WORK HISTORY
*In Feb/2018 the occurrence location was moved 1.75 km to the south, to the approximate centre of the Wealth showing.
The Eureka Creek region has seen placer activity since the discovery of gold in the Klondike in 1896. The first quartz claims staked in the area include Jumbo cl (4608) in May 1900, Skukum cl (1876) in Jun/01 and Harriet Smith cl (1262) in Oct/08. The Pershing and Jumbo cl (13238) were staked to the south, on the ridge between Ida and Sprague Gulches, (tributaries of Black Hills Creek), in Jul/20.
Other nearby claims in the Black Hills Creek Valley include Silver King cl (12197) in Dec/11 by H.M. Peck, who trenched in 1912 (between Golden Gate Creek and 28 Pup), tributaries of Child's Gulch, and Black Hills Lode cl (12433) in Aug/14 by H. Porter, who trenched later in the year (between Golden Gate and Carpenter Gulches). Little data exists regarding this early exploration activity.
The original occurrence (~ 604540 E, 7049890 N), marked the location of an extremely anomalous gold (89 ppb) stream sediment sample collected by the Geological Survey of Canada, (Open File 1364, released in 1986) on the east branch of the right fork of Eureka Creek. The occurrence was staked as Reka cl 1-146 (YB4992) in May/88 by Dawson Eldorado Mines Ltd and Wealth Resources Ltd, which mapped and soil sampled in 1989. F. Dorward staked CHI cl 1-16 (YA89771) approximately 4 km to the southeast in Aug/87 and trenched in 1988-89.
Restaked as Clara cl 1-58 (YB41533) in Sep/92 by Pearl Petroleum Corporation Ltd, which performed preliminary geological mapping, and soil and rock sampling in the fall of 1992.
J.S. Christie staked CG cl 1-36 (YB41469) 3 km to the southeast in Sep/92. Between June and Sep/93 Christie added 26 EG claims (YB42195), 6 BP claims (YB44805), 26 BHG claims (YB45284) and two CG fractions, north and south of the original CG claims. During July and Aug/93 Christie explored with soil geochemistry surveys on the CHI, CG, GO, BHG, BP and EG claims; and trenched and sampled on the CG claims.
In Jul/93 C.R. Little added 95 Clara B claims (YB44921) north and south of the Clara claims. Pacific Mariner Explorations Ltd and Wealth Resources Ltd optioned the Clara and Clara B claims in Sep/93 and carried out trenching and soil and rock sampling on the claims. In Oct/94 the companies added Clara B cl 101-106 (YB52726) and cl 107-130 (YB52853) on the north end of the Clara B claim block.
In Jul/95 T. Christie restaked EG cl 1-6, 10 (YB53947) approximately 2 km to the southeast. The following month Christie carried out a soil sampling program over top EG claims located on the upper left fork headwaters of Eureka Creek.
In the summer of 1995 Wealth and Pacific Mariner carried out further trenching, prospecting and VLF-EM geophysics on the Clara B claims located near the junction of the left and right forks of Eureka Creek.
Restaked as Eureka cl 1-56 (YC12951) in Feb/99 by the Eureka Joint Venture (Nordac Resources Ltd and Expatriate Resources Ltd). The joint venture added Eureka cl 57-182 (YC13701), and cl 187-206 (YC13831) in Apr/99 and carried out stream sediment, soil and rock sampling programs later in the year. These claims and the adjoining Armenius claims located to the north (Minfile Occurrence #115O 118) formed the Eureka Joint Venture.
In the summer and fall of 2000, the joint venture carried out grid soil sampling within the headwaters of Eureka Creek and along the road separating Childs Gulch and Black Hills Creek. The group also prospected, trenched and sampled the three main showings.
On June 22, 2001 Nordac Resources Ltd changed its name to Strategic Metals Ltd.
In Feb/2002 the joint venture allowed outlying Eureka cl 61-72, cl 85-96, and cl 113-120 to lapse. Viceroy Exploration Canada Inc optioned the remaining Eureka claims in Mar/2002 and drilled 4 four reverse circulation holes (380 m); three holes (290 m) on the Allen and one hole (90 m) on the Wealth showings. The company also re-sampled various outcrops and trenches.
On January 17, 2003 StrataGold Corporation acquired all of Expatriate Resources interests in the joint venture.
On June 6, 2006 Strategic Metals optioned StrataGold’s 50% interest in return for spending between $250 000.00 and $300 000.00 on a trenching and drilling program on the property. During the 2006 exploration season Strategic carried out 1 151 m of excavator trenching (5 trenches dug on Wealth (2) and Childs showings(3)), and 10 reverse circulation (RC) percussion holes (823 m) on the Wealth showing, fulfilling the terms of the option agreement. Although StrataGold held a back-in-right on the property by funding further exploration costs, the company elected not to exercise them and on January 12, 2007, Strategic acquired 100 % interest in the property subject to a 1 % net smelter return held by StrataGold.
On August 1, 2007 Strategic Metals signed a staged option agreement with Anfield Ventures Inc, which allowed Anfield to acquire a 50 % interest and then a further 30 % interest (80 % in total) in the newly named Eureka property in return for series of cash payments and certain exploration expenditures. In 2008 Anfield Ventures flew a helicopter-borne Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic (VTEM) and magnetometer survey over the property. Anfield terminated the option agreement in May/2009.
During the 2009 exploration season Strategic Metals excavator trenched numerous areas 1999 and grid soil sampled the central portion of the property. In Aug/2009 the company staked Eureka cl 203-411 (YD07463) doubling the size of the property.
On January 19, 2010 Strategic Metals optioned the property to Golden Predator Canada Corp in return for staged payments of cash and shares. Strategic retained a 2 % net smelter return (NRS). During the summer of 2010 Golden Predator collared 27 reverse circulation holes (2 961 m) on the Wealth (23 holes) and Childs (4 holes) showings. In 2011 the company collared 8 diamond drill holes (1 188 m) on the Allen (1 hole), Childs Gulch (5 holes) and the area north of the Wealth (2 holes) showings, (five short holes (385.7 m) were attempted on the Ball showing but were abandoned). The company also prospected, geologically mapped and sampled various targets located on the property. Golden Predator terminated the agreement in Mar/2012 and returned the claims to Strategic Metals.
In 2015 Strategic Metals rock sampled all known showings and carried out close-spaced grid soil sampling over the central and northwest portions of the property. In 2016 the company extended grid soil sampling to the north and southeast and collected 7 rock samples.
On December 19, 2016 Strategic Metals Ltd announced a spin-out transaction to segregate some of its assets (including the Eureka property) into a separate company to be called Trifecta Gold Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary. Strategic proposed to provide the company sufficient funds to qualify for a listing on the TSX Venture Exchange in return for shares in Trifecta Gold, the majority of which were distributed to Strategic shareholders. The plan was approved by Strategic shareholders on April 21, 2017. The Plan of Arrangement was approved by security officials and Trifecta’s shares were listed on the TSX Venture Exchange on June 15, 2017.
In 2017 Trifecta Gold carried out additional close-spaced grid soil sampling.
GEOLOGY
The occurrence is located in west-central Yukon approximately 65 km south (as the crow flies) from Dawson City, Yukon. Access to the area is obtained by a series a seasonally maintained roads branching south off from the Hunker Creek road. Actual distance by road is approximately 110 km to the property along the proposed haulage route to Goldcorp’s Coffee deposit (Yukon Minfile Occurrences #115J 110 & 111). Various 4-wheel drive and rough bulldozer roads created and maintained by placer miners allow access to most parts of the Eureka property.
Due to the lack of exposed bedrock no systematic geological mapping has been carried out on the property. Based on geological mapping completed by the Geological Survey of Canada, the Yukon Geological Survey and various company geologists, the property is mainly underlain by Neoproterozoic Snowcap assemblage quartzite with interbedded quartz +/-muscovite+/-biotite schist and phyllite (unit PDS1) which exhibits well-developed foliation that dips 10 to 35 degrees to the west. Two north to northwest trending horizons of marble (unit PDS2) have been observed in the southwestern part of the property where they form buff weathering cliffs. Eureka Creek and Childs Gulch form a north-trending topographic linear that is interpreted to represent the surface trace of a north dipping thrust fault. Breccia zones are exposed on the west side of the linear (the hanging wall of the thrust), are oriented approximately parallel to the linear.
The property hosts two main types of gold mineralization: 1) auriferous quartz breccias and gouge zones located along low angle shears and fault structures; 2) massive quartz veins with elevated but sub-economic concentrations of gold. Quartz breccias consist of autoclastic, subangular to well rounded, limonitic quartz clasts cemented in a matrix of rock flour. Mineralization consists of pitted clots of limonite found in quartz fragments and along fractures with rare remnant pyrite. Samples of this material generally display a positive geochemical correlation between gold, silver, arsenic, molybdenum and lead, with background levels for antimony and bismuth.
Quartz veins are usually clear to white, and comprised of strongly fractured quartz with rusty vugs and pits along fractures. Mineralization within the veins consist (in decreasing order of abundance), of remnant disseminated pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite. Some specimens, exhibit crackle brecciation, but they are distinguished from milled breccias by the strong angularity of the fragments and absence of a rock flour matrix.
Exploration to date has identified 5 significant showings: Wealth, Allan, Childs, Happy and Ball. The Wealth showing (occurrence location) hosts various north trending, crackle breccias with clay alteration halos that are coincident with a 600 by 250 m wide gold in soil anomaly. Trenching carried out between 1999 and 2009 exposed quartz breccias with gougy alteration halos. The highest gold assays in trenches include: 0.54 g/t gold across 20 m (2006); 0.97 g/t gold over 17.9 m (year uncertain); 0.75 g/t gold across 10 m (2006); and, 1.06 g/t gold across 2 m (2006). Reverse circulation drilling completed by Strategic Metals in 2006 within the showing, returned 0.59 g/t gold across 18.3 m; and 1.38 g/t gold over 3.05 m. Addition reverse circulation drilling conducted by Golden Predator in 2010 to test quartz veins and breccias located within the showing returned 2.44 g/t gold over 1.53 m and 1.93 g/t gold over 1.52 m. Preliminary cyanide leach bottle tests conducted in 2009 on coarse reject samples from chip samples collected trenches within the zone returned the following results in a 24 hour period.
Gold Head Grade (g/t) Gold from Cyanide Recovery (g/t)
0.32 0.33
0.59 0.57
1.16 0.9
2.76 2.72
The Allan showing (~ 605335 E, 7048575 N), is located approximately 800 m to the northeast. The showing is exposed in a deep trench cut along a north-trending ridge, near the upper reaches of Eureka Creek. The trench exposes a brecciated and clay altered zone measuring approximately 2 m by 5 m. Selected grab samples of milled, clay rich quartzite and quartz-muscovite breccia returned gold values up to 15 g/t gold (2000). A 30 m bulldozer cut, completed in 2002 and located 15 m south-south east of the trench, intersected a clay rich alteration zone similar to that observed in the original trench. The alteration zone measures about 4 m wide and consists of blocky quartzite lenses within a thick succession of well foliated quartz-muscovite schist. Internal to the blocky, clay altered breccia are distinct limonitic patches containing mm scale clasts of quartzite and quartz-muscovite schist that are interpreted to be a re-worked, crackle breccia. Continuous chip sampling across the clay rich breccia were disappointing, returning 0.44 g/t Au over 4 m (1999) and suggests that strike continuity of grade is very limited.
The Childs (~605455 E, 7044940 N) showing lies approximately 2 500 m to the south is defined by three trenches dug in 2006 which exposed gold-bearing breccia zones. Chip sampling carried out in 2006 returned 0.722 g/t gold over 4 m (trench 2006 - T4) and 0.481 g/t gold over 5.5 m (trench 2006 – T5). In 2010 Golden Predator collared 4 reverse circulation drill holes (538 m) on the showing. The holes were designed to intersect the down-dip extension of the gold bearing breccias exposed in the trenches. All 4 holes intersected significant gold grades, including 6.62 g/t gold over 1.52 m (hole Eu-10-26RC) and 0.452 g/t gold over 1.52 m (hole Eu-10-24RC). Five diamond drill holes (385.07 m) were collared in 2011 to follow-up results obtained in 2010. The best result was 0.92 g/t gold over 1.53 m (EU11-031).
The Happy showing (~604485 E, 7049150 N), is located approximately 1 800 m to the north. It was discovered by Golden Predator in 2011 and consists of a 500 by 700 m gold and arsenic soil anomaly that lies over the toe of a north-trending ridge. One of two diamond drill holes (EU11-29) collared to test the anomaly returned 9.99 g/t gold over 1.51 m. The other hole (EU11-30) did not intersect mineralization. To date the area has not seen any follow-up work.
The Ball showing (~607240 E, 7043755 n) is located approximately 2.2 km to the southeast and consists of a gold-rich quartz vein that was exposed in bedrock by placer mining. A chip sample across the vein returned an assay of 9.8 g/t gold and 238 g/t silver over 0.6 m. Golden Predator attempted to test the showing in 2011, but all 5 short diamond drill holes (385.07 m) attempted in the area surrounding the showing were abandoned due to difficult ground conditions.
Close-spaced soil sampling conducted in 2015, 16 and 17 outlined a northwesterly-elongated gold-in-soil anomaly measuring 8 km in length by 2.5 km in width. The anomaly is open to extension in most directions and much of the property has not yet been sampled. Recent prospecting has only covered limited areas of the property.
Placer mining is ongoing in the area and gold recovered from the upper reaches of both Eureka and Black Hills Creeks is described as a mixture of coarse and fine, generally angular grains, with some grains containing inclusions of dark quartz while others are attached to larger white quartz fragments, suggesting a local source for the gold.