Drilling complete at Gold Hill

Patricia Liles

Crews working for MAX Resource Corp. recently completed the company’s first pass of 1,400 feet of core drilling on the Gold Hill property, located in Interior Alaska about 10 miles off the Denali Highway.

Spending about $200,000 for the work, crews drilled seven holes, each about 200 feet deep, according to Clancy Wendt, vice president of exploration for MAX Resource, a Vancouver, B.C.-based junior exploration company that has recently come out of dormancy. The drilling work was done to confirm past reverse-circulation drilling completed in the late 1980s which identified some high-grade gold intercepts, including one that assayed five feet grading .66 ounces of gold per ton of rock, according to the company’s July 21 press release.

In addition, the recent drilling was completed to give geologists a better look at the mineralized trend, Wendt told Petroleum News on July 28.

MAX Resource announced in May its option agreement on the Gold Hill property with Zazu Exploration, Inc., a privately-held Texas corporation which holds a lease on the mining claims from General Crude Oil.

Wendt said MAX hopes to complete more core drilling this year, although that work depends on whether the company can secure a drill rig later this season. “Drill rigs are getting as scarce as hen’s teeth,” he said.

Plans call for an additional 12 holes to be drilled, for a total of 2,000 to 2,400 feet, Wendt said. That drilling may be held until next year, when additional airborne and ground geophysical work is also contemplated for the Gold Hill property.

The Gold Hill property includes 3,873 hectares (9,570 acres) of land located off the Denali Highway, roughly midpoint of the gravel road that stretches from Cantwell to Paxson through the heart of Alaska. Located 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Fairbanks, access is by ATV from the Denali Highway or by helicopter.

Editor’s note: For a more detailed report, see the August issue of North of 60 Mining News, a monthly supplement of Petroleum News.