I recently attended the 119th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Mining Association in Reno and came away feeling better about Alaska than when I arrived.

Alaska Miners Association Director Deantha Crockett chaired and spoke in a session that covered everything from small mining operations and new exploration discoveries to advanced exploration projects and operating mines. The 8 a.m. session was surprisingly well-attended, despite the fact that the hotel was host to 1,000 exploration geologists in a state with legalized gambling, legalize prostitution and great microbreweries!

However, the most significant take away I walked off with stems from comments I received after speaking in and attending the Alaska session. These comments are best summarized by the phrase "I didn't know."

While gratified that the speakers did in fact educate the audience in some small way, it is clear that the Alaska mineral industry is not as closely followed by others in the industry as we would all like it to be. And it is not for lack of trying - industry trade groups like the Alaska Miners Association, Resource Development Council and the Alliance, along with individual mining and exploration companies, all do their part to introduce those outside Alaska to the opportunities here in the state.

In the instantaneous digital news age in which we live, perhaps the issue is not enough news, but too much? Whatever the reasons, it is disturbing that members of our own industry know more about the bizarre personal life of North Korea's Kim Jong-Un than they do about the Alaska mining industry.

Western Alaska

Graphite One Resources Inc. announced additional drilling results from its 1,023 meters, 10-hole drilling program at its Graphite Creek property north of Nome.

These holes were drilled west of the resource area defined in 2012 drilling.

Drilling extended the known mineralization an additional 850 meters to the west, bringing the total strike length on the deposit to 3.45 kilometers.

Significant results include 30.48 meters grading 6.26 percent graphitic carbon in hole 13GCH011, 86.38 meters grading 5.06 percent graphitic carbon including 33.58 meters grading 10.26 percent graphitic carbon in hole 13GCH012 and 14.15 meters grading 7.16 percent graphitic carbon in hole 13GCH013.

The company plans to update its current resource using the results from its 2013 program.

The deposit still remains open along strike both east and west and at depth.

The company has yet to drill test the Araujo or South Conductor which contains rock grab samples with up to 80.9 percent graphite on surface.

Zazu Metals Corp. announced the initiation of an industry-compliant preliminary economic assessment on its Lik zinc-lead-silver deposit, 22 kilometers from Teck Resource Ltd.'s Red Dog Mine. Zazu has retained JDS Energy and Mining, Inc. to complete the study. The company has completed resource estimates and a suite of studies examining the property and infrastructure. JDS will combine these results into the PEA, with a targeted completion date of first-quarter 2014.

Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp. announced that it has reduced the size of its claim holdings at its Big Chunk project adjacent to the Pebble project land block. The company has eliminated all land that it deems unprospective for porphyry copper deposits. The reduction was based on field studies specific for porphyry copper conducted from 2004 through 2010, including multi-element soil and vegetation geochemistry as well as ZTEM electromagnetic and magnetic geophysics and drilling. The company' CEO and Chief Geologist, Jim Briscoe, stated "The problems that have caused Anglo American plc to withdraw from the area tell us the time for development is not yet upon us."

Redstar Gold Corp. announced that it has completed purchase of a 100 percent ownership Shumagin property from Magnum Hunter Exploration. The property is an integral part of its Unga project. This royalty free land package hosts an historic (non-industry compliant) resource estimate of 254,000 metric tons, grading 27.4 grams per metric ton gold and 127 g/t silver. This property is host to two parallel epithermal vein systems, the Shumagin and Apollo-Sitka trends, with the Shumagin vein containing all of the historic resources. Immediate exploration plans for the project were not released however the company indicated that it plans to conduct exploration on the project in 2014.

Interior Alaska

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. announced a halt to exploration at their Naosi prospect on the company's Monte Cristo gold - silver - antimony project in Interior Alaska. The company indicated that drilling has not confirmed the presence of an economically feasible mineralized zone at Naosi. The companies indicated that they intend to focus on exploration in other zones in the Monte Cristo area and at other properties the controlled by the companies. The companies are joint owners of the Pogo gold mine.

Alaska Range

Pure Nickel Inc. announced that partner ITOCHU Corp. has withdrawn from the MAN project joint venture after contributing over $23 million to exploration on the project over the last five years. The company indicated that it has retained 100 percent interest in the project and hoped to locate another partner to continue exploration of the Eureka nickel-copper-platinum group element zone.

Miranda Gold Corp. announced that it had signed an agreement with Alaska Hardrock Inc. on the Willow Creek project in the Willow Creek District near Anchorage.

Under terms of the deal, Miranda has signed a 20-year lease purchase agreement for 100 percent control of the Willow Creek property.

Under the terms of the lease, Miranda has made a US$50,000 payment with a final US$100,000 due after a 90-day due diligence period.

Thereafter, the lease is subject to annual payments of US$150,000 or, if production is achieved, various net smelter return royalties or revenues.

Historic production from land now controlled by Miranda is estimated at 500,000 ounces of gold, primarily from three workings developed on three faulted segments of the same vein.

The central working produced 250,000 ounces at 1.6 ounces per ton gold on five main levels of the Hogan stope that measures 1,480 feet horizontally and 660 feet down the vein.

Exploration drilling in a confined area by a previous company and subsequent modeling substantiates an unmined, up-dip extension of the vein.

Previous drilling indicates high-grade intercepts of 2.5 feet at 2.4 oz/t gold about 65 feet below the Hogan stope.

It is likely that significant gold occurs in the vein beyond the level of the workings.

The company thinks that it is possible that additional northeast raking, high-grade ore-shoots could be discovered both up and down-dip of the immediate area of the mine workings, and that the vein continues to the east and the west in other faulted segments.

Limited historic drilling to the east reportedly discovered a blind vein segment with values to 1.6 oz/t gold at 820 feet depth, below the depth of any workings in the district.

Northern Alaska

NovaCopper Inc. announced additional 2013 assay results from its 17-hole, 8,140-meter 2013 exploration program at its Bornite project in the Ambler District.

Initial results from 2013 suggest This year's drilling suggests the South Reef and Ruby Creek zones appears to be linked at depth in what is referred to as the Lower Reef.

The new results, all from the northern edge of the deposits, continue to support this concept.

Significant results include RC13-227 which intersected 61.3 meters grading of 1.54 percent copper, hole RC13-231 which intersected 74.8 meters grading 1.81 percent copper and hole RC13-233 which intercepted 43.9 meters grading 1.64 percent copper.

Drill results suggest a high-grade continuous zone of strata-bound copper mineralization extending one kilometer (0.62 mile) down dip and over one kilometer (0.62 mile) along strike with thicknesses exceeding 100 meters.

Other

On a personal note, as many of you know, Bob Swenson, who has been the director of the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys for almost a decade, was recently appointed deputy commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources.

It has been my personal pleasure to work with Bob since he took the helm at DGGS, and I am sure I speak for many others in Alaska in saying, thanks for a job well done. Although DGGS and the geological community at large have lost an ardent supporter and superb scientist, we wish Bob the best of good fortunes as deputy commissioner and extend to him an open invitation to come break rocks with us whenever he wishes!

Author Bio

Curt is President of Avalon Development Corporation, a mineral exploration consulting firm based in Fairbanks, Alaska. He is a U.S. Certified Professional Geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG #6901) and is a licensed geologist in the State of Alaska (Lic. # AA 159).

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 907-457-5159
• Contact Curt Freeman