Mining News: News Nuggets: Australia-based junior expands its new VMS project in Alaska
White Rock Minerals Ltd. March 28 said it has significantly expanded its Red Mountain volcanogenic massive sulphide project in the Bonnifield District of central Alaska by adding 85 mining claims to the original 25 mining claims that made up the project. The company said VMS deposits typically occur in clusters and the known deposits already identified within the Red Mountain project – Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats – provide valuable information with which to target additional new deposits within the Red Mountain camp. Significant drill results from Red Mountain include 4.6 meters grading 23.5 percent zinc, 531 grams per metric ton silver, 8.5 percent lead, 1.5 g/t gold and 1 percent copper; 5.5 meters grading 25.9 percent zinc, 346 g/t silver, 11.7 percent lead, 2.5 g/t gold and 0.9 percent copper; and 7.1 meters grading 15.1 percent zinc, 334 g/t silver, 6.8 percent lead, 0.9 g/t gold and 0.3 percent copper. Significant drill results from West Tundra Flats include 1.3 meters grading 21 percent zinc, 796 g/t silver, 9.2 percent lead, 10.2 g/t gold and 0.6 percent copper; 3 meters grading 7.3 percent zinc, 796 g/t silver, 4.3 percent lead, 1.1 g/t gold and 0.2 percent copper; and 1.7 meters grading 11.4 percent zinc, 372 g/t silver, 6.0 percent lead, 1.7 g/t gold and 0.2 percent copper. The Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats deposits have the volcanic, geochemical, alteration and sulfide assemblage characteristics of a very shallow-water, boiling hydrothermal system prospective for precious metal enrichment. White Rock said statistical analysis suggests the Red Mountain camp has the potential for a 10- to 15-million-metric-ton VMS deposit similarly rich in zinc, silver and lead, along with the potential for smaller ones that could be developed as a series of smaller mines. Initial interpretations by White Rock of the regional data and historic reports have highlighted a number of parallel trends with coincident magnetic, electromagnetic and historic surface geochemical anomalism to the west and east of the Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats deposits. The expanded land position provides the company with a significant land package containing numerous targets with the potential for additional deposits. White Rock COO Matt Gill said, “After our initial review of the Red Mountain project beyond the historical estimates at Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats, it is clear to us that there is a number of new targets with significant potential that fit with the distribution characteristics expected for deposits in a VMS camp. We are excited that one or more of these targets could yield a new, large discovery, rich in zinc, silver and gold.” White Rock, an Australia-based company, noted that Alaska is ranked sixth on the Investment Attractiveness Index released in the recent Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2015, providing added encouragement to invest there.
- Shane Lasley
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