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Alaska mining news summary: Mood is cautiously optimistic; modest upswing in spending likely in 2003 Metals prices remain depressed for lead, zinc and palladium while gold and copper have held steady at levels well above last year at this time Curt Freeman PNA Columnist
As 2002 draws rapidly to a close, news of this year’s mineral exploration, development and production efforts in Alaska continues to come out while plans for next year are being formulated in board rooms across North America.
The political landscape at both the national and state levels changed drastically as a result of the Nov. 5 elections; however, the effects of these changes will not become evident for some time.
Metals prices remain depressed for lead, zinc and palladium while gold and copper have held steady at levels well above last year at this time. A mood of cautious optimism is evident in the mining industry and planning for 2003 suggests a modest upswing in expenditures can be expected.
Western Alaska NovaGold Resources released updated resources for its Donlin Creek deposit in southwestern Alaska. These interim resources push total ounces at Donlin Creek to 9,330,00 ounces grading 2.99 grams of gold per tonne (measured and indicated) plus 17,849,000 ounces grading 2.97 grams of gold per tonne for a total of 27,827,000 ounces.
Total resources grew by about 4 million ounces over estimates released after 2001 drilling programs. Most of the increase came from new drilling in the Akivik, Aurora and 400 zones.
Additional assay results from the South ACMA and South Aurora/400 zones remain outstanding and drilling is expected to continue into December.
Additional resource estimates are due out in February as part of the company’s preliminary feasibility study.
NovaGold also said it completed its required $10 million of exploration expenditures on the project and now owns a 70 percent interest in it. NovaGold and joint venture partner Placer Dome intend to spend an additional $2.9 million over the next three months to move some of the resources in the Akivik, Aurora and 400 zones from the inferred to the measured and indicated category and integrate drill data from South Acma and South Aurora/400 into the inferred resource category.
Eastern Interior Kinross Gold reported third quarter results from its Fort Knox-True North operations. The combined operations produced 113,449 ounces of gold at a total cash cost of $219 per ounce compared to 101,610 ounces of gold at a total cash cost of $212 per ounce during the second quarter of 2001.
Total tons milled increased by 4 percent and the grade of ore milled increased by 13 percent over the third quarter 2001 levels.
These improvements were related to a higher percentage of ore being derived from the True North satellite pit and lower hardness of ore treated during the third quarter.
Capital expenditures in the first nine months of 2002 totaled $16.9 million which went into raising the height of the tailings dam, conducting in-pit exploration of the Fort Knox deposit and to designing and constructing a tailings thickener at the mill.
Preliminary reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicate that it has approved Teck Cominco and Sumitomo’s basic plan of operations to built and operate a mine at the Pogo gold deposit in the Goodpaster District.
The EPA plans to release a draft environmental impact statement in January 2003 followed by a 60-day public comment period. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources will release its recommendations as an attachment to the draft environmental impact statement.
Freegold Ventures Ltd. released additional results from fieldwork at its Rob gold project in Goodpaster District. Results included values up to 698 grams of gold per tonne from the Michigan prospect, 72 grams of gold per tonne from the Gray Lead prospect, 22 grams of gold per tonne from the Lower Trench prospect and 8 grams of gold per tonne from the O’Reely prospect.
Gold mineralization at both the Gray Lead and Hilltop prospects is hosted in quartz veins and stockworks containing gold, arsenopyrite, bismuthinite and an unknown tellurium-bearing mineral. Gold is associated with highly anomalous arsenic (up to 10,000 ppm), bismuth (up to 1,610 ppm) and tellurium (up to 180 ppm) and locally with elevated antimony (up to 1,000 ppm) and tungsten (up to 495 ppm).
Mineralization on the Michigan, Upper-Lower Trench and O’Reely prospects is hosted in quartz veins, stockworks and quartz breccias containing visible gold with highly anomalous arsenic (up to 10,000 ppm), antimony (up to 1,000 ppm) and lesser bismuth (up to 39 ppm).
Gold mineralization on these prospects appears to be genetically different from mineralization on the Gray Lead and Hilltop prospects.
The company’s exploration plans for 2003 include diamond core drilling at the Gray Lead and Michigan prospects, additional mapping and sampling at the O’Reely, Upper-Lower Trench, Wolverine and Blue Lead areas, limited top of bedrock power-auger soil sampling and reprocessing of existing airborne and ground geophysics covering the property.
Alaska Range Nevada Star Resources reported results from this summer’s field exploration on its MAN nickel-copper-platinum group element project near Isabel Pass.
New massive sulfide outcrops were discovered at its Canwell prospect which returned values up to 13.68 percent nickel, 4.51 percent copper, 0.147 ounces of gold per ton, 0.590 ounces of platinum per ton and 0.500 ounces of palladium per ton.
Mineralization was discontinuously exposed over a 750-foot strike length within a border phase peridotite of the Canwell ultramafic complex.
In addition, sampling at the Odie prospect, 4,500 feet west of the Canwell prospect, returned values up to 5.62 percent nickel, 1.58 percent copper, 0.010 ounces of gold per ton, 0.072 ounces of platinum per ton and 0.081 ounces of palladium per ton.
Results from the company’s diamond drilling program completed in the Canwell-Odie area are expected.
The company also said it acquired new ground to cover the Rainy ultramafic complex were surface sampling returned values up to 1.15 percent nickel, 1.27 percent copper, 650 parts per billion gold, 800 parts per billion platinum and 1,210 parts per billion palladium. Net-textured and disseminated sulfides were traced over approximately 2,400 feet along strike in this area.
Nevada Star also released results from its Gezzi copper-gold porphyry prospect in the north-central part of the MAN project. Trenches within a 750 by 450 foot area returned values up to 48 meters grading 0.96 percent copper and 0.002 ounces of gold per ton from disseminated sulfides within a gabbroic intrusive host rock.
The company is planning additional exploration on both projects for 2003.
Southeast Alaska Kennecott (70.3 percent) and Hecla (29.7 percent) reported third quarter 2002 production from the Greens Creek mine on Admiralty Island. The total cash cost per ounce of silver at Greens Creek for the quarter was $1.93, a significant decrease over third quarter of 2001 costs of $2.52 per ounce.
The average grade of ore mined during the quarter was 20.44 ounces of silver per ton. During the first quarter the mine produced 2,782,704 ounces of silver, 24,668 ounces of gold, 6,186 tons of lead and 19,057 tons of zinc.
Total production costs for the quarter were $4.22 per ounce of silver produced.
Alaska newcomer Pacific Northwest Capital Corp. said it has signed a joint venture agreement with Freegold Ventures Ltd. on the Union Bay platinum group metal project north of Ketchikan.
Pacific Northwest Capital Corp. may earn up to 50 percent interest in the project by completing exploration expenditures totaling $1 million, issuing 60,000 shares of its stock and making cash payments of $100,000 over 4 years. Pacific Northwest may acquire up to a 70 percent interest by arranging financing through production on the project.
Planning for exploration in 2003 is under way.
Welcome to Alaska Pacific Northwest Capital!
Other Kinross Gold’s True North open pit mine operation has received the prestigious Sentinels of Safety Award for completing 135,500 hours of work without a lost-time accident in 2001. This award is an honor for any mine and is especially impressive for a mine during its first year of production.
Congratulations to Kinross and the staff at True North!
True North Gems recently began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in the hopes of becoming Canada’s first emerald producer.
The company owns the Regal Ridge emerald showing in the Finlayson District northeast of Whitehorse. Emeralds were first identified in the area in 1998 by Expatriate Resources however no systematic exploration work has been done on the emerald showings.
Proceeds from the company’s initial public offering will be used in part to process a 53-kilogram sample collected from the project in 2002.
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