Where the action is

Mike Burke (L) examines core samples with geologist Carl Schulze, Gord Moffatt and Greg Hayes on Northern Tiger's Sonora Gulch Property. — Tanya Laing Gahr photo

If you want to see Mike Burke’s eyes light up, put a fist-sized chunk of rock in his hands.

Burke is the head of mineral services for the Yukon Geological Survey; well known to every geologist on the ground in the Great White North, he is an unabashed rockhound.

Burke was born and raised in Chilliwack, British Columbia. He received his training at the University of British Columbia before taking a position as a mine geologist with Canamax Resources’ Ketza River Mine in the Yukon in 1987. He was with Canamax during some important discoveries that fuelled a lifelong passion for the hunt.

When the mine closed down in 1990, Burke and his wife, Eileen, decided to stay in the Yukon. He took a position with the then Department of Indian Affairs, which he held until the Yukon Devolution Transfer Agreement took place, and he transitioned to the Yukon Geological Survey.

“Devolution was a huge event for the Yukon, and you can tell that by the way Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are extremely jealous and working toward the same arrangement that we have,” said Burke. “I think (devolution) is part of the reason the Yukon is experiencing a boom—there’s recognition on the industry’s part that there’s a mining-friendly, proactive and smart administration going on in the Yukon now.”

That boom is keeping Burke hopping, and he’s often one of the first people on site when prospectors or geologists get a sniff of something, and he’s always excited by the discovery.

“I’m just another member of the Optimists Club,” he said. “It’s like a big treasure hunt and the people you work with in the mineral exploration group are true optimists. They’re out there, believing what they’re doing, on the hunt for that big Easter egg, and when you start homing in on it, it’s pretty exciting. It’s always an adventure.”

One of the most memorable discoveries in the Yukon in recent memory is prospector Shawn Ryan’s White Gold strike; Burke got the call from Ryan telling him that assay results were showing 59 grams per tonne.

“It didn’t take me long to go downstairs and hop in the truck and drive to Dawson City and follow up on it,” said Burke. “It was a spectacular day and we relocated the sample he had and it wasn’t 15 minutes later of circling around to expose the old hand trench that exposed the high-grade vein discovered back in the 1800s . . . and once we bashed a few rocks, we found visible gold.”

But as a card-carrying member of the Optimists Club, Burke still gets excited about the chase. While the memory of White Gold is still fresh—particularly with the record run on claim tickets in the Yukon—he’s still joining prospectors and geologists for the hunt in what he believes is the most intriguing geology in North America.

Drilling down

NameMike BurkeCompanyYukon Geological SurveyQuotableIt’s like a big treasure hunt and the people you work with in the mineral exploration group are true optimists.