POLYMETALLIC - Full Metal Minerals Corp. July 7 released assay results from seven of the initial drill holes of the 15,000-meter core drilling program at the Fortymile property in East-Interior Alaska. In 23 holes drilled at the LWM zinc-silver-lead-copper discovery, the company said it has identified massive carbonate-replacement mineralization over 550 meters of strike length and more than 300 meters below surface and open in all directions. Hole LWM08-29 intersected 68.2 meters averaging 6.56 percent zinc, 2.47 percent lead, 0.11 percent copper and 42.7 grams silver per ton. This interval included continuous zones of disseminated mineralization with alternating high-grade lead and zinc-rich intervals.

British Columbia is again inviting the private sector to join the government in building a $400-million Northwest Transmission Line aimed at bringing economic development to the province’s northwestern region. B.C.’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Richard Neufeld June 27 said the province is investing $250 million in the line’s construction and challenging industry to contribute funds, and put a plan and financing forward to make the power line a reality. The transmission line was shelved indefinitely in November when NovaGold and Teck Cominco suspended construction of the Galore Creek Project due to higher costs.

COPPER/GOLD - Terrane Metals Corp. and Goldcorp. Inc. July 8 signed definitive agreements aimed at advancing the Mt. Milligan copper-gold project in British Columbia to commercial development. Goldcorp agreed to guarantee an 18-month, non-revolving loan of up to C$40 million to advance Terrane’s long lead-time capital equipment procurement program in support of construction of an open pit mine and 60,000-metric-tons-per-day process plant at Mt. Milligan. In exchange, Terrane gave Goldcorp a one-time opportunity to convert its fully diluted 58 percent equity interest in Terrane into a participating joint venture interest in the Mt. Milligan Project.

COPPER - Taseko Mines Ltd., operator of the Gibraltar Mine in British Columbia, July 7 said the provincial government has decided to conduct an environmental assessment of its $800 million Prosperity Gold-Copper Project near Williams Lake, B.C. Taseko President and CEO Russell Hallbauer said the proposed mine is important to the future of Southcentral British Columbia, and would create 500 direct and 1,200 indirect jobs, resulting in more than $200 million in annual spending for 20 years. Taseko currently employs 475 at nearby Gibraltar, where it produces up to 179,000 pounds per day of copper.

POLYMETALLIC ¬- Roca Mines Inc. July 7 said it has completed a 1,900-meter, seven-hole diamond drill program in the North Molybdenum biogeochemical target and the Ridge Tungsten Zone at its MAX project in northern British Columbia. On the nearby Lardeau properties, the junior is currently drilling six holes totaling about 2,000 meters on molybdenum, tungsten, lead, zinc, copper, gold and silver targets. Next, Roca plans to drill copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver targets at the Foremore Project located 45 kilometers north of the Eskay Creek Mine and along the road-route to the Galore Creek Project.

POLYMETALLIC - Amarc Resources Ltd. said it has recently completed 1,128 line kilometers, or 700 line miles, of helicopter-borne AeroTem II magnetic geophysical surveys over the Aspira and Rapid properties in central British Columbia defining features that coincide with geological mapping that confirmed the presence of fine grained sediments, felsic volcanic rocks and a 2-kilometer-, or 1.24-mile-long (and open ended) highly anomalous zinc in-soil anomaly. The Aspira Project lies within the highly prospective Sitlika Zinc-Copper Belt, which hosts significant potential for volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits.