Westmin, Atna drilling to expand Wolverine

Following last year’s exciting discovery of the high-grade Wolverine polymetallic deposit here in the southeastern Yukon, 60-40 partners Westmin Resources (WMI-T) and Atna Resources (ATN-T) are determined to prove its potential.

The joint venture is in the midst of a $6-million effort to expand the size of the deposit and explore the stratigraphic horizon for new prospects.

Prior to this year’s program, the deposit was partially defined by 15 holes over a strike length of 250 metres and a downdip length of 400 metres. A resource was estimated at 3.05 million tonnes grading 1.87 grams gold and 350.2 grams silver per tonne, plus 12.99% zinc, 1.27% copper and 1.43% lead.

The deposit, which has a gross metal value calculated at more than US$270 per tonne, has since been subjected to a program of 13 additional stepout drill holes, with only one miss. It has been extended a further 80 metres to the east (where the zone is apparently thinning) and 100 metres to the west (which remains wide open).

The one hole that missed was 96-29, an eastern stepout collared on section 17+000E, about 70 metres east of the existing boundary.

On a recent site visit, The Northern Miner learned from Westmin (operator of the project) that the most westerly drilled hole to date, 96-48, encountered good chlorite alteration and stronger footwall mineralization, which could signify another enriched area.

“The west is hot,” said Terry Tucker, project geologist for Westmin.

Hole 96-48 intersected a 4.9-metre true-width interval grading 1.6 grams gold and 379 grams silver, plus 5.34% zinc, 0.26% copper and 1.68% lead, beginning at a depth of 369.5 metres. It was collared on a new section, 50 metres west of section 16+550E, where hole 96-40 intersected a true thickness of 2 metres grading 1.32 grams gold and 273 grams silver, plus 14.51% zinc, 2.84% copper and 0.82% lead.

Hole 96-43, also on section 16+550E, intersected 1.7 metres true width grading 3.91 grams gold and 852 grams silver, plus 14.3% zinc, 0.21% copper and 3.47% lead. The hole was drilled 100 metres updip of hole 96-40.

More recently, hole 96-50 was drilled on section 16+500E, 100 metres updip of hole 96-48, and results are pending.

Westmin has two drill rigs working to expand the Wolverine deposit. It is currently drilling hole 96-49, which is a 100-metre stepout downdip of hole 96-25 on section 16+800E, and hole 96-52, a 50-metre stepout to the west of hole 96-48.

The deposit occurs close to the northern property boundary shared with Cominco (CLT-T), and drilling to date indicates the deposit likely continues downdip on to Cominco’s ground.

A third rig is engaged in stratigraphic drilling on the Fisher zone, 8 km northwest of the Wolverine.

The Wolverine joint venture comprises 1,840 claims adjacent to Wolverine Lake in the Finlayson Lake district of the Yukon-Tanana terrane. Underlying the property is a stratigraphic formation of rocks consisting of interlayered mafic and felsic metavolcanics, as well as metasediments of

Devonian-Mississippian age. It lies on the northeastern side of the Tintina fault.

A similar formation of rocks hosts Cominco’s fully owned Kudz Ze Kayah project, 20 km to the west, where a reserve, minable by open-pit methods, stands at 11.3 million tonnes grading 1.3 grams gold and 133 grams silver, plus 5.9% zinc, 0.9% copper and 1.5% lead.

Cominco submitted an initial environmental evaluation report to regulatory authorities this past February and is proceeding with the permitting process.

To date, two massive sulphide deposits have been discovered in the southern portion of the Yukon-Tanana belt, and Atna President Peter DeLancey expects that more will be found in this area. As a geological model, he points to the Kuroko polymetallic deposits in Japan, which occur in clusters in a similar host rock.

Accessibility to Wolverine is not a problem. The Robert Campbell Highway lies 20 km to the northeast, and an airstrip was recently constructed near Wolverine Lake.

The deposit occurs on the Foot claims, one of three properties in the Finlayson-Wolverine Lake area that were staked by Atna in 1993. DeLancey credits geologist Mark Baknes with pointing out the potential for volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in the underexplored area.

The Foot claims had been drilled previously; in the early 1970s, two shallow holes returned low-grade copper and zinc values in the immediate area of what was soon to be Westmin and Atna’s discovery hole.

In 1994, Cominco began staking claims in the area, triggering rumors that it had made a discovery, which turned out to be Kudz Ze Kayah. At present, Cominco holds the largest land position in the district.

Westmin approached Atna in late 1994 and, shortly afterwards, signed a joint-venture agreement. Initially, Westmin was committed to spending at a minimum of $750,000 in the first year. In the 1995 field season, it carried out grid mapping and soil sampling along the 12-km-long Foot claims, outlining a favorable lead-zinc-copper anomaly in the Wolverine area, which continued up to the Fisher zone.

Mapping identified a iron formation marker horizon overlying a favorable sequence of interbedded rhyolites and argillites. This belt of rocks extends off of the Foot claims in both directions and is the focus of Westmin’s current attention.

Wolverine is considered a “blind” deposit in that it is not exposed at surface, and thus the iron formation serves as an important guide to determining its geology and structure.

Westmin began stratigraphic drilling in August 1995, collaring its first hole in the middle of a copper anomaly. The discovery hole cut 3.9 metres of banded massive sulphides grading 0.34 gram gold and 59.6 grams silver, plus 10.2% zinc, 0.3% copper and 0.49% lead.

Two additional stratigraphic holes, to the east and west, were drilled before Westmin came back to the discovery hole and tested the zone downdip, intersecting what Tucker describes as “the zinger of the year.” Hole 95-4 returned 8.3 metres of true width grading 7.62 grams gold and 1,348.9 grams silver, plus 14.22% zinc, 0.56% copper and 3.45% lead.

Westmin then increased to 1,840 from 143 the number of mineral claims that made up the property. The enlarged package included 108 claims shared equally with Cominco — a joint venture that was formed as a means of settling a staking dispute after the parties overstaked the same ground on the same day.

Also, Westmin staked, independently, about 850 claims next to the Wolverine property and can earn a 60% interest in the 38-claim TY property held by Pacific Bay Minerals (IBM-V).

By November 1995 (when bad weather started to set in), Westmin had drilled 15 holes in the Wolverine deposit, with no misses. An additional eight holes were also completed, as part of a wide-spread program of stratigraphic drilling.

This drilling indicated the potential of the Fisher zone, 8 km on strike to the northwest of the Wolverine horizon. Hole 95-6 intersected 2.4 metres of semi-massive sulphides grading 0.14 gram gold and 66.3 grams silver, plus 2.84% zinc, 0.12% copper and 1.41% lead.

Subsequent follow-up drilling this season is intersecting a favorable rhyolite-argillite host sequence but, as of yet, no significant mineralization. Tucker said more drilling is required.

In early 1996, Westmin had vested its interest in the Wolverine property by incurring exploration expenditures of $3 million. To date, the partners estimate that, since the initial discovery, $6 million has been spent on the property.

Stratigraphic drilling has also been carried out this year on the Sable zone, slightly east of the Wolverine deposit. An initial four holes have encountered the right geology but, again, insufficient sulphides.

Harlan Meade, vice-president of exploration and environment for Westmin, said that, based on preliminary metallurgical tests, base metal recoveries are meeting expectations and precious metal recoveries are high. The mineralized material contains high levels of arsenic and antimony levels (not unusual for this type of deposit), though not as high as levels found a
t Prime Resources’ Eskay Creek deposit near Stewart, B.C., or the Battle zone at Westmin’s Myra Falls operation on Vancouver Island.

In early September, drilling will begin on the Toe claims, which constitute one of the original properties staked by Atna. Grid soils and stream-sediment sampling have identified a zinc-copper anomaly much larger than the Wolverine anomaly. The Toe claims lie between the Wolverine and Kudz Ze Kayah deposits.

At present, Westmin is using a fourth drill rig to test the TY property of Pacific Bay. Situated 30 km south of the Wolverine, the property features a promising sulphide showing with a coincident lead-zinc-silver-copper soil anomaly.

Westmin, which has drilled two holes to date, can earn up to a 60% interest by spending $500,000 over three years. Results are pending.

Meanwhile, Westmin has also drilled two holes on its wholly owned Wika property, adjacent to the TY claims.

As part of a previously arranged financing of Expatriate Resources (EXR-V), Westmin can, by year-end, opt to earn a half interest in one of four Finlayson-Wolverine Lake properties — Puck, League, Hat Trick or Slap Shot — by spending $2 million over two years.

To date, Expatriate has drilled several holes and, though no significant intervals of mineralization were hit, most of the holes cut favorable stratigraphy containing weakly mineralized and strongly altered sections.