Kiska Metals Corp. Jan 21 said it is making final preparations to begin its 2010 exploration program at the Whistler Project 92 miles, or 150 kilometers, northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The drilling program, consisting of a minimum of 5,500 meters and about 15 holes, is set to start in mid-March, and will continue to test targets generated from IP geophysics, field mapping and sampling, and drilling completed in 2009.
The initial 2010 program will be overseen by a joint committee of technical management from both Kiska and Kennecott Exploration Inc. Completion of the program will provide the data necessary for Kennecott to decide whether to exercise its one-time right to purchase a 51 percent interest in the Whistler Project by refunding 200 percent of the project’s exploration expenditures (an estimated C$25 million payment) and by advancing the project to a positive prefeasibility study. Kennecott can then earn an additional 9 percent interest by advancing Whistler to a production decision (Kiska’s interest will be carried through this stage).
In mid-January, Kiska reported results from wide-spaced surface reconnaissance work conducted as part of late 2009 exploration at Whistler. Prospecting and mapping of high-priority areas of the 527-square-kilometer, or 203.5-square-mile, property outlined several new areas of gold mineralization.
The late 2009 program resulted in new discoveries at Island Mountain (150 meters averaging 0.72 g/t gold, 2.37 g/t silver and 0.16 percent copper, and 106.9 meters averaging 1.22 g/t gold), Old Man Breccia (3.34 g/t gold over a continuous 28-meter channel sample on surface), and a new discovery at depth at the Raintree target (97.2 meters averaging 0.61 g/t gold, 6.9 g/t silver, 0.16 percent copper, 0.24 percent lead and 0.59 percent zinc).
At the Old Man Breccia target, a continuous 10-meter channel sample returned 7.12 grams per metric ton gold. The Old Man Breccia is located 17 kilometers, or 10.5 miles, east-southeast of the Whistler Deposit. The late 2009 program on this target comprised a total of 36 channel saw samples, each two meters in length, for an aggregate total of 72 meters that averaged 2.03 g/t gold.
“The Old Man Breccia may represent gold mineralization related to an underlying porphyry system or an entirely new style of gold mineralization not previously recognized on the property,” said Kiska Exploration VP Mark Baknes.
Limited reconnaissance mapping and prospecting in late 2009 also identified several new target areas. Sampling at the Alger Peak target, located 9 kilometers, or 5.6 miles, east of the Whistler deposit, returned a peak sample of 3.05 g/t gold coincident with a 300-meter-long section of a reconnaissance soil sample line anomalous in gold and copper.
Kiska said data processing and modeling are well under way, and a 3-D geophysical model will be integrated with other data by the end of January, which will lead to the 2010 program drill targeting.
“We had a very successful 2009 program at Whistler with three new gold discoveries in a relatively short exploration program,” Kiska President and CEO Jason Weber told reporters. “Our rate of discovery highlights the fact that Whistler is a dynamic gold system where we are finding new mineralization both on surface and at depth. The IP data will be a valuable in helping us to continue to make new discoveries and to expand upon those from 2009.”
