Hunter Dickinson has joined forces with CBR Gold Corp. to resume exploration of the Niblack copper-gold-silver-zinc project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska.

Heatherdale Resources Ltd., a privately owned subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson, has agreed to spend US$15 million over the next three years to advance the Niblack project in exchange for a 51 percent stake in the precious-metals-rich volcanic massive sulfide deposit.

"We are very pleased to be initiating a partnership with CBR Gold to advance exploration of the Niblack copper-gold-silver-zinc deposit," said Hunter Dickinson Chairman Robert A. Dickinson.

The Niblack partners have a US$5.35 million exploration budget for 2009. Heatherdale, which is financing the endeavor, also will be the operator of the planned 7,260-meter underground diamond drill program.

Drilling preparation under way

To prevent oxidation of the sulfides in the tunnel bored into the side of Lookout Mountain, CBR Gold allowed the exploration decline to fill with water when it placed the project on care-and-maintenance in late 2008.

The JV partners Aug. 17 said they have received approval from Alaska regulators to dewater the tunnel and resume exploration of the VMS deposit.

CBR Gold spokesman Derek Iwanaka told Mining News Aug. 20 that the dewatering of the adit should be complete by the end of August.

Equipment needed to carry out the exploration program is currently being barged to the project from Ketchikan, which is 27 miles, or 43 kilometers, northeast of the project. The newly-formed partnership expects the 7,260-meter program to begin in early September and to be complete by year's end.

"The objective of the first-phase Niblack drill program is to rapidly identify additional resource tonnage in strategic positions within the deposit," CBR Gold President and CEO John Williamson said.

This year's drill program will follow up on drilling completed by CBR Gold after acquiring the property in 2008, and will focus on extending the Lookout Zone to depth.

"Based on the most recent exploration results from the 2008 drill program, in particular, we believe this property presents potential for delineating significant volumes of high-grade mineralization," Dickinson said.

Following up on 2008 success

In October after completing a merger with Niblack Mining Corp., CBR Gold embarked on a 19-hole underground exploration program. The 4,507 meters of drilling completed was designed to test the continuity and expand the existing resources within the Lookout Zone delineated by surface drilling, which has traced mineralization from near the apex of Lookout Mountain to a depth of about 600 meters.

"Committee Bay (CBR Gold) is extremely pleased that the initial Niblack underground drill program delivered on all accounts. Mineralization remains open both down-dip and along strike but most importantly, the continuity of the mineralized zones has been successfully demonstrated based on our hit ratio which was largely predicted through geological targeting," Williamson said of the 2008 program.

Though most of the 19 holes drilled struck significant mineralization, CBR Gold was most excited about U028 which intersected 78.66 meters averaging 4.83 grams per metric ton gold, 85.31 g/t silver, 1.89 percent copper and 4.93 percent zinc. U028 extended the mineralization 130 meters beyond the limits of the resource outlined by Niblack Mining Corp.'s surface exploration.

Expanding the resource

In March CBR Gold produced its first resource estimate for the VMS deposit, adding 457,000 metric tons of ore to an estimate that the junior inherited from Niblack Mining.

The updated resource calculation, incorporating the junior's underground program, tallied an indicated resource of 2.272 million metric tons grading 2.42 g/t gold, 34.66 g/t silver, 1.27 percent copper, and 2.36 percent zinc. The deposit has an additional inferred resource of 1.712 million metric tons averaging 2.08 g/t gold, 32.56 g/t silver, 1.55 percent copper and 3.17percent zinc. The estimate was based on a US$50 net smelter royalty cutoff.

"Since acquiring the Niblack Project, the CBG team has continued to systematically compile and evaluate the project with the expressed purpose of expanding the mineral resources in order to fast track to a production scenario," Williamson said.

Iwanaka said the JV partners plan to have an updated resource for the Niblack project by January.

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