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Mining News: Alaska’s newest junior completes an IPO Fire River Gold will spend proceeds of nearly C$500,000 to explore Interior Alaska gold property; CEO seeks other gold prospects Shane Lasley Mining News
Fire River Gold, a junior exploration company focused on gold exploration in Alaska and Canada, has issued 2 million common shares at a per-share price of C30 cents in an initial public offering. The IPO, which closed May 22, netted nearly C$500,000.
Fire River Gold is one of two known Canadian junior miners to successfully close an IPO in 2009, according to company officials. Fire River is scheduled to begin trading on the Canadian National Stock Exchange under the symbol, "FAU" on, or close to June 4.
The Draken gold property, located in the Fortymile District of eastern Alaska, is Fire River’s initial exploration target in the state. Six state quarter-section mining claims cover the discovery outcrop on the Taylor Highway and an adjacent area to the east.
Fire River President and CEO Harry Barr told Mining News that the junior will begin exploration with a modest C$50,000 phase-1 program at Draken, as recommended in an NI 43-101 technical report prepared for the property by Fairbanks-based Spectrum Resources Inc.
Barr, who is also president and CEO of Pacific North West Capital and founder of the International Metals Group, said the company will determine further exploration plans for the property, depending on the results of initial exploration and other projects being pursued by the new junior.
More than gold The NI 43-101 report indicated that known mineralization within the Draken property consists of polymetallic sulfide-quartz vein mineralization with anomalous silver-gold-bismuth-arsenic-copper-lead-tungsten-uranium. This type of mineralization is documented at the Silver Lining prospect, located on the west portion of the property, as well as the Two Mile prospect just north of the property.
Porphyry-style copper-molybdenum-gold mineralization and potential for vein-hosted uranium and rare earth elements at the Two Mile Prospect were documented by government geologists in 1976. A sample taken by previous explorers from a ring dike zone about 200 meters east of Draken contained highly anomalous uranium, niobium, fluorine and rare earth elements.
Though Fire River’s primary interest in Draken is in its gold and silver potential, Barr said the junior will follow up on other minerals found at the property.
Spectrum Resources, in its technical report for Draken, proposed a C$56,700 phase-1 program that includes staking additional mining claims, ground geophysical surveys and backhoe trenching to test veins exposed at the Silver Lining prospect and the ring dike complex near the Taylor Highway in the southwest portion of the project.
The report recommends staking 12 additional 160-acre mining claims to cover the possible northeast strike extensions of the gold-bearing veins exposed at the Silver Lining prospect as well as the south and eastern portions of the ring dike complex, where potential uranium-thorium-rare earth element mineralization may exist.
The modest plan suggests a 4,000-foot, or 1,200-meter, backhoe trenching and detailed rock sampling program.
The technical report recommended spending an additional C$154,000 on a second phase of exploration at Draken.
Depending on what the earlier trenching reveals, Spectrum recommended two drill holes to test the subsurface extent of veins at the Silver Lining prospect, and two drill holes to test for possible uranium-thorium-rare earth element mineralization associated with a ring dike complex located on the southern portion of the property.
Barr told Mining News that Fire River will also be investigating other gold projects in Alaska, Canada and Mexico.
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