TerraX's 94.9 sq km Yellowknife City Gold project (YCG) is underlain by the prolific Yellowknife Greenstone Belt immediately north of Yellowknife. The YCG covers 15 strike km of the northern extension of the shear system that hosts the high-grade, past-producing Con and Giant gold deposits. It contains multiple shears that are recognized hosts for gold deposits in the district, as well as the Kam Group of dominantly mafic rocks, which hosts the two major deposits in the area. TerraX acquired the property in early 2013.
Historical data has been of immense value to TerraX. 556 large format historical maps and cross-sections, as well as 291 written documents, none of which were in the public domain, were scanned. Important data such as locations of drill holes and mineralized shears were digitized. This was combined with available government information (topography, geology, regional geophysics) to create TerraX's GIS database, which underpinned all subsequent exploration efforts. This information enabled TerraX to quickly locate surface mineralization and historical drill collars on the ground, and to have immediate success in the field. Historical core from the YCG had been stored at the Giant mine site; TerraX was able to take possession of core from approximately 180 holes and relog and resample it. TerraX's ability to obtain high grade assays from core and surface mineralization boosted the confidence of TerraX and of investors in this project.
TerraX has also acquired its own geophysical data, consisting of airborne magnetics, radiometrics and electromagnetics as well as recent LiDAR data. This data has been integrated into the GIS project to reinforce early areas of interest, to generate new targets, and to better understand the distribution of mineralization.
Most known gold mineralization in the YCG occurs in north to northeast-trending structures. This includes TerraX's two main areas of focus, the Crestaurum and Barney shear zones. The northeast-trending, ~45°SE-dipping Crestaurum Shear hosts the partially delineated Crestaurum deposit and drill intersections as high as 5.00 m @ 62.9 g/t Au. The deposit has only been drill tested to a vertical depth of 120 m. The north-trending, subvertical Barney Shear is traceable over the entire YCG, and is mineralized over ≥600 m strike length, including a TerraX intersection of 22.4 m @ 6.35 g/t Au. The highest grade mineralization encountered to date is at a vertical depth of 240 m. TerraX is confirming and expanding upon historical Crestaurum and Barney results, and has also encountered abundant high-grade mineralization on numerous other structures. Mineralization outside Crestaurum/Barney includes assays as high as (different grab samples): 812 g/t Au, 529 g/t Ag, >20% Pb, 13.7% Zn, 3.01% Cu and 6.32% Mo.
TerraX's successful early exploration of the YCG is partly a reflection of the property's underlying prospectivity, but is also strongly predicated on the detailed compilation of historical data. This data could not be efficiently used in the past because of the lack of GIS capability during historical exploration and because no other company had been able to obtain the large land package presently available to TerraX.
