2009 Exploration

During 2009, a three phase exploration program was carried out at Prospector Mountain.

Phase I Exploration

During July 2009, Tarsis explored portions of the property to assess the merits of the historical targets and begin defining future diamond drill targets.  This work included broad alteration mapping and prospecting within the eastern part of the property and examination of several vein zones within the western part of the claim block.

Porphyry alteration mapping and prospecting were conducted within a 4 km2 area west and southwest of Prospector Mountain peak near the contact between the Carmacks Suite volcanic rocks and the Prospector Mountain Suite monzonite.  This area is centred on an intermittent 1,500 m northwest trending copper-in-soil geochemical anomaly (100 to 250 ppm) largely confined to an upland plateau.   Prospecting within the plateau is largely hampered by grass and felsenmeer cover, however, traverses along recessive northwest trending benches above the plateau and along cirque walls were successful due to the more dynamic geomorphological setting.  Prospecting focused on vein style mineralization commonly associated with porphyry systems.

A total of eighteen locally weathering talus samples were selected, of which sixteen were taken within a 1,200 by 500 m north-northwesterly trending corridor.  Twelve of these samples comprised sericite altered quartz tourmaline vein material with accessory specularite, hematite and magnetite veinlets plus patchy limonite.  The remaining samples comprised moderately to strongly phyllic altered intrusive rocks.  Results for all samples collected returned a range of values for gold (below detection to 27.6 g/t), silver (0.5 to 910 g/t), copper (6 ppm to 1.37 %) and lead (16 ppm to 28%).

The company included a summary of significant results in its August 31, 2009 and November 2, 2009 news releases. Results included one sample which assayed 27.6 g/t Au and 1.37% Cu and another sample that assayed 910 g/t Ag and 28.0% Pb.  The following table of results lists analyses for key samples collected.

Table I – Porphyry Target

Note:  All samples collected are locally weathering talus specimens.

Alteration in the vicinity of the well mineralized samples is dominantly potassic and characterized by the presence of fine masses of orthoclase feldspar and secondary biotite within large intrusive talus blocks and narrow veins cross cutting the overlying volcanic sequence.  Anomalous accessory elements associated with the mineralized samples include bismuth, tungsten and antimony.

Four trenches were examined in the western part of the property from two of four main areas bulldozer trenched in the early 1980’s.  The vein zones are now fully thawed and easily excavated by hand resulting in much better exposures for detail sampling and characterization of the veins.   Eleven chip samples were collected across four vein zones and adjacent clay altered selvages.   Results from individual samples exhibit a range of values for gold (0.10 to 17.35 g/t), silver (5.4 to 557 g/t) and lead (0.24 to 33.84%).

Highlights from the chip sampling are as follows: one sample that assayed 17.35 g/t Au, 557 g/t Ag, and 24.49 % Pb over 0.15 meters and another sample assaying 3.05 g/t Au, 33.80% Pb and 557 g/t Ag over 0.07 meters.  The following table lists weighted average grades for the sampled vein zones.

Table II – Vein Target

Note: Due to time constraints only four of approximately 80 trenches were examined and none were traced along strike into the valley bottoms along the respective lineaments.

Vein zones are associated with northwest to northeast trending recessive lineaments and consist of highly sheared quartz and multi-colour gouge containing varying amounts of arsenic oxides and lead sulphide/sulphate.  Accessory arsenic and antimony response are moderately to strongly elevated in all samples.

A 0.30 m chip sampled collected across a naturally exposed unaltered white quartz vein 2 km east of the bulldozer trenches returned 4.06 g/t Au, 161 g/t Ag and 0.89% Pb.  No mechanized follow up work was evident in this area.

Phase II Exploration

The phase II work concentrated on the reassessment of historical vein zones in the western part of the claim block where cursory sampling earlier in the season by Tarsis yielded up to 17.35 g/t Au, 557 g/t Ag and 24.49 % Pb across 0.15 m and 3.05 g/t Au, 557 g/t Ag and 33.80% Pb across 0.07 m.

Vein targets on the Western side of the property, note bulldozer trail at right

Highlights from the reassessment of four main target areas include:

• 1840 g/t Ag, 28.78% Pb, 0.70 g/t Au across 0.72 m    Area A
• 196 g/t Ag,   7.03% Pb, 0.73 g/t Au across 1.16 m    Area C
• 58.9 g/t Ag,   2.38% Pb, 2.02 g/t Au across 0.54 m    Area C
• 613 g/t Ag, 28.94% Pb, 3.51 g/t Au across 0.17 m    Area D

Follow up exploration in the western part of the property commenced in August 2009 and was centered within a 9 km2 block defining an area of historical bulldozer trenching.  The historic work was largely restricted to ridge tops and its success was limited by extensive permafrost and deep weathering.

A total of 106 chip samples were collected across vein zones within twenty-one trenches in four areas termed A through D.  Selection of the trenches was based largely upon anomalous historical results.  Vein zones were deepened by hand up to a metre below the original trenched surface, detail mapped and channel sampled.  Interval widths ranged from 0.04 to 1.82 m and they sampled vein material plus adjacent alteration selvages.  Assays ranged in value for gold (below detection to 4.59 g/t), silver (below detection to 2810 g/t) and lead (11 ppm to 30.36%).

All veins examined are hosted by Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary Carmacks Suite volcanic rocks and are mostly associated with north to northeast trending recessive lineaments.  The veins consist of steeply dipping highly sheared quartz and multi-colour clay gouge containing varying amounts of arsenic oxides and lead sulphide/sulphate.   

The following table highlights significant weighted average results from the sampled zones:

Table I – Significant Vein Results

• All reported intervals are true width

Silver, lead and gold grades from individual samples and weighted average intervals show moderate to high variability in Area C between the July and August sampling campaigns.  Four trenches in Areas C and D were sampled in July and resampled in August.  The latter were not considered duplicate samples as they were collected across exposures that had been deepened up to 1 m beneath the existing trench surface.  In Area C, values for the stated metals showed both increased and decreased variances up to 95% from the original results collected near surface.  This observation is likely attributed to the lensy nature of metal distribution within these types of veins.  Conversely, however, reproducibility of values from samples collected from Area D (Tr-04 and Tr-09-11) at different depths is excellent.  Variance between these results from the two sampling campaigns ranged from 13 to 22%.     

The 21 trenches selected for reassessment tested vein exposures associated with 11 of over 100 lineaments documented along the ridge tops.  A series of auger soil sample lines were also located along 15 recessive lineaments beyond the limits of the historical bulldozer trenches off the ridge tops and down toward the valley bottoms.  These sample lines outlined anomalous trends with values between 2 and 58 g/t Ag up to 400 m along strike from existing trenches.  In addition, 75 samples yielding elevated arsenic, antimony and bismuth response were subsequently analysed and returned up to 3.37 g/t Au.  None of the anomalous soil values have received follow up work.

Phase III Exploration

Exploration during this final phase of work concentrated on the continued reassessment of the historical porphyry target in the eastern part of the claim block where cursory prospecting earlier in the season from a variety of material sampled including one sample which assayed 27.6 g/t Au and 1.37% Cu and another sample that assayed 910 g/t Ag and 28.0% Pb. 

Prospecting traverses focused primarily on alteration mapping within a 4 km2 area containing historical airborne radiometric anomalies and widespread intermittent copper-in-soil geochemical anomalies. A total of 27 samples were collected during the phase III work, 22 of which were contained within a 1,000 by 400 m portion of a northerly trending corridor. This work discovered a number of new showings collectively referred to as the Bonanza Zone. Highlights from this sampling include:

Malachite (copper mineral) and iron rich rusty rocks

• 82.8 g/t Au ,   299 g/t Ag and   1.49 % Cu
• 14.0 g/t Au , 1340 g/t Ag and 11.65 % Cu
• 55.7 g/t Au , 1375 g/t Ag and   7.38 % Cu
• 82.2 g/t Au ,   888 g/t Ag and   5.97 % Cu

The Bonanza Zone hosts a series of high grade gold-silver-copper showings defined during 2009 along a 1,200 m northwesterly structural trend near the eastern contact between potassic altered Prospector Mountain Suite monzonite and overlying Carmacks Suite volcanic rocks.  Eighteen samples of locally weathering vein talus were taken in total and results ranged from below detection to 82.8 g/t Au, below detection to 1,375 g/t Ag and 3 ppm to 11.65 % Cu.  Some of the samples were collected specifically for fluid inclusion work and alteration characterization while four of the eighteen samples represent examples of altered intrusive material.  Mineralized vein talus ranging from 5 to 35 cm thickness collected from eight sites along the trend is mostly comprised of multiple pulse vuggy quartz and quartz breccia with varying combinations of accessory earthy to specular hematite, black tourmaline, hematized siderite and limonite.  A number of samples also contain malachite and azurite either as breccia clasts, matrix filling and later fracture filling.  Only rare occurrences of pyrite and chalcopyrite are noted within the samples.

The following Table lists significant results for vein material collected along the trend of the Bonanza Zone during the phase III sampling campaign and the accompanying map shows their locations.

Table of Significant Results - Bonanza Zone Sample # Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) * H886454 0.73 0.4 - H886457 23.3 586 0.22 H886458 82.8 299 1.49 H886459 35.2 981 3.08 H886460 65.5 86.6 0.60 H886467 0.83 3.4 - H886468 23.2 4.9 - H886473 14.00 1340 11.65 H886474 55.7 1375 7.38 H886475 82.2 888 5.97 H886476 8.52 136 0.52

Prospector Mountain Showing Map - Click for larger size

In addition to the metals reported above, most samples within the Bonanza Zone also yielded strongly elevated bismuth (to >1%) and variably elevated arsenic (to 3490 ppm), antimony (to >1%) and lead (to 2400 ppm).  Exceptions within this suite of samples are: H886468 which is comprised of vuggy quartz-tourmaline and believed to be associated with a more northerly trending cross-cutting structure; and samples H886454 and H886467 which represent lower grade stockwork style veinlets hosted within altered porphyry talus.

Recessive lineaments defining the Bonanza structural trend are somewhat intermittent but are interpreted to span a width of roughly 200 m.  Surprisingly, copper-in-soil response along the trend is generally low but this may be largely attributed to extensive talus cover and poor soil development.  Historical soil sampling programs in this part of the property did not analyse for gold and silver or accessory indicator elements for precious metal veins.

Another gold occurrence referred to as the Hart Showing is situated 1 km southwest of the Bonanza Zone and consists of a small exposure of vuggy grey silica talus with variable amounts of scorodite alteration.  A Sample collected from this historical exposure returned 5.61 g/t Au, 65.8 g/t Ag 0.34% Cu and >1% As.  The orientation of the associated host structure is currently unknown but the showing is situated at the southern end of a prominent northwestly trending lineament.