COPPER/GOLD/COBALT – Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. Oct. 22 reported preliminary results of a helicopter-borne VTEM electromagnetic and magnetic geophysical survey on the company’s Fyre Lake copper-gold-cobalt massive sulfide deposit, located in the Finlayson Lake District of Yukon Territory. The survey was flown by Geotech Ltd. of Aurora, Ont. under contract to Merah Resources Ltd., which has an option to earn an interest in the property. Merah reported that the VTEM survey has delineated magnetic and electromagnetic anomalies along a 1,800-meter trend directly associated with the property’s currently defined Kona massive sulfide deposit. An NI 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimate of the Kona deposit completed in 2002 and reported in 2006 include an indicated mineral resource of 3.57 million metric tons grading 1.57 percent copper, 0.10 percent cobalt and 0.61 grams per metric ton gold at a 1 percent copper cut-off grade. An inferred mineral resource, at the same cut-off grade, includes 5.36 million metric tons grading 1.48 percent copper, 0.08 percent cobalt and 0.53 g/t gold. Merah reports that new magnetic and EM anomalies have been identified that potentially extend the Kona deposit 1,000 meters along strike and beyond the currently defined limit of drilling. Additional magnetic and EM targets defined by the survey, similar in size and amplitude to the anomalies directly associated with the Kona, have been identified east and west of the deposit and represent high priority drill targets. Merah can earn an initial 51 percent interest in Fyre Lake by making payments in cash and shares valued at C$1.3 million over three years and completing C$3.5 million in exploration. The company can then increase its interest to 70 percent by completing an additional C$3 million in exploration expenditures by Jan. 10, 2018. If Merah completes a 70 percent earn-in, Pacific Ridge will then have the option of retaining a 30 percent participating joint venture interest or reducing to a 20 percent interest, carried to a feasibility study.

MANAGEMENT – Golden Predator Mining Corp. Oct. 22 reported that Janet Lee-Sheriff has been appointed CEO of the company, replacing Greg Hayes who resigned pursue personal interests. Hayes joined the company followings its business combination with Northern Tiger Resources Ltd. and Redtail Metals Corp. at a time of significant change in the natural resource sector. He has been instrumental in the administration of the reorganization and amalgamation of business interests. Hayes will retain his seat on the company’s board of directors. Lee-Sheriff serves as executive vice-president of Till Capital Ltd., a publicly-traded re-insurance company which owns a 54 percent (14,963,584 shares) interest in Golden Predator. She also serves a director of Resource Re Ltd., a Bermuda-based re-insurance company owned by Till Capital Ltd. Lee-Sheriff previously served as president of Tigris Uranium Corp, vice president of Americas Bullion Royalty Corp. and vice president of Golden Predator Corp., all previously publicly-listed companies. Prior to her work with public companies, Lee-Sheriff managed Cabinet Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs for three Yukon governments, assisted in forming numerous businesses, developed the Yukon Economic Forums and delivered gold conferences in Dawson City, Yukon, Washington, D.C. and London. She was instrumental in founding the Yukon Mines Training Association, which raised more than C$10 million in federal funding for aboriginal mine training, the Yukon Mines Legacy Foundation and the Yukon Gold Mining Alliance. Her achievements include negotiating various agreements for Golden Predator with Yukon First Nations. Lee-Sheriff is a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Commemorative Medal awarded for outstanding achievements by Canadians and is a graduate of Queen’s University.

DIRECTOR – Western Copper and Gold Corp. Oct. 22 said Archie Lang has been appointed to the company’s board of directors and Robert Byford has resigned from his position as director. Lang was elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly for two terms between 2002 and 2011. During his tenure as an elected official, he served as the Minister of Energy, Mines, and Resources, the Minister of Highways and Public Works, and the Minister of Community Services. Lang’s work in those ministries provided him with in-depth knowledge of key issues surrounding the development of natural resources in the North. During his tenure as minister, Lang also assisted in managing the devolution of responsibility for these portfolios from Canada to Yukon and, in conjunction with the Federal Government and First Nations, implemented the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act. Western Copper and Gold Chairman and CEO Dale Corman said Lang’s expertise will be invaluable to the company as it develops the Casino copper-gold mine. Corman also thanked Byford for his “valued contribution to the company.”

NICKEL/IRON – First Point Minerals Corp. Oct. 20 reported the completion of its first diamond drilling campaign at the Mich nickel-iron alloy (awaruite) property, located 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The program tested the central portion of the key target area with two angled holes drilled at minus 50 degrees in opposite directions from the same set-up, for a total of 873 meters of drilling. Based on a visual inspection of the core, the drilling intersected a disseminated nickel-iron alloy mineralized zone hosted in ultramafic rocks. The zone measures 345 meters vertically from surface, is an estimated 463 meters wide on the drill section and remains open to the northeast, beyond the end of the second drill hole. Assay results are pending. First Point cautions that until assay results have been received, it is not possible to quantify the nickel-iron alloy grades. The key target is located on the southeastern end of a low ridge and measures 540 meters long and 290-570 meters wide. It remains open to the southeast towards the valley floor where overburden covers the bedrock. Davis Tube magnetically-recovered nickel values for 75 rock samples collected in 2012 and 2013 from the key target area range from 0.046 percent to 0.143 percent nickel. First Point said the revised horizontal dimension of 463 meters compares favorably to the earlier estimate of 290 meters. The earlier estimate was based upon surface rock sampling along the drill section. The Mich property lies just 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) off the Alaska Highway and 200 kilometers (125 miles) by road from the port of Skagway, Alaska. The property is accessible by an all-terrain vehicle trail.