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www.MiningNewsNorth.com The weekly mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North Week of November 1, 2015

l E X P L O R A T I O N & P R O D U C T I O N

NEWS NUGGETSCompiled by Shane Lasley

Freeman: “Metal prices continueto weigh heavily on producers”

Teck looks forward to a brighter springTeck Resources Ltd. Oct. 22 reported a third-quarter loss

attributable to shareholders of C$2.1 billion (C$3.73 pershare) due to non-cash after-tax impairment charges ofC$2.2 billion. The impairment charges are non-cash revalua-tions of assets to reflect lower market expectations of com-modity prices. The prices of all of Teck’s major commodi-ties – steelmaking coal, copper and zinc – continued to fallduring the third quarter. To meet the challenge of low prices,the company has taken significant steps that include lower-ing costs and reducing capital expenditures. “We are takingsignificant steps to meet the challenge of low commodityprices,” said Teck President and CEO Don Lindsay, presi-dent and CEO. “We have reduced costs throughout the com-pany, and we’ve raised nearly C$1 billion in two streamingtransactions. We used a portion of those proceeds to reducedebt by C$400 million, and our current cash balance ofC$1.8 billion exceeds our remaining C$1.5 billion share ofcapital required for Fort Hills.” Teck said its cost-reductionprogram combined with a falling Canadian dollar, lower oilprices, and higher copper grades have helped lower its cop-per costs by US20 cents per pound and steelmaking costs byUS$20 per metric ton, compared to last year. In response tosteelmaking coal market conditions, Teck shut down itssteelmaking coal mines for three weeks during the thirdquarter to reduce production and product inventory. Third-quarter earnings, excluding one-time items, totaled C$29million (5 cents per share), compared to C$159 million (29cents per share) a year earlier. This year’s third-quarter earn-ings were higher than expected, resulting in an 8 percentincrease in its share price, from C$10.42 to C$11.25 on theToronto Exchange on Oct. 22. Teck’s per share price hassince settled at about C$11.00. Lindsay reminded sharehold-ers and analysts that “the best and most effective cure forlow commodity prices is, and always has been, low com-modity prices. And remember that the darker the winter is,the brighter the spring will be.”

Teck’s zinc unit was the company’s best performer duringthe third quarter, producing C$805 million in revenue andC$231 million in gross profit. The Red Dog Mine inNorthwest Alaska produced 132,000 metric tons of zinc dur-

see NEWS NUGGETS page 9

Northwest Arctic minersNANA delves into all phases of mining, including in-house gold exploration

By SHANE LASLEYMining News

From an expanding owner-ship interest in one of the

largest producing zinc mineson the planet to grassrootsgold exploration, NANARegional Corp. is delvinginto all phases of miningacross the 24.3 million acresof extremely minerals-rich land in NorthwestAlaska.

During the past 26 years, this Alaska Nativeregional corporation and the more than 13,800Iñupiat shareholders whose forebears settled thenorthwest corner of Alaska thousands of years agohave enjoyed some US$1.7 billion in royalties,

wages and tax payments fromthe Red Dog Mine.

With Teck Resources Ltd.,the operator and co-owner ofRed Dog, continuing toupgrade high-grade resourcesin nearby deposits to reservesand discover new deposits inthe larger Red Dog District, itis likely the zinc-lead-silvereconomic engine will contin-ue to chug along in

Northwest Alaska for years to come.In recent years, NANA also has been actively

expanding its mining business. This initiativeincludes forging a partnership with NovaCopper

LANCE MILLER RICK VANNIEUWENHUYSE

see NANA MINING page 11

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This year NovaCopper Inc. carried out a US$5.5 million program that began collecting information needed tocomplete a prefeasibility study for developing an open-pit mine at the Arctic volcanogenic massive sulfidedeposit located under the mountain behind this worker.

2NORTH OF 60 MINING PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Shane Lasley PUBLISHER & NEWS EDITOR

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Mary Mack CEO & GENERAL MANAGER

Susan Crane ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

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Marti Reeve SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR

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Curt Freeman COLUMNIST

J.P. Tangen COLUMNIST

Judy Patrick Photography CONTRACT PHOTOGRAPHER

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Mapmakers Alaska CARTOGRAPHY

ADDRESS • P.O. Box 231647Anchorage, AK 99523-1647

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ADVERTISING Susan Crane • 907.770.5592scrane@petroleumnews.comBonnie Yonker • 425.483.9705byonker@petroleumnews.com

FAX FOR ALL DEPARTMENTS907.522.9583

NORTH OF 60 MINING NEWS is a weekly supplement of Petroleum News, a weekly newspaper.To subscribe to North of 60 Mining News,

call (907) 522-9469 or sign-up online at www.miningnewsnorth.com.

Several of the individualslisted above are

independent contractors

North of 60 Mining News is a weekly supplement of the weekly newspaper, Petroleum News.

NORTHERN NEIGHBORSCompiled by Shane Lasley

Contact North of 60 Mining News:Publisher: Shane Lasley • e-mail: publisher@MiningNewsNorth.com

Phone: 907.229.6289 • Fax: 907.522.9583

Replacement-style gold found at YellowknifeTerraX Minerals Inc. Oct. 26 reported results from additional channel sam-

pling of replacement-style mineralization in the Hebert-Brent Shear area of itsYellowknife City gold project, Northwest Territories. In August, TerraX reported11 meters of 7.55 grams-per-metric-ton gold from channel sampling at theHebert-Brent Zone; followed by six meters of 10.26 g/t gold at the Hebert-BrentSouth zone and 17.86 meters of 2.21 g/t gold (previously reported as 15.3 metersof 2.23 g/t gold) at the Hebert-Brent East zone. Since September extensive handexcavation and washing was carried out in the Hebert-Brent Shear area to allowmore channel sampling and detailed mapping of the mineralized zones. In partic-ular, the original H-B and the H-B East zones were expanded along and acrossstrike. On sample from the original H-B zone returned 17 meters of 1.93 g/t gold.Additionally, excavation was carried out along the North-South trending Brentzone, allowing six channels to be cut across this zone, with particular interest inthe area where the Brent zone intersected the northeast trending H-B East zone,were one trench returned four meters of 13.89 g/t gold. TerraX President JoeCampbell said, “The recent work on the Hebert-Brent area has confirmed thatgold mineralization resides in multiple surfaces of sulphide replacement at theintersection of north trending mineralizing shears with the contacts between felsicintrusives and their host rocks. Replacement-style deposits, such as Hemlo andÉléonore, can be very large gold producers, and recognition of this deposit typeon the YCG property adds a previously unrecognized and important target type toTerraX’s exploration focus.”

Skeena expands porphyry part of SpectrumSkeena Resources Ltd. Oct. 26 reported assay results for nine holes of its 61-

hole drill program at the Spectrum gold project in the Golden Triangle of north-western British Columbia. Hole S15-049, drilled towards the south end of theCentral Zone, cut four intervals with greater than 5.0 g/t gold between 197 and232 meters. The best intercept of hole 49 was 14 meters grading 7.82 g/t gold.Hole S15-048, drilled above S15-049 on the same section, was abandoned due todrilling problems and returned no significant values. Assays are pending for threeholes drilled under hole S15-049. Hole S15-046, drilled in the middle part of theCentral Zone, cut four meters grading 16.97 g/t gold. Hole S15-044, drilled in thewest-central portion of the Central Zone, cut two broad intervals of porphyrygold-copper mineralization: 172 meters grading 0.60 g/t gold and 0.14 percentcopper beginning at a depth of six meters, and a deeper interval of 47.73 metersgrading 0.49 g/t gold and 0.13 percent. This hole was drilled above and to thewest of hole S15-036, which cut 147.5 meters grading 0.42 g/t gold and 0.08 per-cent copper. The results from hole S15-044 suggest that the tenor of porphyrymineralization in this area is improving to the west. Based on 2015 and historicaldrilling, the porphyry-style mineralization has dimensions of roughly 600 metersnorth-south, 100 to 150 meters in width and 200 to 250 meters in depth. SkeenaPresident and CEO Walter Coles said, “This porphyry-style mineralization par-tially overlaps with the high-grade structures and is certainly open to the west, atdepth, and perhaps on strike, too.” The 2015 drill program included 17,357meters of drilling in 61 holes. Assays for the remaining 18 holes are due to be

see NORTHERN NEIGHBORS page 8

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l P U B L I C P O L I C Y

House OKs criticalminerals bill, againLegislation aimed at streamlining mine permitting gets greenlightfor fourth time in three years; measure now faces Senate vote

By SHANE LASLEYMining News

The “National Strategic and CriticalMinerals Production Act of 2015,”

legislation aimed at streamlining thelengthy process of permitting a mine inthe United States, passed the U. S. Houseof Representative Oct. 22.

National Mining Association Presidentand CEO Hal Quinn said this bill, intro-duced by U. S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, “will bring the U.S. mine permit-ting system into the 21st century and helpboost the country’s economy and manu-facturing renaissance.”

By doing so, Amodei hopes his legis-lation, H. R. 1937, will help the nationbecome less dependent on foreign coun-tries such as China for minerals neededfor its domestic security and economicwellbeing.

“From military technology, such asaircraft and missiles used by service menand women to defend our country; to thecars, smartphones and televisions we useevery day; to medication and medicalsupplies; they all contain strategic andcritical minerals such as rare earth ele-ments, as well as gold and silver, to namea few,” said the Nevada congressman.

The National Strategic and CriticalMinerals Production Act of 2015, howev-er, must first get past the U. S. Senate.

“This legislation has received approxi-mately 1,054 bipartisan votes, passing theHouse four times (during) the past threeCongresses,” said Amodei. “I look for-ward to the Senate joining the fray thisCongress and helping the House solvethis important issue for the country.”

Streamlining permittingIf signed into law, H. R. 1937 would

address the notoriously long permittingprocess in the United States.

“The sheer number of permits requiredand the lack of coordination among therelevant agencies results in a seven- to

see MINERALS BILL page 3

MARK AMODEI HAL QUINN

10-year permit timeframe for miningprojects in the U. S.,” SNL Metals &Mining wrote in a report published earlierthis year.

The research firm found that U. S.mines lose up to half their value duringthe course of this nearly decade-longapproval process.

Quinn said the effects of this ripplesthrough the U.S. economy.

“While America is home to US$6.2trillion worth of mineral resources, alengthy and duplicative federal permittingprocess discourages investment and jeop-ardizes the growth of downstream indus-tries, high-wage jobs and technologicalinnovation that all depend on a secure andreliable mineral supply chain,” he added.

Testifying before the House NaturalResources Committee, Luke Russell, vicepresident of external affairs, HeclaMining Co., said the United States has themost “arduous and tortuous process” hehas encountered in his 30 years of permit-ting mines around the globe.

“The U.S. process is fraught withduplication, inefficiencies, a lack of rea-sonable timeframes/sideboards, a lack ofcoordination among federal agencies andmultiple, never-ending litigation,” hesaid.

To tackle this problem, Amodei’s leg-islation would put “sideboards” on per-mitting by limiting the total reviewprocess for issuing permits to 30 months.

The legislation also addresses the“never-ending litigation” by setting a 60-day time limit to file a legal challenge toa mining project; limiting injunctive reliefto what is necessary to correct the viola-

tion of a legal requirement; and prohibit-ing the payment of attorney’s fees,expenses and other costs by the U.S. tax-payer.

Environmental safeguards intact Amodei said the permit streamlining

described in the legislation he authoredcan be accomplished without compromis-ing the environmental safeguards inplace.

“It would simply streamline the per-mitting process to leverage our nation’svast mineral resources, while paying duerespect to economic, national security andenvironmental concerns,” he said.

When comparing the laggard U.S. per-mitting system with those being imple-mented by other western countries, SNLMetals & Mining found that more timedoes not necessarily result in strongerenvironmental protections.

“Like the U.S., the environmental per-mitting process in other developed worldmining countries, such as Australia andCanada, is very stringent. These countriesalso require consultation with local com-

munities and give stakeholders the rightto raise objections and appeals. However,in both countries, the processes forobtaining permits are swifter than thoseobserved in the U.S.,” the research firmwrote.

Both of these top mining countrieslimit the permitting process to around twoyears, which is less than the 30 monthsbeing called for in H.R. 1937.

“NMA applauds the House for passing

this bipartisan legislation that carefullyaddresses the inefficiencies of our under-performing permitting system by incorpo-rating best practices for improving coor-dination among state and federal agen-cies, clarifying responsibilities, avoidingduplication, setting timeframes and bring-ing badly needed accountability to theprocess – all without compromising ourrigorous environmental standards,”Quinn said. l

3NORTH OF 60 MINING

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MINERALS BILL

l P U B L I C P O L I C Y

Bush stump speech raises mining issuesPresidential hopeful unveils plan to limit ‘relentless over-regulation’ of federal lands; proposes moving DOI headquarters West

By SHANE LASLEYMining News

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has pro-posed a plan to decentralize federal power over deci-

sions of how best to manage the vast stretches of federallands in America’s West.

“Washington, D.C. needs to acknowledge that peoplewho live on the land in the West are the best stewards ofthe land. Federal holdings should be valuable recreationaland economic assets, not a liability to economic freedomand growth,” the former Florida governor wrote in an Oct.21 post on the subject.

Key among his ideas is to move the U. S. Departmentof Interior headquarters to the West, where 582 millionacres, or 90 percent, of federally managed lands are locat-ed. More than 220 million acres, or roughly 35 percent ofthe nation’s total acreage managed by the federal govern-ment, are located in Alaska.

While there is an enormous gap between a proposalfrom a White House hopeful trailing in the Republican pri-maries and the actual relocation of an enormous federalbureaucracy such as DOI to a western locale such asDenver, Reno or Salt Lake City, the ideas presented byBush echo many of the federal overreach complaints com-ing from the resource development sector in Alaska and

other western states.

Relentless over-regulationBush said the disproportionally large block of federal

lands that blanket the West means that people, tribes andbusinesses that live and do business there are more acutelyimpacted by the “relentless over-regulation” coming out ofWashington D.C.

The Republican presidential candidate specificallypointed to mining as a sector that is being held back by thisgrowing log of federal regulations.

see BUSH SPEECH page 7

By CURT FREEMANFor Mining News

Over the past month, three of Alaska’slarge mines reported strong quarter-

ly results; two projects in advanced per-mitting and pre-feasibility reported recentprogress; and three exploration propertieschanged hands. The latter is a trend put-ting 2015 on course to be one of the mostactive years for new acquisitions in thepast decade. Placer gold production hasall but ceased for the year; however, out-put from Alaska’s placer mines is not like-ly to be known with any certainty untilearly in the New Year. Despite the posi-tive news, metal prices continue to weighheavily on producers, particularly produc-ers of lead and zinc like Red Dog andGreens Creek. Lead and zinc pricesremain mired at five-year-plus lows. Goldand silver prices increased slightly andstabilized somewhat in the latter half ofthe month but still remain at levels notseen since 2009.

Western AlaskaTECK RESOURCES LTD. and partner

NANA REGIONAL CORP. posted third-quarter 2015 results from their Red Dogmine, which turned in operating profits ofUS$196 million versus an operating profitof $206.3 million in the same period in2014. For the quarter, the mine generatedin 130,200 metric tons of zinc and 26,700

metric tons of lead concentrate versus147,700 metric tons of zinc and 29,100metric tons of lead, respectively, in thethird quarter of 2014. The mine sold186,300 metric tons of zinc and 52,300metric tons of lead during the third quar-ter. Average zinc and lead grades minedwere 16.8 percent and 5.1 percent respec-tively, versus 16.5 percent and 4.5 percentin the third quarter of 2014. Mill through-put was 937,000 metric tons in the thirdquarter versus 1,079,000 metric tonsmilled in the third quarter 2014. Zincgrade and recovery was similar to 2014,however, mill throughput was lower thanthe third quarter of 2014 due to lowerthroughput rate and unplanned mill down-

time resulting in 12 percent less zinc pro-duction. Higher lead grade offset by lowerrecovery and throughput than in 2014resulted in 8 percent less lead production.Operating costs in the current quarterincreased due to the effects of the strongerU.S. dollar. Capitalized stripping costswere US$11 million in the third quartercompared with US$9 million a year ago.The operation paid a total of US$64 mil-lion in royalties in the third quarter. The2015 shipping season was completed inlate October with zinc concentrate ship-ments estimated at 1.048 million metrictons of zinc concentrate shipped.

NOVAGOLD RESOURCES released itsthird-quarter financial results and updatesfor its Donlin Gold project, a 50:50 jointventure with Barrick Gold. The activitiesthis quarter consisted mainly of permittingand outreach efforts. The environmentalimpact statement continued to advancewith the cooperating agencies and theproject submitting preliminary draft envi-ronmental impact statement comments.Once the draft EIS is published, the pub-lic comment period, which is anticipatedto take about five months, will follow.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers con-tinues to work toward the publication ofthe final project EIS in 2017. Work alsoprogressed on other major permit applica-tions with the agencies, such as workingtoward finalizing the air-quality permit;completing approaches to water manage-ment, treatment, and discharge to facili-tate issuance of the water discharge anduse permits; obtaining concurrence of theCALISTA CORPORATION and THEKUSKOKWIM CORPORATION on relo-cating existing trails that cross the projectsite, advancing the rights-of-way andlease applications for the gas pipeline, and

finalizing plans for the Clean Water Actsection 404 permitting process. Projectteams also visited with more than 50 vil-lages throughout the region over the pastnine months by giving project updatesand encouraging participation in and feed-back at the upcoming draft EIS publicmeetings, as well as delivering safetymessages and donating lifejackets.Expenses at the project for the third quar-ter were US$5.606 million, bringing year-to-date 2015 expenditures to US$11.906million for the first nine months of 2015.

An independent review by THECOHEN GROUP of the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency’sactions in and around the Pebble projectresulted in another condemnation of theEPA’s tactics in deciding to pre-emptivelyrestrict mining in the Bristol Bay water-shed. The report concluded that thereview had not treated all stakeholdersfairly and questioned whether the EPAhad undertaken the review with a pre-determined outcome as its goal. Thereport concluded that the EPA had not fol-lowed existing permitting requirementslaid out in the National EnvironmentalPolicy Act and recommended that theInspector General and Congress investi-gate EPA’s actions regarding the project.

Interior AlaskaNORTHERN EMPIRE RESOURCES

CORP. and SONORO METALS CORP.reported results from its phase 2 explo-ration program on the Hilltop Project inthe Richardson Mining District of Alaska.The work included collection of 355 soilsamples, 42 rock samples, and the resam-pling of a specific section of trench 5

l C O L U M N

Miners wrap up active year in AlaskaLow metals prices continue to hamper industry, despite robust production and significant advances in development, acquisitions

4NORTH OF 60 MINING PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

• Due Diligence Mineral Title Examination

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• In Business Since 1988

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Do You Need To Develop a Mine in a Cold Environment? Ask Golder

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TheauthorThe author

Curt Freeman,CPG #6901, is awell-known geol-ogist who lives inFairbanks. He pre-pared this column CURT FREEMANOct. 26. Freeman can be reached bymail at P.O. Box 80268, Fairbanks, AK99708. His work phone number atAvalon Development is (907) 457-5159and his fax is (907) 455-8069. His emailis avalon@alaska.net and his website iswww.avalonalaska.com.

see FREEMAN page 5

from phase 1 exploration efforts. Duringthe period between the phase 1 and phase2 exploration programs, erosion at trench5 exposed a larger portion of anArsenopyrite-bearing quartz vein sampledin phase 1. Resampling of trench 5 duringphase 2 returned high-grade gold valuesaveraging 9.71 grams per metric ton goldover four meters (versus 2.337 g/t goldfrom this interval in phase 1). The resam-pling highlighted gold in rock samples of11.7 g/t from 0 to1 meters and 26.5 g/tfrom 1.0 to 2.0 meter in trench 5. Goldvalues in the phase 2 soils range from 2.5to 60 parts per billion and exhibit a posi-tive correlation with arsenic, bismuth,antimony, tellurium, tungsten and leadsuggestive of intrusive-related golddeposits. Infill soil samples at HilltopSouth expanded and substantiated a strongeast-west trending gold-in-soils anomaly,measuring 1.8 kilometers long by 500meters wide. Infill soils were collected atHilltop North in an area of anomaloustop-of-bedrock soils which were collectedduring the 2011 season by a previousexploration group. Infill lines along previ-ously sampled anomalous soils furtherconfirmed the anomalous nature of thegold in soils values and also better definedthe anomalous area across 100-meterspaced lines. Anomalous reconnaissancesoil samples and rock float samples col-lected in the Mosquito Creek drainagearea (6 kilometers southwest of Hilltop)highlight this area for potential follow-upwork in 2016. Infill soil samples collect-ed in Phase 1 between sections of anom-alous sample lines at the Birch HillConductor (3 kilometers southwest ofHilltop) further highlight the anomalousnature of this zone.

MILLROCK RESOURCES INC. said ithas acquired an option to purchase theLiberty Bell gold-copper project in thewestern Bonnifield District near Healy.The option was granted by the propertyowner BOOT HILL GOLD INC. andrequires Millrock to pay the annual claimrentals and perform adequate assessment

work to maintain the property in goodstanding during the option period.Millrock may exercise the option to pur-chase a 100 percent royalty-free interestby paying $600,000 before March 31,2018. The project is prospective forreplacement-style gold mineralization,gold-bearing quartz veins, stockworks andshears, and intrusion-hosted gold. Thepast-producing Liberty Bell Mine pro-duced 8,400 ounces of gold were pro-duced from 17,500 short tons of ore(2.087 oz. of gold per ton) in 1932-33.Following several phases of exploration inthe 1970s and 1980s, NERCOMINERALS reported a resource estimatein 1987 of about 150,000 oz. of gold inrock grading 0.08-0.10 oz. of gold per ton.The most recent exploration conducted onthe property was completed from 2007 to2010, by a subsidiary of New Gold Inc.which carried out a comprehensive explo-ration program focused on drilling effortson the western portion of the property.The presence of significant levels of cop-per within the Liberty Bell gold mineral-ization is unlike most other copper-defi-cient intrusive-related gold occurrences inthe Tintina Gold Belt of Interior Alaska-Yukon Territory. However, recent explo-ration by CONTANGO ORE INC. at itsPeak deposit near Tok, Alaska, revealedthe presence of a previously unrecognizedtype of late Cretaceous gold-copper min-eralization that shares many similaritieswith the alteration and mineralizationdescribed at Liberty Bell. Gold and cop-per at the Peak deposit are associated withelevated silver, bismuth and arsenic in apyrrhotite-bearing distal skarn setting sim-ilar to mineralization at the Liberty Bellproperty. Peak deposit-style gold skarnmineralization had not yet been discov-ered when the most recent explorationwas conducted at Liberty Bell. Millrockintends to review existing data and build acomprehensive exploration plan, afterwhich the company will seek joint venturepartners to fund exploration and therebyearn an interest in the project.

Alaska RangeCOVENTRY RESOURCES INC.

reported additional diamond core drilling

results from its Caribou Dome copperproject in the Valdez Creek MiningDistrict. Six step-out holes were drilled toextend mineralization at Lense 7/8.Significant results include 3.5 meters at9.3 percent copper from 72.9 meters and1.9 meters at 10.8 percent copper from116.0 meters in hole CD15-15, 2.0 metersat 5.2 percent copper from 24 meters and2 meters at 13.9 percent copper from 79.4meters in hole CD15-19 and 6.4 meter at2.8 percent copper from 173.3 meters inhole CD15-21. The high�grade mineral-ization intersected in CD15�15 appearsto correlate with the down�dip extensionsof mapped Lenses 3 and 7. In addition,mineralization in the 7/8 Lense remainsopen in both strike directions. In addition,at the Lense 2 target, hole CD15-18returned 3.4 meters at 4.8 percent copperfrom 51.6 meters. Assays are pendingfrom three additional holes at Lense 2.The company’s field efforts in 2015recently concluded after a ground IP pro-gram and 4,300 meters of drilling in 28drill holes. The company also completedreginal exploration and claim staking over15-kilometers along the favorable time-stratigraphic horizon that hosts the pro-ject’s mineralization, commenced, metal-lurgical testing and conducted initial base-line environmental work.

KISKA METALS CORP. and fundingpartner FIRST QUANTUM MINERALSposted results of exploration work on theCopper Joe porphyry project in the west-ern Alaska Range. Exploration in 2015discovered multiple porphyry centers andindicates potential for a very large system.Work included geologic mapping, geo-physics, and the use of a proprietary 3-Dlithogeochemical modelling technologyproduced compelling new drill targets,including outcropping chalcopyrite miner-alization associated with Early DarkMicaceous (EDM) veins. The projecthosts an extensive area of phyllic alter-ation, including local zones of potassicalteration, porphyry-style veining withchalcopyrite mineralization, and diatreme,

pebble dyke, and magnetite breccias inEocene and Miocene intrusive rocks.Mineralized intrusions of this age repre-sent a relatively unrecognized yet poten-tially significant geological province inthe Alaska Range. Work on the propertythis season included detailed alterationand vein mapping, alteration mineralchemistry mapping (white-mica hyper-spectral analysis and chlorite chemistry), a12 square kilometer full-tensor magne-totelluric geophysical survey, and theapplication if a proprietary 3-dimensionalporphyry footprint lithogeochemical mod-eling method. This work has defined twocompelling porphyry targets, the EveningStar and Morning Star prospects. TheEvening Star prospect is defined by a 2.5kilometer diameter area of intense phyllicalteration that hosts an outer margin withsignificant D-style quartz-pyrite veiningand a one-kilometer-wide inner zonedefined by significant banded quartz-molybdenite veining. Porphyry footprintlithogeochemical modeling, hyperspectralwhite-mica analysis, and chlorite chem-istry analysis suggests that this inner zonerepresents the high-level core of the por-phyry system. Geophysical surveys indi-cates that this inner zone is centered on adiscrete, one-kilometer-wide, conductivitylow anomaly about 650 meters below sur-face. This anomaly is draped by a 2.5-kilometer-wide chargeability high inducedpolarization geophysical anomaly. Thecore of anomaly defines a compelling drilltarget. The newly-recognized MorningStar prospect occurs 2.2 kilometers tosouthwest of the Evening Star prospect ina relatively low-lying area mostly coveredby glacial till. Morning Star is defined bynarrow outcrop exposures in creek gulliesthat contain chalcopyrite mineralization inEDM veins and B-style quartz veins overa 400-meter-wide area. Previous grabsamples collected from this area returnedup to 0.73 percent copper and 0.42 g/tgold. Morning Star has yet to be tested by

5NORTH OF 60 MINING

PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

AECOM is one of the world’s largest engineering and

AECOM and URS are now one company.

Pacific RimGeological Consulting, Inc.

Mailing address: Office: 907 458-8951P.O. Box 81906 Cell: 907 388-6607Fairbanks, AK Fax: 907 458-8511www.pacrimgeol.com bundtzen@mosquitonet.com

Thomas K. Bundtzen, President

continued from page 4

FREEMAN

see FREEMAN page 6

geophysical surveys or drilling.

Northern AlaskaNOVACOPPER INC. and partner

NANA REGIONAL CORP. released resultsfrom core drilling completed at its Arcticvolcanogenic massive sulfide deposit atthe company’s Upper Kobuk MineralProject in the Brooks Range. During 2015the company completed 14 diamond drillholes for a total of 3,056 meters of core.The 2015 in-fill drill program wasdesigned to evaluate vertical and lateralcontinuity of the high-grade polymetalliccopper, gold, silver, lead and zinc mineral-ization, and support upgrading of inferredresources to measured and indicatedresource classifications within the area ofthe proposed Arctic open-pit. Significantdrill results include hole AR15-0145,which intersected four mineralized inter-vals – 22 meters of 3.86 percent copper,0.86 g/t gold, 71.0 grams per metric tonsilver, 1.15 percent lead, and 5.36 percentzinc, and 5 meters of 3.82 percent copper,0.68 g/t gold, 74.7 g/t silver, 1.60 percent

lead, and 7.21 percent zinc, and 6.5meters of 6.67 percent copper, 0.52 g/tgold, 31.4 g/t silver, 0.20 percent lead,and 3.38 percent zinc, Hole AR15-0136intersected two mineralized intervals,including 32 meters of 3.08 percent cop-per, 1.56 g/t gold, 45.9 g/t silver, 0.18 per-cent lead, and 2.72 percent zinc, and 9meters of 7.36 percent copper, 2.34 g/tgold, 219.3 g/t silver, 0.77 percent lead,and 5.00 percent zinc. Hole AR15-0138intersected 18 meters of 4.93 percent cop-per, 0.74 g/t gold, 102.0 g/t silver, 0.94percent lead, and 5.11 percent zinc. HoleAR15-0144 intersected three mineralizedintervals, including 11 meters of 7.10 per-cent copper, 0.70 g/t gold, 80.4 g/t silver,1.09 percent lead, and 9.04 percent zinc,and 9 meters of 4.22 percent copper, 0.75g/t gold, 76.7 g/t silver, 0.82 percent lead,and 3.46 percent zinc. These drill results,along with concurrent and on-going engi-neering studies, will be used in support ofa pre-feasibility study of the Arcticdeposit. This news comes shortly beforethe State of Alaska released up to US$3.6million to be used by the Alaska IndustrialDevelopment and Export Authority toconduct environmental impact scopingstudies on the Ambler Road Project,

stalled early this year when budget woesstruck the State of Alaska. While the newswas welcomed by the industry, it is asmall step along the path toward a full-blown EIS, which is required before roadconstruction can begin.

Southeast AlaskaHECLA MINING CO. reported prelimi-

nary third-quarter 2015 production resultsfor its Greens Creek mine on AdmiraltyIsland. The mine produced 1,922,037 oz.of silver and 14,376 oz. of gold, whichrepresent a 5.3 percent and 6.3 percentproduction increase, respectively, over theyear-previous period. The higher silverproduction was a result of higher recover-ies and tonnage, partially offset by slightlylower grades. The mill operated at an aver-age of 2,233 tons per day in the third quar-ter.

COEUR MINING INC. posted third-quarter 2015 production results from itsKensington gold miner near Juneau. Third-quarter production is estimated at 28,688oz. of gold, a slight decrease over the30,773 oz. of gold produced in the thirdquarter of 2014. The mine processed165,198 tons of ore, grading 0.19 oz. ofgold per ton during the quarter. Average

recovery was 93.6 percent. Productiondeclined four percent in the third quarterdue to lower recovery rates and millthroughput, partially offset by a slightincrease in head grades. Work on thedecline into the Jualin deposit began in thethird quarter with underground drilling ofJualin expected to begin during the firstquarter of 2016. Estimated 2015 total pro-duction from Kensington is 110,000 to115,000 oz. of gold.

MILLROCK RESOURCES INC. said ithas acquired the option to purchase theformer-producing Apex El Nido gold mineon Chichagof Island. The option wasgranted by the property owner, APEX ELNIDO GOLD MINES INC. Exercisableuntil Aug. 1, 2018, the option can be main-tained by making annual payments ofUS$1,000 per year and by paying theannual federal U.S. claim rentals on behalfof the owner, which presently totalUS$4,500 per year. Millrock may purchasea 100 percent royalty-free interest in theproperty by paying the owners a minimumof $100,000 if exercised before March 31,2016 and a maximum of US$500,000 ifexercised between Aug. 2, 2017 and Aug.1, 2018. Discovered in 1919, the com-bined production from the Apex and ElNido mines was reportedly 17,000 oz. ofgold from ore grading 1.4 oz. of gold perton. Remaining resources included 25,168oz. of gold in rock that grades 0.945 oz.per ton gold. The only modern explorationwork done on the property was executedby contractor WGM for ECHO BAYMINES in the early 1980s. Surface geolog-ical mapping and geochemical surveyswere completed and targets developed butno drilling was done. This work demon-strated that a vein swarm can be traced formore than 500 meters along strike and atplaces is more than 200 meters across. Themineralized zone contains mesothermalquartz veins and fracture fillings in schistsurround by fine-grained sericite alterationenvelopes. Gold mineralization occurs ascoarse, free gold associated with arsenopy-rite and pyrite along with lesser amountsof chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, and ten-nantite. Mineralization remains open alongstrike and at depth. The property has neverbeen explored by surface or undergrounddrilling. Millrock intends to review exist-ing data and build a comprehensive explo-ration plan, after which the company willseek joint venture partners to drill anddelineate the deposit and further develop itif warranted.

Alaska newcomer GROUP TENMETALS INC. reported the acquisition ofthe Duke Island copper-nickel-platinumgroup metal project from a subsidiary ofQUATERRA RESOURCES INC. The prop-erty consists of 31 unpatented federal min-ing claims that control the core area ofcopper-nickel-platinum-palladium sulfidemineralization discovered in the DukeIsland ultramafic complex by Quaterra in2001. Past exploration expenditures ofroughly US$2.5 million have defined fourlarge zones of mineralization on the prop-erty by geologic mapping, surface geo-chemistry, surface and airborne geo-physics. Only one of these zones has beentested to date with 3,434 meters of drillingin 16 holes. None of the holes are thoughtto have penetrated the prospective basalcontact of the intrusion where the highestgrades of copper-nickel-platinum-palladi-um sulfide mineralization are inferred tooccur. Sulfide mineralization on the prop-erty is within an Alaska-type zoned ultra-mafic intrusion in Alaska’s AlexanderPlatinum Belt. The Duke Island occur-rence is unique in the high percentage ofdisseminated and net-textured to massivesulfide mineralization within certain phas-es of the ultramafic complex. Outcrop grab

6NORTH OF 60 MINING PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

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FREEMAN

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7NORTH OF 60 MINING

PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

“Minerals and metals mined from west-ern lands are necessary for making comput-ers, cell phones and structural steel,” hewrote. “But an overly burdensome federalpermitting process means a new mine takesseven to ten years before development canbegin. That alone moves responsible min-ing operations to other parts of the world.”

Besides federal regulators under theInterior Department – such as the Bureau ofLand Management, U.S. Forest Serviceand National Park Service – Bush said reg-ulations by the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency Service need to be heldin check.

“The over-reaching ‘Waters of theUnited States’ rule, for instance, has createdgreat uncertainty among those families thatrely on the land for their livelihood,” hewrote.

Widely known as WOTUS, this ruledrafted by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers substantially expands what fallsunder federal jurisdiction by encompassingadded tributaries and neighboring wetlandsupstream of waters already covered by fed-eral law.

If implemented, this this broad expan-sion of the federal Clean Water Act isexpected to be especially burdensome forresource development in Alaska.

“Alaska has over 174 million acres ofwetlands, and more coastline and wetlandsthan all of the Lower 48 combined,” AlaskaGov. Bill Walker explained.

“This new rule just creates confusionand unnecessary bureaucracy for our state,”he added.

Since its release in May, at least 30states have since filed lawsuits to stopWOTUS.

Alaska and 11 other states joined onesuch lawsuit spearheaded by North Dakota.

“This final rule will likely have detri-mental impacts on development in Alaska,”Walker said June 29 when Alaska officialsannounced that the state had joined the suitagainst EPA and the Corps. “In addition tobeing incredibly expansive, the rule is alsounclear. It will only lead to more expensivepermitting and legal fights over ‘what is in’and ‘what is out’ under the federal law.”

In August, a North Dakota judge grant-ed 13 states a preliminary injunction block-ing the implementation of the rule; and inearly October the U.S. Sixth Circuit Courtof Appeals issued an order that expands thestoppage to the entire nation.

Off-limits to humansPresidential hopeful Bush addressed

another issue that is a growing point ofcontention for the resource developmentcommunity in Alaska – access to andthrough federal lands in Alaska.

“Americans should be encouraged, notdiscouraged, to fish, hike, hunt, camp andrecreate on Federal lands. Yet, millions ofacres of public land in the West are inac-cessible to the public due to historiccheckerboard land ownership patternsand inadequate points of entry,” Bushnoted.

One such case in Alaska has found itsway before the nation’s highest court.

The U.S. Supreme Court has decidedto have the final word on a lawsuitbrought by an Alaskan that is fighting theU.S. National Park Service over access toa moose hunting area in Interior Alaska.

“Although not strictly a mining case,John Sturgeon’s challenge to the NationalPark Service’s regulation banning privatehovercraft on the rivers in the Yukon-Charley Preserve goes to the heart of theperpetual question Alaskans have con-

cerning access across federal lands,” J.P.Tangen, an Alaska mining attorney, wrotein a recent column for North of 60 MiningNews.

While passing through the Yukon-Charley Nation Preserve in route to hishunting spot in 2007, Sturgeon pulled hishovercraft on a sand bar. During thismaintenance stop, park rangers informedthe hunter that hovercraft are not allowedin the preserve.

After a failed attempt to work directlywith the Park Service, Sturgeon took thefederal land manager to court over hisright to use Alaska-owned waterways as ahighway to his moose hunting area.

U.S. District Judge H. Russel Hollandin Anchorage ruled in favor of theNational Park Service and in 2014 theSan Francisco-based 9th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appeals affirmed the lower courtruling.

With the lower courts ruling in tan-dem, it looked as if this would be the finalword on the Sturgeon case. The SupremeCourt justices, however, felt this casedeserved further review and has decided

to hear the case. In an Oct. 16 email to Mining News,

Sturgeon said these rulings “have giventhe environmentalists another huge ham-mer to stop development on state and pri-vate lands.”

“This case goes far beyond a moosehunter’s right to use a small hovercraft onthe Yukon River,” he added.

While not directly addressing theSturgeon case, Bush said access to publiclands has become a growing problem inthe West.

“Conservation implies that people canactually access and responsibly use ourland and water, but this administrationhas consistently made more resources off-limits to human beings,” he penned in hisposition piece. “They are not listening towestern communities and the individualswho know western lands best.”

Whether or not Interior Departmentheadquarters are moved within earshot ofthe West, at least one stump speech on the2016 presidential campaign brought min-ing and other resource developmentissues to the forefront. l

continued from page 3

BUSH SPEECH

samples have returned values up to 2.8percent copper, 0.25 percent nickel andmore than 1 gram of platinum, plus pal-ladium per metric ton parts per million.Core holes drilled at the Marquisprospect have intercepted from 5 metersto 90 meters of semi-massive to mas-sive sulfide containing anomalous val-ues for copper (up to 12,500 ppm),nickel (up to 4,694 ppm), platinum (upto 680 ppb), and palladium (up to 548

ppb). Marquis is the only target that haspartially been drill tested. Three similarelectromagnetic and natural sourceaudio-magnetotelluric geophysicalanomalies have been defined in relationto surface mineralization at the Lookoutand Scarp targets to the east and theMonte area to the south. Under theterms of the agreement, Group Ten willpurchase the property by the issuance ofone million shares to each of two ven-dors, with Quaterra retaining a 1 per-cent net smelter production royalty.Welcome to Alaska GROUP TENMETALS INC.! l

continued from page 6

FREEMAN

reported over the next four to six weeks.Skeena remains on track to publish an NI43-101-compliant resource estimate forthe Spectrum in the first quarter of 2016.In addition, Skeena will publish an updat-ed NI 43-101-compliant resource estimatefor the adjacent GJ property in December,which will include drilling completed byTeck Resources Ltd. from 2010 through2014.

ATAC completes mineoptimization work at Tiger

ATAC Resources Ltd. Oct. 26announced the completion of a 2015 workprogram focused on completing optimiza-tion work recommended in a 2014 prelim-inary economic assessment for the Tigerdeposit, an oxide gold deposit locatedwithin the Rau trend of at the western endof its Rackla gold project, Yukon Territory.The PEA envisions a seasonal open-pitmine that would produce 221,558 ouncesof gold from 2.06 million metric tons ofoxide material at an average diluted gradeof 3.72 grams per metric ton gold over afour-year mine life. “The Tiger Deposit isa unique at-surface, high-grade oxide gold

deposit that will be an essential compo-nent to the future development of theRackla gold project,” said ATAC Presidentand CEO Graham Downs. “The comple-tion of this year’s prefeasibility level workallows us to refine the current mine plan

and gets us another step closer to having aroad-accessible shovel-ready golddeposit.” This year’s program included 14shallow infill and expansion holes drilledto better define the high-grade and near-surface oxide portion of the deposit.Additionally, eight trenches were complet-ed to test the near-surface extension of thedeposit. ATAC says the results from the2015 drilling and trenching program werecomparable to adjacent holes from earlierwork. The remaining four 2015 diamonddrill holes were completed to support fur-ther geotechnical studies aimed at steepen-ing the PEA pit slope angles to potentiallyaccess known oxide gold mineralizationbelow the current pit design. Two of theseholes were fitted with vibrating wirepiezometers to initiate groundwater sur-veys for future studies and permitting. Asmall bulk sample also was collected andstored on-site in preparation for additional

metallurgical or process studies. In viewof the PEA recommendations and ongoingwork, the company is also evaluating thepossibility of a year-round, agitated tankprocessing scenario accessed via an all-season road. Initial work indicates the agi-tated tank process has the potential toenhance the mine plan, improve recoveriesand reduce project costs.

Klondike drills coarsegold at Eldorado Creek

Klondike Gold Corp. Oct. 26 reportedresults from the remaining 15 holes of a19-hole program at the Lone Star goldproperty near Dawson City, YukonTerritory. This work includes the discov-ery of gold-bearing quartz near Gay Gulchalong Eldorado Creek. Hole EC15-10encountered a 2.8-meter zone at GayGulch that coarse gold up to 2.5 centime-ters. After removing all the coarse visiblegold clots from the assay sample, theremaining split interval returned 420grams per metric ton gold over 0.5 meters,within a 2.8-meter interval averaging 75.6g/t gold. Drilling at Gay Gulch encoun-tered quartz veining is related to a promi-nent (magnetic low) fault that extends for2,600 meters from Gay Gulch. The GayGulch drilling was done adjacent to wherea 34-ounce gold nugget was EldoradoCreek and 250 meters upstream fromwhere a 72-ounce nugget was recovered.“Drilling encountered spectacular clots ofgold in bedrock quartz veining in EC15-10 on a well-defined fault; one of a class

8NORTH OF 60 MINING PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

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A rainbow arcs over one of the first of 61 holes drilled this year at Skeena Resources’ Spectrum gold project in the Golden Triangle regionof northwestern British Columbia.

ing the third quarter, a 12 percent dropcompared with last year. Zinc grade andrecovery was similar to 2014; however,mill throughput was lower than the thirdquarter of 2014. Red Dog shipped 1.048million metric tons of zinc concentrateduring the 2015 shipping season thatended Oct. 22.

Hilltop reconnaissanceexceeds expectations

Northern Empire Resources Corp. andSonoro Metals Corp. Oct. 22 reportedthat the second phase of 2015 explo-ration has expanded the area of goldmineralization at the Hilltop projectlocated in Interior Alaska about 45 miles(70 kilometers) southeast of Fairbanks.“The phase 2 exploration program hasexpanded the known gold footprint at theHilltop South and Hilltop North areas,highlighted new prospective target areas,demonstrated a clear association betweengold values and intrusive-related goldpathfinder elements in both rock/trenchsamples and soils, and returned highergold values than this spring’s trenchingprogram,” explained Northern EmpireChairman John Robins. The phase-2 pro-gram included the collection of 355 soilsamples, 42 rock samples, and theresampling of a newly exposed sectionof trench 5 from the first phase of 2015exploration. Following the phase-1 pro-gram, erosion exposed a larger portion ofan arsenopyrite-bearing quartz vein attrench 5. Resampling of this trenchreturned 9.71 grams per metric ton goldover four meters. Phase-1 results for thissame interval were 2.34 g/t gold. Thecompanies said phase-2 soil samplingreturned 2.5-60 parts-per-billion goldand exhibit a positive correlation withintrusive-related gold pathfinder ele-ments. Infill soil samples were collectedin the area of the due diligence samplingconducted earlier this year at the HilltopSouth prospect. Assay results expand andconfirm a strong east- to west-trendinggold-in-soils anomaly measuring 1,800meters long by 500 meters wide. Infillsoil samples also were collected atHilltop North, in an area of anomaloustop of bedrock soils which were collect-ed during the 2011 season by a previousexploration group. The companies said

this work confirms the previous sam-pling and better defines this prospectivearea. Anomalous reconnaissance soilsamples and rock float samples collectedin the Mosquito Creek drainage area,located about 3.7 miles southwest ofHilltop, highlight this area for potentialfollow-up work in 2016. The companiesalso said soil samples collected betweensections of anomalous sample lines col-lected during the phase 1 program at theBirch Hill Conductor, which is locatedabout midway between Mosquito Creekand Hilltop, highlight the anomalousnature of this zone. Sonoro President andCEO Kenneth MacLeod said, “Theexploration results from both phase 1and 2 at Hilltop have exceeded ourexpectations and support our belief thatthe Richardson Gold District will emergeas one of the most exciting areas forgold exploration in Alaska as weadvance this project.”

Miranda inks deal to buyWillow Creek royalty

Miranda Gold Corp. Oct. 22 reportedthat it has reached an agreement to pur-chase a 3.3 percent royalty on theWillow Creek project held by DanielRenshaw. Miranda holds the Willow

Creek project under lease from AlaskaHardrock Inc. The Renshaw royalty hasbeen separated into the area that coversthe patented mining claims on the westside of the project (A Royalty) and thearea that covers the patented miningclaims on the east side of the project (BRoyalty). The A Royalty covers thearea, including the Coleman resourcethat will be initially developed andplaced into production. The B Royaltycovers ground that is prospective forexploration including the BullionMountain targets. Miranda has agreed topurchase up to 100 percent of the ARoyalty in a series of seven contractswith each subsequent contract contin-gent on the prior contract being paid infull. Pursuant to each contract Mirandawill purchase 0.4 percent to 0.5 percentof the royalty for each cumulativeUS$143,000 paid at the rate ofUS$5,000 per month plus interest withthe first payment due on Oct. 31. IfMiranda does not complete payment ofany contract the remainder of the ARoyalty will remain with Renshaw. Theseven contracts will be over an aggre-gate period of up to 200 months, butsuch contracts and payments can beaccelerated and paid off at any time,providing that Miranda pays Renshawthe full payment of US$1 million ofprincipal. Miranda also has the option topurchase the B Royalty for US$500,000at any time provided that the A Royalty

contracts are not in default. The BRoyalty is subject to terms, conditionsand installments that are similar withthose of the A Royalty. Miranda CEOKen Cunningham said, “It is not a guar-antee that Miranda will buy the entireroyalty but it provides Miranda with theopportunity to do so at a purchase priceand payment schedule that does notoverly burden Miranda and recognizesthe early stage of development of theWillow Creek project. Miranda will pur-chase the royalties for its own account.”

Additionally, Miranda has providedGold Torrent Inc. an extra six months tomeet the terms of an exploration andoption to joint venture agreement thatthe companies entered into on theWillow Creek project last November.Under the agreement, Gold Torrent hasthe right to earn an interest in theWillow Creek project and to form a lim-ited liability joint venture in the goldproject by completing US$1.07 millionof work by Nov. 5. Contingent uponGold Torrent completing an equityfinancing of not less than US$1 millionby Nov. 5, Miranda has agreed to giveGold Torrent until May 5, 2016 to com-plete the initial earn-in obligation anduntil May 5, 2018 to complete US$10million of expenditures to earn a 70 per-cent interest. Gold Torrent plans to usethese funds to establish a 150-ton-per-day gravity separation gold operation atthe high-grade Willow project. l

9NORTH OF 60 MINING

PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

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10NORTH OF 60 MINING PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

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of faults we believe is a primary controlon gold mineralization in the region. Notonly does the Gay Gulch discovery vali-date the company’s exploration model, itopens up a way to target other gold-bear-ing quartz veins throughout our extensiveproperty holdings,” the company said in astatement. Drilling at the Nugget, LowerNugget and Buckland zones encounteredsome gold and quartz veining but did notreturn significant gold results.

Drilling shows Vickersis narrowing to west

Northquest Ltd. Oct. 26 published thefirst batch of results from the 2015 drillprogram at the Pistol Bay gold project inNunavut. This year’s drilling focused onexpanding the Vickers Target, a zonewhere previous drilling has cut broadintercepts with good gold grades, includ-ing 156.5 meters averaging 8.23 g/t goldin hole PB-12-22; 158 meters of 3.46 g/tgold in hole PB-13-03; and 222 meters of1.65 g/t gold in hole PB-14-08. The bestintersections of the seven 2015 holesreported came in PB-15-01 – 25 metersaveraging 1.41 grams per metric ton gold;PB-15-02 – 21 meters averaging 2.01 g/tgold; PB15-04 – 24 meters averaging 2.95g/t gold; PB15-06 – five meters averaging5.11 g/t gold; and PB15-07 – eight metersaveraging 3.16 g/t gold. These holes indi-cate the easterly dipping deposit is pinch-ing off quickly at depth on the west side.Northquest CEO Jon North said, “Thesedrill holes are mainly from the westernpart of the Vickers gold zone, as currentlydefined, and reflect gold concentrationstypical of the mineralized zone in theintrusive environment. Visible gold wasnoted on all sections except (one) andthese drill holes are beginning to definethe lower contact of the gold zone thatappears to have an easterly plunge,accordingly, the intersections reported onthese sections are generally narrower atdepth than those in other sections fartherto the east.”

Drilling adds to prospectivity at Indin Lake

Nighthawk Gold Corp. Oct. 26 provid-ed results from a recently completed

eight-hole drill program at its Indin Lakegold property in the Northwest Territories.Five of the holes were drilled within Zone1.5 to expand the recently discoveredhigh-grade gold mineralization defined byhole C14-06, which cut 52.5 meters of7.78 g/t gold. Holes C15-04 and 04B, col-lared 25 meters south of C14-06, cut77.75 meters of 2.63 g/t gold. Hole C15-06, drilled 25 meters north of C14-06, cut31.20 meters of 3.89 g/t gold. The remain-ing three holes were drilled at Zone 1.0,located 2,000 meters north of Zone 1.5along the trend of the intrusion.Nighthawk reports that all of these shal-low holes intersected significant mineral-ization over a strike length of 60 metersand to a vertical depth of less than 150meters. Grade appears to improve to thesouth as evidenced by hole C15-03, whichcut 43.10 meters of 1.13 g/t gold. Thiswas Nighthawk’s first drilling within thenorthern sector of the intrusion, whichindicates the prospectivity of the 2,000meters between Zone 1.0 and Zone 1.5.

African Queen issuedYellowjacket permit

African Queen Mines Ltd. Oct. 22 saidthe British Columbia Ministry of Energyand Mines has issued it a permit thatapproves a mine plan and reclamationprogram for the Yellowjacket gold minenear Atlin in northern B.C. African Queenacquired the property from AthabascaNuclear Corp., formerly YellowjacketResources Ltd., earlier this year. The prop-erty encompasses hardrock as well asplacer gold prospects, and has been thesubject of various historical mining opera-tions that span more than a century. A400-metric-tons-per-day mill and concen-trator, as well as other equipment from ahardrock operation established byYellowjacket Resources remains in place.Mining was suspended for a variety ofreasons including engineering and equip-ment problems as well as financial issuesarising from the recession in the industry.African Queen CEO Irwin Olian said,“Our first priority will be development ofa new geologic model for the projectthrough exploration, whilst at the sametime we are evaluating the utility of plantand equipment on site and undertakingengineering studies designed to optimizeresults from future mining operations.”African Queen is a Vancouver, B.C.-basedexploration company with gold propertiesin Africa and Canada. l

continued from page 8

NORTHERN NEIGHBORS

Inc. to explore and develop the copper-rich deposits in the Ambler MiningDistrict in the eastern part of its regionand launching an independent campaignto explore the gold-rich Fairhaven MiningDistrict in the southern areas of its territo-ry.

“Mining has proven to be an economiccatalyst for Northwest Alaska,” saidLance Miller, vice president of naturalresources for NANA Regional Corp.“Today, our company continues to look atways to responsibly explore and developminerals to the benefit of our sharehold-ers.”

Exploring KugrukNANA’s exploration team also has

been systematically narrowing drill tar-gets in the Fairhaven Mining District, anarea that is estimated to have producedmore than 600,000 ounces of gold sincethe turn of the 20th century.

This work culminated in a six-holedrill program that tapped high-grade goldand silver along with associated zinc andlead mineralization along a roughly 70-mile-long structural zone known as theKugruk Mega Shear.

Stretching south from the KotzebueSound, this enormous structural zone islocated roughly where the SewardPeninsula meets the rest of mainlandAlaska.

Candle Creek, draining off the eastside of this Kugruk Mega Shear, has beenthe source of the majority of the morethan half a million ounces of placer goldproduced in the area. Notoriously exten-sive ground cover in the region, however,has hidden the bedrock source of thisalluvial gold.

NANA geologists, led by Miller, nar-rowed down the potential source withregional exploration including hydro-geo-chemistry, followed by systematic gridsoil sampling by snow machine. The teamfurther narrowed targets by mapping andsampling frost boils, areas were subsur-face frost heaves up dirt and rocks.

This targeting led to this year’s drillingon NANA’s Kuulu property, a block ofState of Alaska mining claims immediate-ly west and upland of Candle Creek.

The best hole cut 5.8 feet (1.77 meters)averaging 20.5 grams per metric ton gold,92 g/t silver, 1.79 percent zinc and 2.63percent lead. This intercept included a 0.6foot interval of 175 g/t gold and 470 g/tsilver.

Other significant intercepts fromNANA’s inaugural drill program alongthe Kugruk Mega Shear include: four feetof 7.9 g/t gold; 2.5 feet of 2.05 g/t gold;0.5 feet of 10 g/t gold; and 1.1 feet of 2.51g/t gold.

In 2012, NANA geologists collectedrock samples of up to 9.4 g/t and 7.6 g/tsilver at Motherwood Point, which iswhere Kugruk Mega Shear emerges onthe northern shore of the SewardPeninsula some 20 miles (32 kilometers)to the north of the high-grade intercept atKuulu.

Kennecott hit some intriguing zinc-lead-silver mineralization during a 1994drill program at Anugi, a prospect locatedon NANA-owned land about seven milessouth of Motherwood Point. Highlightsfrom this drilling include 10 feet grading5.3 percent zinc, 0.94 percent lead and 40g/t silver; and 64 feet grading 2.5 percentzinc, 1.03 percent lead and 65 g/t silver.

Together with intriguing gold valuesfound further south along the KugrukMega Shear in the area of KiwalikMountain, the work completed by NANApoints to the enormous potential of this

structural corridor that stitches theSeward Peninsula to the rest of Alaska.

Developing ArcticAs in-house geologists begin to unveil

the mineral potential in the southern partof the NANA region, partnerNovaCopper Inc. is studying the feasibil-ity of developing a mine in the copper-rich Ambler Mining District to the east.

In 2011, NovaCopper and NANAformed the Upper Kobuk MineralProjects, a partnership that brings togeth-er Bornite and a number of other copper-rich prospects on NANA-owned landswith the world-class Arctic deposit and

dozens of similar volcanogenic massivesulfide prospects located onNovaCopper’s state, federal and patentedmining claims in the Ambler MiningDistrict.

Located a mere 16 miles apart, Arcticand Bornite are each considered world-class copper assets that would have longsince been developed if not for theirremote location, some 200 miles off thebeaten path in Northwest Alaska. It isbelieved that advancing these deposits intandem will improve the economics ofboth.

Since formation of the Upper KobukMineral Projects, NovaCopper has

expanded Bornite to 5.7 billion pounds ofcopper in a (March 2014) resource esti-mate averaging 1.56 percent copper.

With Bornite showing its world-classpotential, NovaCopper is now focused onfinishing what it started at Arctic.

“We see Arctic as the first mine to bedeveloped and Bornite as the second; andwe will work on the synergies betweenthe two projects,” NovaCopper Presidentand CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse toldMining News.

The 2015 Upper Kobuk programincluded 3,056 meters of drilling and

11NORTH OF 60 MINING

PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

PUTTING PEOPLEFIRST

Fairbanks, Alaska kinross.com

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NANA MINING

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2015 Drilling Locations

#Kiwalik Mtn.

Kotzebue Sound

AnugiProspect

Inferred Edges ofKugruk Mega Shear

Motherwood Point

Glacier Creek

Gold Run

Jump Creek

Independence

Candle

Camp 19

Deering

Buckland

Area of detail

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NANA owned land

Non-NANA Claims

NANA Claims

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other engineering and environmental work needed tocomplete a prefeasibility study for Arctic, the mostadvanced of the deposits held by the NovaCopper-NANA partnership.

A 2013 preliminary economic assessment for devel-oping an open-pit mine at Arctic supplying ore to a10,000-metric-ton-per-day mill at Arctic that would pro-duce roughly 1.5 billion pounds of copper, 1.8 billionlbs. of zinc, 289 million lbs. of lead, 30.5 million ouncesof silver and 349,000 oz. of gold over a 12-year mine-life.

This scoping level study was based on an indicatedresource of 23.85 million metric tons averaging 3.26 per-cent (1.71 billion lbs.) copper, 4.45 percent (2.34 billionlbs.) zinc, 0.76 percent (400 million lbs.) lead, 0.71grams per metric ton (550,000 oz.) gold, and 53.2 g/t(40.8 million oz.) silver; plus an inferred resource of3.63 million metric tons averaging 3.22 percent (239million lbs.) copper, 3.84 percent (285 million lbs.) zinc,0.58 percent (43.2 million lbs.) lead and 0.59 g/t (60,000oz.) gold.

This year’s drilling focused primarily on testing verti-cal and lateral continuity of the high-grade deposit aswell as upgrading inferred resources to the measured andindicated categories.

Highlights from the 2015 program include: AR15-0145, which intersected four mineralized inter-

vals – 22 meters of 3.86 percent copper, 0.86 grams permetric ton gold, 71 g/t silver, 1.15 percent lead and 5.36percent zinc; five meters of 3.82 percent copper, 0.68 g/tgold, 74.7 g/t silver, 1.6 percent lead and 7.21 percentzinc; and 6.5 meters of 6.67 percent copper, 0.52 g/tgold, 31.4 g/t silver, 0.2 percent lead and 3.38 percentzinc;

AR15-0136, which cut two mineralized intervals – 32meters of 3.08 percent copper, 1.56 g/t gold, 45.9 g/t sil-ver, 0.18 percent lead and 2.72 percent zinc; and ninemeters of 7.36 percent copper, 2.34 g/t gold, 219.3 g/tsilver, 0.77 percent lead, and 5 percent zinc;

AR15-0144, which cut three mineralized intervals,including 11 meters of 7.1 percent copper, 0.7 g/t gold,80.4 g/t silver, 1.09 percent lead and 9.04 percent zinc;and nine meters of 4.22 percent copper, 0.75 g/t gold,76.7 g/t silver, 0.82 percent lead and 3.46 percent zinc.

Two of the 14 holes – AR15-0139 and AR15-0145 –specifically targeted geotechnical information for pre-

liminary pit slope design work in the area of the highwall of the proposed open pit.

“We are pleased to have completed another successfuldrill campaign, one that saw zero loss time incidents, noenvironmental incidents, 56 percent local NANA share-holder hire and some really fantastic drill results that fur-ther demonstrate that the Arctic deposit is one of thehighest grade, open pitable copper deposits known in theworld,” Van Nieuwenhuyse said.

Economic driverAs NANA pursues the potential of the Kugruk Mega

Shear and supports NovaCopper’s exploration anddevelopment of the copper-rich Upper Kobuk region, theRed Dog Mine, the second-largest zinc producer in theworld, continues to be the primary economic driver inthe Northwest Arctic region.

Through 2014, NANA has received US$1.1 billion innet proceeds from the Red Dog, of which it has paidmore than US$705.5 million to other Alaska Nativeregions, Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corp. and at-large share-holders in accordance with stipulations under the AlaskaNative Claims Settlement Act. Additionally, theNorthwest Arctic Borough, which encompasses theentire NANA region in Northwest Alaska, has receivedUS$139 million in payments in lieu of taxes to fund local

government, provide services and to build schools.Teck paid off its capital and operating costs at Red

Dog in 2007, which triggered an increase in NANA’s netproceeds royalties to 25 percent of net profits from thezinc mine. NANA’s interest, which is bumped up by 5percent every five years, currently sits at 30 percent andits next rise is due at the end of 2017.

Red Dog produced a record 596,000 metric tons (1.31billion pounds) of zinc in 2014, or about 5 percent of theglobal zinc output last year. Through the third quarter of2015, the Northwest Alaska operation has recoveredabout 430,800 metric tons (965.6 million pounds) of thegalvanizing metal, which is about 2 percent lower thanthe first nine months of last year.

At the current production pace, Red Dog has enoughreserves to feed the mill for more than a decade, and anumber of deposits and prospects in the immediate andsurrounding area will likely add to the life of the RedDog Mine and the economic benefits it brings to theNANA region.

Going into 2015, Red Dog had 52.8 million metrictons of ore in reserves averaging 16.5 percent (7.1 mil-lion metric tons) zinc, 4.3 percent (1.2 million metrictons) lead and 80 grams per metric ton (64.4 millionounces) silver.

This includes first-ever reserves of 7.4 million metrictons averaging 24.7 percent zinc and 6.9 percent lead forQanaiyaq, a near-surface deposit that lies to the south ofthe mined out Red Dog main deposit.

Paalaaq, a deeper deposit in the immediate miningarea, is another potential source of high-grade zinc orefor the mill.

In addition to the near-mine deposits, Teck continuesto explore some 224,000 acres of highly prospective landin the larger Red Dog region of Northwest Alaska.

Anarraaq-Aktigiruq, situated on State of Alaska landroughly eight miles (13 kilometers) northwest of the cur-rent operation, is among the high-quality targets Teck ispursuing. The company discovered Anarraaq in 1999,and subsequently reported an inferred resource of about17.2 million metric tons grading 15.8 percent zinc, 4.8percent lead, and 2.1 oz./t silver. While recent explo-ration, including drilling in 2015, has likely expandedthis deposit significantly, Teck has not publically report-ed an updated resource in several years.

All told, the deposits and prospects in the Red DogDistrict indicate that Northwest Alaska will remain oneof the world’s primary sources of zinc, and NANA share-holders will enjoy the benefits of an increasing owner-ship of Red Dog for many years to come. l

12NORTH OF 60 MINING PETROLEUM NEWS • WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2015

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This old cabin and the historic headframe rising in the dis-tance bear witness to roughly six decades of exploration atthe high-grade Bornite copper deposit located on NANA-owned lands in the Ambler Mining District.