Mike Burke: Be Patient; More Yukon Gold Will Be Found

Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report 01/19/2011

Then, look at the other big discovery, ATAC Resources Ltd.'s (TSX.V:ATC) Rau Gold Project, just above the classic Tombstone Gold Belt. That's the stretch of 93-million-year-old Cretaceous intrusions that goes across the Yukon and has been looked at for gold deposits. Dublin Gulch is in that belt and it's a 93-million-year-old Cretaceous intrusion-related gold deposit.

TGR: Victoria Gold has done a prefeasibility study on Dublin Gulch. What's happening with that project now?

MB: Around Christmas, Victoria Gold submitted its project proposal to the environmental review agency in the Yukon. Victoria Gold is just moving into the feasibility study on Dublin Gulch, but they're obviously far enough along that they could start the environmental review of that project.

TGR: Please continue with your overview of the three main gold discovery areas.

MB: Yes, that Tombstone belt of rock stretches across the Yukon. ATAC's Tiger and Osiris discoveries are in that belt of rocks, but not directly associated with any intrusive rocks. That's where a lot of the excitement comes from. There's a gold discovery in Selwyn Basin rocks that is not directly associated with an intrusive source, so the comparison to Nevada-style deposits is being made.

The Selwyn Basin has the same geological history as the Great Basin in Nevada. On some of the field trips that I've taken to Nevada, I could have taken rocks from the Selwyn Basin and dropped them on the ground in Nevada and nobody would have known the difference. The geological histories of the Selwyn Basin and the Great Basin are extremely similar. People have always thought there's good potential for Carlin-style deposits in the Yukon, and have sniffed around since the 1970s without much success. But with ATAC Resources discovering the Tiger zone, which had similarities to some deposits in Nevada, and then the discovery of Osiris, which shows a dramatic resemblance to some deposits in Nevada's Carlin Trend, it has opened people's eyes to the potential of the Selwyn Basin for Carlin- or Nevada-style gold deposits.

TGR: So, we should believe the hype?

MB: Yes, you should. I had a physical reaction looking at ATAC's core. Seriously. In the spring, I went down to the GSN Conference, and we did a field trip to some deposits similar to Nevada's Carlin Trend. When I looked at that drill core from Osiris, the similarity was astounding. It was a breathtaking moment. It's kind of the Holy Grail of gold deposits.

TGR: What has ATAC managed to accomplish so far, and what is the next step?

MB: So far, they have drilled off the Tiger occurrence, ATAC's first discovery. They'll be working on a resource for that. There are other similar occurrences within 15 or 20 km of Tiger. They drilled a few holes into one of them called the Cheetah and hit 1.29 g/t gold over 16.9 meters proving there is more potential in the neighborhood.

TGR: But ATAC has staked the whole trend, the Rackla Gold Belt.

MB: Yes, their ground position is bigger than Hong Kong. Osiris is 100 km east of Tiger. That's the new discovery that really bears striking similarities to Carlin-style deposits. ATAC only discovered Osiris in late July, and put their first drill holes into it in the end of August and early September. ATAC got some really interesting numbers out of some holes and that's caught the market's attention.

TGR: What sort of grams per ton are we looking at?

MB: The discovery hole was 9.26 grams over 31.1 meters within a much larger intersection. It was a very impressive drill hole. They have a number of drill holes over a fair distance; they have four discovery areas in drilling and they are a couple of kilometers apart. Being a late-season drill program, they basically drilled along the ridge tops where they could. ATAC's plans for next year are rather ambitious. I think it's a 45,000-meter drill program. It's a $20 million exploration program. What they're planning is huge.

http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/8360