focused on increasing the property’s mineral resources and upgrading existing resources into measured or indicated categories. Drilling was conducted underground and surface and targeted all known areas. The most important result was the determination that the East and West zones were connected by the Central zone a broad mineralized zone of ultramafic rocks. Drilling also expanded the overall size of the deposit. Sampling of historic and current drill core demonstrated the widespread occurrence of gold and all 6 Platinum Group Elements (platinum, palladium, osmium, iridium, ruthenium, and rhodium).
Wardrop’s 2011 technical report and resource estimate included all diamond drilling completed to the end of 2010 but did not include all historic drill core assays for the 6 Platinum Group elements. The 2011 report marked the first NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate that considered the potential of the Wellgreen property to host a larger, but lower grade open pit as opposed to underground mining of higher-grade pockets of semi-massive sulphides historically mined by Hudson Bay. Employing a 0.40% nickel equivalent cut-off for all calculations, the East zone hosts an Indicated Resource of 14 308 000 tonnes grading 0.69% nickel, 0.62% copper (equal to 1.36% nickel equivalent), 0.05 cobalt, 0.52g/t gold, 0.99 g/t platinum and 0.74 g/t palladium. Inferred Resources for the East zone totaled 219 327 000 tonnes grading 0.39$ nickel, 0.39% copper (equal to 0.76% nickel equivalent) 0.03% cobalt, 0.26 g/t gold, 0.54 g/t platinum and 0.45 g/t palladium. The West zone hosts an Inferred Resource of 69 919 000 tonnes grading 0.34% nickel, 0.38% copper (equal to 0.67% nickel equivalent) 0.02% cobalt, 0.12 g/t gold, 0.50 g/t platinum and 0.34 g/t palladium.
Preliminary metallurgical test results released in May/2012 indicate that a bulk concentrate of 5.6% nickel, 6.0% copper, 3.5 g/t platinum, 6.3 g/t palladium and 0.5 g/t gold could be produced from the prevalent host-mineralized rocks present at the Wellgreen property. These results represented recoveries of 68% nickel, 88% copper, 46% platinum, 73% palladium and 59% gold.
The Preliminary Economic Assessment released in Jun/2012 recommended developing the Wellgreen deposit as a conventional, diesel truck-shovel open pit mine using a conventional concentrator to produce bulk nickel-copper-platinum group elements concentrate. The study envisioned a projected mine life of 37 years with a nominal mining rate of 111 500 tonnes/day and an onsite concentrator processing 32 000 tonnes/day. The initial capital cost was estimated at $863 million and the project was expected to produce (in concentrate) 888 571 177 kg nickel, 933 199 575 kg copper, 60 669 267 kg cobalt, 41 547 495 g (grams) gold, 76 629 263 g (grams) platinum and 102 623 012 g (grams) palladium.
The Preliminary Economic Assessment also contained a new resource estimate for the Wellgreen deposit. Wardrop eliminated the East and West zones and calculated their resource estimates on one large optimized open pit. Based on a 0.22 nickel equivalent cut-off, increased commodity prices and a optimized pit design, Wardrop Engineering estimated an Indicated Resource of 14 432 900 tonnes grading 0.68% nickel, 0.62% copper (equal to 1.4% nickel equivalent), 0.05% cobalt, 0.51 g/t gold, 0.99% platinum and 0.73% palladium. Inferred Resources were estimated at 446 649 000 tonnes grading 0.31 nickel, 0.25% copper (equal to 0.6% nickel equivalent), 0.02% cobalt, 0.16 g/t gold, 0.38 g/t platinum and 0.33% palladium. Wardrop stressed that the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was preliminary in nature and there was no certainty that the (PEA) will be realized. It also stress that inferred mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
In Aug/2012 Prophecy announced that additional metallurgical testing indicated that a separate nickel-PGE-cobalt concentrates grading up to 12.9% nickel and copper-PGE-gold concentrates grading up to 23.2% copper could be produced from Wellgreen’s disseminated PGE-nickel-copper mineralization.
The Aug/2012 Comprehensive Cooperation and Benefit Agreement signed between Prophecy Platinum and the Kluane First Nations outlined various provisions for employment, training and contracting opportunities for the Kluane First Nation and its citizens. It also provided the First Nation with an equity position in the company.
