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Occurrence Details


Occurrence Number
105H 105
Occurrence Name
Justin - Kangas
Occurrence Type
Hard-rock
Status
Drilled Prospect


General Information

Secondary Commodities: gold, silver, copper
Aliases: Sun, Rain
Deposit Type(s): Skarn Au
Location(s): 61.675280 N, -128.108170 W
NTS Mapsheet(s): 105H09
Location Comments: Kangas is located approximately 1km north-northwest of the Main (Justin) zone. The location of this occurrence was taken from figures on Aben's website.
Hand Samples Available at YGS: No
Last Reviewed: May 7, 2019

Capsule

Last Updated: May 7, 2019
Work History

Note: The Kangas mineral occurrence was discovered as part of exploration efforts on the Justin property. Refer to MINFILE 105H 045 for the detailed work history on the Justin property prior to 1996 when Aben Resources Ltd. discovered the Kangas.
 
In 1996 Hemlo Gold Mines carried out geological mapping, prospecting, grid and contour soil geochemical sampling on the Justin claims. During this program Hemlo carried out regional exploration activities outside of the Justin claim block which resulted in the company staking Sprogge cl 1-10 (YB85182) in Jun/96, 9 km to the northwest. In Jul/96 Hemlo merged with Battle Mountain Canada Ltd and staked Sprogge cl 11-54 (YB85338) and cl 55-74 (YB85781).
 
In Aug/97 Battle Mountain Canada optioned the Sprogge (MINFILE105H 103) and Justin claims to Viceroy Exploration (Canada) Ltd. In Sep/97 Viceroy Exploration carried out a combined exploration program on both claim groups. Geological mapping, prospecting, soil geochemical sampling and hand trenching was carried out on the Justin claims. In Oct/97 Viceroy staked Snow cl 26-101 (YB90799) and Sprogge cl 75-158 (YB90875) on the north, west and south sides of the Justin claims forming a single contiguous block of claims covering 15 km of prospective stratigraphy, then collectively known as the Sprogge Project.

In 1998, Viceroy carried out systematic soil geochemical sampling across 75% of the claim group, detailed mapping and rock chip sampling of known anomalies, and reconnaissance style mapping and sampling over the remainder of the property. In Aug/98 the company staked Sprogge cl 159-202 (YB91350) on the north side of the northwest end of the claim group to secure an access corridor to the nearby Nahanni Range Road.

In Mar/99, NovaGold Resources Inc acquired 100% of Viceroy's interest in the project. Later in 1999, NovaGold carried out an evaluation of the claims that included prospecting, geological mapping and geochemical (rock) sampling.

In Sep/2000 NovaGold entered into an agreement with Kennecott Canada Inc. to fund exploration expenditures on the property and together they drilled 4 diamond drill holes (762m) on the adjacent Sprogge claims.
 
In Apr/2001 NovaGold dropped its option on the Justin property and returned the claims to B. Kreft.

In Mar/2002 Eagle Plains Resources Ltd optioned the Justin claims from Kreft in return for cash payments and certain work commitments. In Mar/2005, the company purchased 100% interest, in the property, subject to a 1% net smelter royalty (Eagle Plains –Consolidated Financial Statements – Dec. 31, 2005. pg. 14).
 
In Apr/2008 Eagle Plains staked SP cl 1-50 (YC73232) north, west and south of the Justin claims. In Aug/2008 the company carried out a small rock sampling program to confirm previous results.
 
In Jun/2010 Eagle Plains flew an airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey over the Justin property. In Aug/2010 the company carried out geological mapping, rock, silt and soil sampling, dug soil orientation pits and prospected areas of the property which had not yet been explored. The company also staked SP cl 51-55 (YD65452) on the north and west sides of the claim block.
 
In Feb/2011 Eagle Plains optioned the Justin property to Aben Resources Ltd. and between August and Sep/2011 Aben Resources drilled 10 diamond drill holes (2,020m) to test known areas of mineralization. Concurrent with the drill program the company carried out limited geological mapping, rock and soil sampling around the newly defined POW zone (MINFILE 105H 104). The company also followed up some of the anomalies defined by the airborne geophysical survey.
 
In Oct/2011 Aben Resources staked SP cl 57-70 (YD87920) and SP cl 71-84 (YD87903) on the north end of the claim block. In Nov/2011 the company staked SP cl 89-207 (YF33001) on the south end of the claim block. A total of 2,020m of NQ core was drilled during the 2011 program with 3 holes totalling 494.18m in the Confluence zone. 
 
In Mar/2012 Aben optioned the adjoining VF gold project (MINFILE 105H 034) from Bearing Resources Ltd. In 2012 Aben collared 9 diamond drill holes (1,994 m) on the POW zone. The company also completed ground magnetic surveys, detailed geological mapping, prospecting and rock, soil and silt sampling programs on both the Justin and VF properties.

No work was reported by Aben for 2013. In 2014, Aben completed trenching, drillcore resampling and limited silt and soil sampling focusing on the POW and Big Swifty (MINFILE 105H 107) zones. No work was completed on the property over 2015 and 2016. In 2017, Aben completed trenching, silt and soil sampling focusing on the Lost Ace (MINFILE 105H 108) and Confluence (MINFILE 105H 106) zones. In 2018, they continued trenching, silt and soil sampling again focusing on the Lost Ace zone.


Capsule Geology

The actual occurrence lies approximately 11 km east of the Nahanni Range Road which services North American Tungsten Corporation Ltd’s Cantung tungsten mine which is located approximately 30 km to the north. The area lies within the Selwyn Mountains and is underlain by a sequence of Selwyn Basin stratigraphy composed primarily of shallow marine shelf and off-shelf sedimentary rock derived from the ancient North American Platform.
 
The occurrence area is underlain by a broad package of west-northwest trending, north-northeast dipping coarse grained clastic sediments, siltstones, pyllitic shale, limestone and calcareous siltstone and shale of the Upper Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian Hyland Group. Eagle Plains Resources/Aben Resources have broken the Hyland Group rocks into three subunits, which based on previous work are tentatively assign to the Neoproterozoic Yusezyu Formation. To the north, a northwest-southeast trending fault separates the Hyland Group rocks from a thin to medium bedded limestone unit assigned to the Cambrian to Ordovician Rabbitkettle Formation. Two periods of compressional deformation are recorded in the rocks and the package is bounded to the north and south by inferred lateral to oblique-slip faults in the Sprogge and Dayo Creek valleys. Mid-Cretaceous age quartz monzonite and quartz-biotite monzonite dykes and related veining associated with stocks of the Tombstone Plutonic suite have intruded tensional features related to the inferred faulting.
 
The Norquest Joint Venture originally discovered copper mineralization consisting of sparsely disseminated chalcopyrite accompanied by fine-grained pyrrhotite in several irregular pods of pyroxene skarn. This discovery area was later named the Justin Main zone. Grab samples assayed up to 0.46% copper and 0.34 g/t gold.
 
Exploration in the mid to late-1990’s by Hemlo Gold Mines, Battle Mountain Canada, Viceroy Exploration and Novagold Resources saw exploration efforts concentrated towards identifying structurally controlled intrusive related epigenetic gold mineralization. Prospecting followed by soil, silt and rock sampling and geological mapping identified several targets on both the Justin and neighbouring Sprogge claims.
 
Soil sampling, trenching and rock sampling carried out in 1996 and 1997 defined the Kangas zone, located approximately 1 km north of the Main zone. The Kangas zone consists of a north-south extending zone of skarn and replacement style mineralization measuring approximately 75m by 400m hosted within calcareous siltstone and minor limestone. Mineralization consists of fracture controlled and replacement style nearly massive pyrrhotite and local pyrite, with minor disseminated chalcopyrite, along with fine grained diopside and actinolite. Replacement-style arsenopyrite horizons returned assays of up to 1.6 g/t  gold over 1.5m and 1.2 g/t gold over 1.0m. Quartz-arsenopyrite veining returned elevated gold values, although pyrrhotite horizons returned low values. Host stratigraphy strikes roughly ESE, and dips gently to the south although this may become disrupted near the March Creek Fault. In addition, Battle Mountain Canada’s 1997 assessment report marked the first time the Confluence zone (MINFILE 105H 106) was officially recognized.

The 1998 and 1999 exploration programs basically confirmed earlier results and better defined the three mineralized zones (Main, Confluence and Kangas) located on the Justin property. The 1998 and 1999 exploration programs basically confirmed earlier results and better defined the three mineralized zones (Main, Confluence and Kangas) located on the Justin property. A diamond drilling program was proposed in 2000 to test the three targets, however the late signing of the option agreement between NovaGold and Kennecott Canada delayed the start of drilling until September and as a result was restricted to lower elevations thus only four drill holes were completed on the neighbouring Sprogge claims before the field season ended. Following completion of the 2000 field season Kennecott Canada dropped its option on the claims and in Apr/2001 NovaGold dropped its option and returned the claims B. Kreft (the property owner).
 
The Justin property lay dormant until 2008 when Eagle Plains Resources carried out a small prospecting and rock sampling program to confirm earlier results. Seven grab and float rock samples collected from the Main and Confluence zones returned values similar to earlier results. The 2008 assessment report marks the first time the Main and Confluence zones are shown on maps to occur within the SP claims.
In 2010, Eagle Plains flew an airborne geophysical program attempting to locate any buried intrusions and major structural features that might be controlling and influencing mineralization on the property. The survey successfully identified several major features thought to play a major role in controlling mineralization on the property. Many areas of magnetic highs identified in the survey correlate with known hornfels zones and some areas of magnetic lows were equated with buried intrusions.
 
Follow-up exploration of the geophysical results led the company to discover the POW zone (MINFILE 105H 104), located approximately 2.5km northwest of the Main zone. In addition, rock sampling was carried out on the Main, Confluence and Kangas zones and confirmed earlier results.
 
Aben Resources 2011 exploration program was geared towards drill testing the Main, Confluence, Kangas and POW mineralized zones (refer to related MINFILES for drill details on each zone). Three diamond drill holes (520.2 m) were drilled from one location to test the Main zone. Two diamond drill holes (461.0m) were collared from one drill pad to test the Confluence zone. Only one of three holes (494.2m) collared on the Kangas zone reached the target depth. Drilling in 2011 on the Kangas Zone provided insight into the true extent and nature of the mineralization. Three holes were drilled into the Kangas Zone. All three of the holes intersected calc-silicate altered siltstone, and thin bedded limestone within the top 20 meters of drilling. Of particular significance was the discovery of high grade Ag-Cu mineralization in JN11003 which intercepted 1.07 meters of 7,320 g/t (235 oz/t) Ag, 1.11 g/t Au, and 3.52 % Cu. While drilling on the Main, Confluence and Kangas zones Aben Resources carried out follow-up geological mapping and prospecting around the recently discovered POW zone.
 
Aben Resources spent the winter of 2011-2012 compiling and evaluating all known data for the Justin property. In 2012, Aben collared 9 diamond drill holes (1,994 m) on the POW zone, completed ground magnetic surveys, detailed geological mapping, prospecting and rock, soil and silt sampling. All work from 2012 to 2018 focused outside of the Main and Kangus zones, work was completed primarily on the POW, Lost Ace and Confluence zones.

Location Map

Last Updated: Jun 11, 2019

Work History

Year Work Type Comment
2011 Drilling: Diamond 3 of 10 drillholes were collared in the Kangas zone.
2010 Airborne Geophysics Magnetic and electromagnetic surveys.
2010 Geochemistry: Silt
2010 Geochemistry: Soil
2010 Geology: Bedrock Mapping
2008 Geochemistry: Rock
1999 Geochemistry: Rock
1999 Geology Reconnaissance-scale.
1998 Geochemistry: Rock Chip sampling over areas of known mineralization.
1998 Geology: Bedrock Mapping
1997 Geochemistry: Rock
1997 Geochemistry: Soil
1997 Geology: Bedrock Mapping
1997 Trenching: Hand Three trenches on Justin group - 2 in the Main zone and 1 in Confluence zone (no trenching in Kangas).
1996 Geochemistry: Rock
1996 Geology

Regional Geology - Terrane

Group: Ancestral North America
Affinity: W Laurentia
Name: North America - basinal strata
Realm: Laurentia


Regional Geology - Bedrock

Supergroup: Windermere
Group/Suite: Hyland
Formation: Yusezyu
Member: upper, undifferentiated
Terrane: Laurentia
Period Max: Ediacaran
Age Max: 635 MA
Period Min: Cambrian
Age Min: 541 MA
Rock Major: sandstone, conglomerate, shale, siltstone, phyllite, limestone
Rock Minor:
Reference: Jilson et al. (1980) - Yukon EMR ARMC 011986
Geological Unit (1M): PCH
Geological Unit (250K): PCH6

Assessment Reports that overlap occurrence

Report Number Year Title Worktypes Holes Drilled Meters Drilled
096714 2014 2014 Assessment Report for the Justin Property Historical Drill Core - Geochemistry, Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Detailed Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Hand - Trenching, Mechanical - Trenching
096319 2012 2012 Diamond Drilling, Geological, Geophysics and Geochemical Report for the Justin Property and VF Property Diamond - Drilling, Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Detailed Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Magnetics - Ground Geophysics, Metallurgical Tests - Lab Work/Physical Studies 9 1994
095496 2011 2011 Diamond Drilling, Geological and Geochemical Report for the Justin Property Diamond - Drilling, Drill Core - Geochemistry, Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Detailed Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Prospecting - Other 10 2020
095316 2010 Geological, Geochemical and Geophysical Report for the SPROGGE (Justin) Property Electromagnetic - Airborne Geophysics, Reverse Circulation - Airborne Geophysics, Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Regional Bedrock Mapping - Geology
093783 1997 1997 Geological, Geochemical and Trenching Report on the Sprogge 1-74 and Justin 1-25 Claims Rock - Geochemistry, Silt - Geochemistry, Soil - Geochemistry, Detailed Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Prospecting - Other, Hand - Trenching
093495 1995 Sun Prospect Prospecting, Rock Sampling Rock - Geochemistry, Prospecting - Other
017575 1965 Geological and Geophysical Investigation of the Rain Claim Group Detailed Bedrock Mapping - Geology, Magnetics - Ground Geophysics, Line Cutting - Other

Related References

Number Title Page(s) Document Type
YEG1997 Yukon Exploration and Geology 1997 Annual Report
YEG1998 Yukon Exploration and Geology 1998 Annual Report
YEG2012_OV Yukon Exploration and Geology Overview 2012 Annual Report
YEG1999 Yukon Exploration and Geology 1999 Annual Report
YEG1987 Yukon Exploration 1987 Annual Report
YEG2017_OV3 Yukon Mineral Exploration Program 2017 Update Annual Report Paper
YEG1988_89 Yukon Exploration 1988 Annual Report
YEG2018_OV3 Yukon Mineral Exploration Program 2018 update Annual Report Paper
YEG2005_08 Gold mineralization in the upper Hyland River area: a non-magmatic origin Annual Report Paper
YEG2010_OV Yukon Exploration and Geology Overview 2010 Annual Report
YEG2011_OV Yukon Exploration and Geology Overview 2011 Annual Report
YEG1981 Yukon Exploration and Geology 1981 Annual Report
ARMC008142 Heavy mineral sampling map - NTS 105H-9 - MacMillan project - Anmac Geochemical Map
YEG2014_OV4 Yukon Mineral Exploration Program: 2014-2015 Update Annual Report Paper
Citations
Aben Resources Ltd., Dec/2012, May/2019. Web-site: www.abenresources.com.
Aben Resources Ltd., News Release. 1 Feb/2011, 17 Aug/2011, 13 Sep/2011, 29 Sep/2011, 17 Nov/2011, 10 Jan/2012, 5 Mar/2012, 29 Mar/2012, 27 Jun/2012, 16 Aug/2012, 25 Sep/2012, 8 Nov/2012, Jul/2014, Sep/2014.
Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., 2005. Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2005. p. 14 (available on SEDAR).
Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., News Release. 12 Mar/2002, 4 Nov/2012, 1 Feb/2011.
Gallagher, C. and Downie, C.C., 2002. Geological report for the Sprogge (Justin) Property, Justin 1-25 claims, Southeastern Yukon Territory. YEIP 02-047.
Kreft, B., 1995. Summary of 6 Prospecting Trips to Groundhog Creek, Rain Claims, Cody\Ruby, Stewart River and Rancheria Areas. YEIP 95-017.
McCuaig, M., 2011. 2011 Diamond Drilling, Geological and Geochemical Report for the Justin Property (Justin 1-25, SP 1-55 claims). Assessment Report #095496, Aben Resources Ltd.
Sax, K., 1992. Final Report on Prospecting on the Nahanni Range Road Area. YEIP 92-131.

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