The Chopin property was purchased by Taku in July 2017 as part of a strategic acquisition of four properties from Golden Predator Mining Corp. in the White Gold District of Yukon. The property consists of 36 claims covering 752 hectares of the Whitehorse Mining Division. The property is located on the south side of the Yukon River approximately 90 kilometres northwest of Carmacks, Yukon. It is presently accessible by helicopter only, although a winter trail passes through the property
Previous work on the Chopin property has located the Pitts gold occurrence, in the northern part of the property, and the Panther gold showing about four kilometers south of the Pitts showing. Both showing were found in 1975 by the DC Syndicate1. Trenching by the DC Syndicate at Pitts returned results up to 4.8 grams per tonne gold (“gpt Au”) and 1.7gpt Ag from four trenches cut across a wide zone of sheared granite referred to as the Rainbow zone. Grab samples collected from these trenches in 2008 by Northern Tiger (a precursor company to Golden Predator) returned gold values up to 0.2gpt Au and silver up to 1.3gpt Ag. At the Panther showing, the DC syndicate reported gold values up to 1.0gpt Au from a silicified zone found at the contact between granite and basalt. Northern Tiger completed only limited soil sampling, prospecting and sampling on the property from 2007 to 2011.
Recent Developments
On September 2, 2017, $360 million in combined federal and territorial funding to improve road access in the mineral-rich areas of the Dawson Range in central Yukon and the Nahanni Range Road in southeastern Yukon was announced by the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and the Premier of Yukon, Sandy Silver. The “Yukon Resource Gateway Project” will help upgrade over 650 kilometres of road and build or replace numerous bridges, culverts, and stream crossings including four separate public road systems In the Dawson Range where Taku holds ten properties enclosing 2,366 mineral claims covering a total of 48,261 hectares. In particular the upgrades to the winter-only access Casino Trail, which currently passes through Taku’s Sonora Gulch and Chopin properties, will have a lasting positive effect on the projects’ logistics and provide long term benefits to Taku and its shareholders.
- Ouellette, D.J. (2012). Assessment report on the 2011 surface geochemical program, Chopin property, Dawson Range, Yukon; Yukon Energy Mines and Resources Assessment Report No. 095888