WORK HISTORY
The North Star, Black Diamond etc., claims (4637) were staked between February and Apr/01 on the bluffs located on the west side of the Yukon River approximately 1 km southeast of the occurrence by J. McGillivray and C.J. Hahneman, who drove a 4.6 m adit later in the year.
In Jun/2007 S. Ryan staked QV cl 1-10 (YC61008) 0.5 km to the northeast. Ryan collected two lines of soil samples on the southwest half of the claim block in May/2008.
Staked within QV cl 11-24 (YC88221) in Jun/2009 by S. Ryan. In Aug/2009 a one-day rock sampling and prospecting program was carried out on the claims.
On June 23, 2010 S. Ryan signed a Letter of Agreement with Comstock Metals Ltd allowing the company to earn a 100% interest in the QV and other claims in return for cash payments, shares and certain work commitments. Ryan retained a 2% underlying net smelter return royalty (NSR) of which 1% may be purchased for $2,500,000.00. In Jul/2010, Ryan staked QV cl 25-188 (YD13837), cl 189-288 (YD48801) and cl 289-342 (YD74943). These claims were staked as part of the option agreement.
In Jan/2011 Tectonic Minerals Corporation entered into a letter of intent with Comstock Metals to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Comstock. Between May 31 and June 12, 2011 Tectonic Minerals/Comstock Metals carried out ridge and spur and grid soil sampling programs on the QV property. In Jul/2011 the companies added QV cl 343-494 (YE21103).
On August 11, 2011 Tectonic Minerals announced it had closed its qualifying transaction and obtained final regulatory approval for the qualifying transaction. The following day the company began trading as a mineral exploration company. During the month of August the company carried out an independent geological and geochemical survey of the property, carried out further grid soil sampling and a 773 line km airborne magnetic and radiometric geophysical survey.
On October 14, 2011 Tectonic Minerals vertically amalgamated with its wholly owned subsidiary Comstock Metals Ltd and changed its name back to Comstock Metals Ltd. On January 17, 2012 Comstock Metals released an independent 43-101 compliant technical report on the QV property which summarized all exploration results obtained to date on the property.
Comstock Metals commenced its 2012 exploration program in Jun/2012. The company carried out geological mapping, prospecting, follow-up soil sampling over known soil anomalies and extensive trenching programs. In Aug/2012 the company staked QV claims 495-524 (YE76847).
In Sep/2012 Comstock Metals collared eight diamond drill holes (1334.94 m) on the VG zone. During the same month the company staked QV cl 525-714 (YF03604). In Mar/2013 Comstock Metal staked QV cl 715-791 (YE76235).
In the summer of 2013 Comstock Metals carried out further geological mapping across the QV claim block, carried out IP geophysical surveys, trenched and detailed soil sampled the Shadow and Stewart zones and collared 9 diamond drill holes (2088 m) on the VG zone. The diamond drilling program was designed to expand the VG zone in all directions.
GEOLOGY
The QV claims are located along the west side of the Yukon River, just north of the confluence of the White and Yukon Rivers approximately 85 km south of Dawson City, Yukon. Kinross Gold Corp’s Golden Saddle deposit (aka- White Gold – Minfile Occurrence 115O 165), is located 10 km to the southeast.
The geology of the Stewart River Area was remapped by J. Ryan and S. Gordey (2004) of the Geological Survey of Canada beginning in 2000 as a component of the Ancient Pacific Margin NATMAP Project. The NATMAP Project is an interagency project initiated by the Geological Survey of Canada, Yukon Geology Program (now Yukon Geological Survey) and British Columbia Geological Survey Branch to understand the composition, relationships and metallogenic of poorly understood pericratonic terranes lying between the ancestral North American margin and those known with more certainty to be tectonically accreted. The Stewart River component focuses on the Yukon-Tanana terrane, comprising complexly deformed mostly (?), Paleozoic meta-igneous and metasedimentary rocks. In 2005 S. Gordey and J. Ryan released a geological compilation map for the Stewart River area. The map units generally remained the same as the 2004 geology map but age dates were changed to reflect new dates obtained through geochronology data.
J. Ryan reported that the Stewart River area is underlain by twice-transposed, amphibolite-facies gneiss and schist of mostly (?) Paleozoic age. These are intruded by younger plutonic rocks (Jurassic, Cretaceous and Eocene) and overlain by upper Cretaceous volcanic rocks. Metasiliclastic rocks are widespread and dominated by psammite and quartzite, with lesser pelite and rare conglomerate. Preliminary detrital zircon geochronology and geochronology for plutonic rocks constrain the siliclastic rocks to the Middle Paleozoic. Amphibolite interdigitates with and stratigraphically overlies the siliclastic rocks. Marble horizons ((?) reefs) occurs within the amphibolite and siliclastic rocks. Orthogneissic rocks with diorite, tonalite and granodiorite protoliths intrude both the siliclastic and amphibole assemblages; it is interpreted as a subvolcanic intrusive complex.
Outcrop is limited on the property, comprising approximately 1%, and generally confined to ridge tops and creek exposures. Based on limited geological mapping by Comstock Metals, the QV claim block is underlain by a central band of intermediate to mafic orthogneiss (DMogt) that is flanked by intermediate to mafic amphibolite (DMa) and metasiliciclastic rocks (DMps). In the eastern part of the claim block the sequence is intruded by an Early Jurassic granodiorite intrusion (EJgd). Numerous small quartz feldspar porphyry Eocene aged dykes (Er) have been mapped on the claim block.
On the QV claim block the amphibolite, interfingers with and stratigraphically overlies the metasiliciclastic unit. An ultramafic horizon is exposed west of the claim block on Shamrock Dome. Limited geological mapping carried out in the southern and eastern parts of the claim block have shown that the metasiliciclastic unit is more widespread than previously mapped by the Geological Survey of Canada. Previously undocumented metasedimentary rocks were mapped north of Chris Creek in the northwest portion of the claim block. The Jurassic granodiorite intrusion in the eastern portion of the claim block is also less extensive than previously mapped, particularly northeast of Northern Tiger Resources Inc.’s Korat claim block, as evidenced by limited reconnaissance mapping and the airborne magnetic signature.
A prominent government airborne magnetic high (Shives et al., 2002), delineating an amphibolite package with some ultramafic horizons, extends northerly from the White Gold property of Kinross Gold across the QV claim block. A northwesterly trending structure, closely associated with mineralization at the Golden Saddle zone at White Gold also extends across the QV claim block. Evidence of brecciation occurs proximal to this structure in the southern area of the claim block and brecciation is also evident just east of the Korat claims.
The North Star, Black Diamond and other claims staked at the turn of the 20th century were likely prompted by a report by the Department of the Interior of an extensive ledge of gold bearing quartz located “on the westerly side of the Yukon River, 2 miles (3.2 km) above the Stewart River”. J. Pautler geologist under contract by Comstock Metals rediscovered the adit at the base of a bluff over looking the river (UTM's 576290 W, 7016305 N )which she named the North Star adit (J. Pautler, pers. comm., 2014). Pautler describes the adit as containing lots of quartz veins but no gold values. Pautler also discovered outcropping quartz veins in 2011 located approximately half-way between the occurrence location and the river bank.
The 2008 and 2009 exploration programs outlined spotty anomalous gold values and anomalous silver, bismuth, barium, tellurian, mercury molybdenum and elevated lead similar to the geochemical signature associated with gold mineralization found at Kinross Gold’s White Gold property located 10 km to the southeast.
The 2011 airborne magnetic survey delineated a package of amphibolite rocks possibly containing some ultramafic horizons underlying the claim block. The survey also outlined a northerly trending structure, closely associated with mineralization in the Golden Saddle zone at the White Gold deposit that extends northerly from the deposit across the QV claim block.
The 2011 soil sampling program outlined 3 linear, easterly trending, greater than 10 ppb gold in soil geochemical anomalies; a 2500 m east-northeasterly trending anomaly called the VG anomaly which incorporates the occurrence area, a 1300 m easterly trending anomaly on the Stewart grid (Stewart anomaly located approximately 5 km to the northeast) in the eastern property area and a 3500 m long easterly trending reconnaissance anomaly, the Shadow anomaly (located approximately 12 km to the northwest) in the northern property area. In addition a small grid (Tetra grid located approximately 9 km to the northwest) in the northeast property area defined an open ended 200 m long greater than 20 ppb gold in soil anomaly with a maximum value of 151.1 ppb gold.
In preparation for the 2012 trenching program, J. Pautler a consultant working for Comstock Metals discovered visible gold along the margins of a grain of oxidized pyrite hosted by a quartz vein located near the contact between metamorphosed granite (orthogneiss) and a metasedimentary unit near the approximate center point of the VG soil anomaly. Trenching uncovered additional visible gold in a quartz vein located 25 m north of the initial visible gold discovery.
The trenched gold vein (QVTR12-06 – also known as the Discovery trench) is described as trending northeast (~ 070°) and containing several stages of gold injection with later stockwork veining cutting quartz veining and silicified wallrock. Minor brecciation is also evident. Chip sampling of the trench returned 3.31 g/t gold over its entire 95 m length, with a maximum grade of 7.31 g/t gold over 5 m. Laboratory testing of visible gold-bearing quartz vein material returned 16.28 g/t gold by metallic screen gold assay with the fine (-150 mesh) fraction returned 13.12 g/t gold indicating that most of the gold occurs as fine particles.
Additional trenching results from the VG gold soil anomaly include trench QVTR12-15 which returned an assay of 3.77 g/t gold over 45 m, trench QVTR12-13 which returned an assay of 2.18 g/t gold over 85 m and trench QVTR12-12 which returned an assay of 1.63 g/t gold over 95 m. Based on these results Comstock Metal tested the VG zone in Sept/2012 with 8 diamond drill holes (1334.94 m)
The 2012 drilling intersected thick zones of quartz-sericite-carbonate altered quartz-biotite gneiss, feldspar augen gneiss and feldspar porphyry dikes with stock worked quartz veining, breccias, disseminated and vein controlled pyrite and locally, visible gold. The alteration and mineralization appears to be hosted along a northeast trending fault zone, with a shallow 30° dip to the northwest and overlay intensely potassic and iron altered footwall units. Seven out of the eight holes intersected near-surface gold mineralization with hole QV12-004 returning 2.34 g/t gold over 89.85 m starting at 43.75 m including 3.04 g/t gold over 45.5 m.
The 2013 drilling program consisting of 9 holes (2088 m) succeeded in outlining the VG zone (upgraded from anomaly) down-dip and along strike to its current dimensions of approximately 350 by 350 m. The zone remains open to the east, west and down-dip to the north. Gold mineralization is hosted within units of massive, silicified gneiss cut by swarms of quartz vein stock works and breccia, with disseminated and vein controlled pyrite and occasionally visible gold.
Trenching, soil sampling and pneumatic hammer sampling carried out in 2012 and 2013 defined significant gold-in-soil and gold-in-rock anomalies, suggestive of an intrusive associated mineralized system at the Stewart and Shadow anomalies (showings).
In October, 2021, White Gold Corp. updated the resource estimate incorporating assay results from 23 diamond drill holes (4,324m) and 8 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes (870m). An additional 24 rotary air blast (RAB) drill holes totalling 1,758 m were utilized to assist modelling the mineralized zones, but were not used in grade estimation. The updated estimate was in the Inferred category at 5,264,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.62 g/t gold for a total of 267,600 ounces of gold.
