The Rosebute property consists of 694 claims covering 14,387 hectares of the Dawson Mining Division located approximately 60 kilometres due south of Dawson City, Yukon. Rosebute is situated in close proximity to the Northern Access Road currently being built by Goldcorp to connect to the multi-million-ounce Coffee gold deposit. A seasonal 4×4 road provides direct access to the eastern edge of the Rosebute property.
Rosebute was acquired in March 2010 from well-known Yukon prospector Shawn Ryan, and subsequently expanded by staking to its present size. It forms the southern half of the “Heart of Gold” project which also includes the Lucky Joe property that was purchased from Golden Predator Mining Corp. in July 2017. Together these two properties cover 25,840 hectares in the heart of the White Gold district forming one of the largest, most prospective projects in the area. Rosebute is located roughly 30 kilometres north of the Golden Saddle deposit owned by White Gold Corp., where historic estimates (Underworld and Kinross) of measured and indicated resources range from 0.8 to 1.0 million ounces of gold grading from 2.7 to 3.2gpt Au, and inferred resources range from 125,000 to 407,000 ounces of gold grading from 1.8 and 2.5gpt Au1.
Since 2010 Taku has completed extensive work on Rosebute including soil geochemical, airborne and ground geophysical surveys, trenching, and drilling. This work has located three targets referred to as the Norwest, Hudbay and Furtrade zones.
The Norwest zone is located in the northern part of the property and covers an area of approximately 189ha where detailed soil sampling has outlined four anomalous zones that together describe a ring pattern. In 2012 Taku drilled 963 metres in four holes to test each one of anomalous soil zones within the ring. Significant gold values were obtained in three of the holes. Hole RO12-01 intersected 0.95 grams per tonne gold (“gpt Au”) over 23.4 metres (“m”) from 22.6m where soil values up to 1.33gpt Au were found at the south part of the ring. RO12-02 intersected 1.58gpt Au over 1.0m from 19.0m in an area with relatively weak gold values but strong arsenic-in-soil values at the north part of the ring. RO12-04 intersected 0.88gpt Au over 3.0m from 66.0m where soil values up to 0.21gpt Au west found at the west part of the ring. The third hole, drilled to test the east part of the ring where soil values up to 0.25gpt Au were found, did not intersect any notable gold-bearing intervals.
The Hudbay zone lies approximately 1.5km southwest of the Norwest zone in the northwestern part of the property. It was found in 2012 with detailed grid sampling to follow up two adjacent anomalous soil samples collected by Taku in 2011. The Hudbay gold-in-soil zone trends northwest over a length of at least 1000m, varies from 150 to 350m wide and shows maximum values up to 0.90gpt Au. The southern end of the zone is especially robust with almost every sample showing strongly anomalous gold values greater than 60ppb Au within an area 500 by 350 metres. In 2012 a series of six trenches were cut across the Hudbay zone. Highlights of the sampling include 6.17gpt Au over 5.0m in Trench 12-02, and 1.50gpt over 20.0m in Trench 12-04. In 2013 Geoprobe sampling confirmed the trenching results, and a DC Resistivity and Induced Polarization survey outlined possible bedrock structure targets.
The 2012 detailed grid sampling also identified a second anomalous gold-in-soil zone approximately 750m southeast of the Hudbay zone known as the Furtrade zone. It is a relatively narrow, linear zone that trends northwest over a length of 650m, varies from 50 to 250m wide and shows maximum gold values up to 96ppb Au.
Recent Developments
In May 2016 the Rosebute property was optioned to Independence Gold Corp. Independence completed mapping, sampling and magnetic surveys over the Hudbay and Furtrade zones followed by 924 metres of rotary air blast (“RAB”) drilling in 12 holes at the Hudbay zone. The RAB holes were all drilled south to north to test “east-west striking foliation, dipping gently south” despite a clear northwest bedrock trend indicated by the magnetic data. The north part of the Hudbay zone returned the most encouraging results where RO16-15 intersected 0.50gpt over 36.6m, and RO16-16 intersected 0.31gpt Au over 38.1 m. Drilling at the south part of Hudbay intersected broad zones of gold mineralization where RO16-09 returned 0.15gpt over 91.4m.
In July 2017 Taku completed detailed soil sampling east, west and south of the Hudbay and Furtrade zones as well as reconnaissance ridge and spur sampling on the western third of the property. This work extended the Hudbay zone 200 meters to the west.
- White Gold Corp. website – www.whitegoldcorp.ca consulted October 16, 2017
