Ambler Metals LLC plans to invest US$27 million to advance the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska during 2021.

The budget and program approved by equal partners in Ambler Metals – Trilogy Metals Inc. and South32 Ltd. – will primarily focus on the work required to ready the Arctic Mine project to enter permitting during the second half of 2021.

According to a feasibility study finalized earlier this year, the Arctic deposit in Alaska's Ambler Mining District details a financially robust operation that would produce 1.9 billion pounds of copper, 2.3 billion lb of zinc, 388 million lb of lead, 386,000 ounces of gold, and 40.6 million oz of silver over an initial 12-year mine life.

This operation is based on 43 million metric tons of reserves averaging 2.32% copper, 3.24% zinc, 0.57% lead, 0.49 grams per metric ton gold, and 36 g/t silver.

While high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits such as this are typically mined from underground, the Arctic feasibility study details plans for a lower cost open-pit mine feeding a 10,000-metric-ton-per day mill.

The 2021 field program at Arctic will include 7,600 meters of drilling aimed at both extracting additional material for metallurgical work and upgrading mineral resources into the measured category, which could then potentially be upgraded to reserves. The metallurgical testing will support variability testing and pilot plant work that will begin later in 2021.

Ambler Metals planned to carry out much of this work this year but decided to not carry out a 2020 field program due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking ahead to the 2021 field season, Ambler Metals says it will be adhering to a strict COVID safety protocol regime which includes limited personnel rotations, testing, stringent sanitation and disinfection procedures, and contact tracing.

While the 2020 field program was suspended, engineering work to ready the Arctic Mine project for permitting is ongoing.

It is currently anticipated that Ambler Metals will submit the application for a 404 Dredge and Fill Permit – the primary authorization the Ambler Mine will need under the federal Clean Water Act – to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the second half of 2021.

Sunshine drilling

While readying Arctic to enter the federal permitting process, Ambler Metals plans to explore other mineral-rich targets along the 70-mile (100 kilometer) Ambler VMS belt that spans the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects that could deliver future ore to the Arctic mill.

The 7,000-meter regional exploration drill program planned for UKMP during 2021 will include further testing of Sunshine, a prospect about eight miles west of Arctic where previous drilling has substantial widths of high-grade VMS mineralization.

According at a calculation completed for Kennecott Mines in 1997, Sunshine hosts 20 million metric tons of historical resource averaging 1.4% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% lead and 28.1 g/t silver.

Six holes drilled at Sunshine during 2019 confirmed the robust nature of this deposit that is similar to Arctic.

One of the best holes drilled last year, SC19-019, cut five metals-rich zones:

• 9.1 meters of 3.02% copper, 1.42% zinc, 0.27 % lead, 0.14 g/t gold and 24.65 g/t silver.

• 3.3 meters of 1.68% copper, 1.77% zinc, 0.47% lead, 0.12 g/t gold and 27.57 g/t silver.

• 3.7 meters of 4.74% copper, 0.97% zinc, 0.13% lead, 0.15 g/t gold and 28.96 g/t silver.

• three meters of 0.75% copper, 1.4% zinc, 0.35% lead, 0.08 g/t gold and 21.02 g/t silver.

• 7.88 meters of 2.23% copper, 5.62% zinc, 1.1% lead, 0.18 g/t gold and 46.95 g/t silver.

Further details of the 2019 drilling at Sunshine can be found at More Sunshine in the Ambler District published in the Nov. 22, 2019 edition of North of 60 Mining News.

The 2021 UKMP exploration drilling is also expected to test other targets and will be preceded by detailed geologic mapping, geochemical soil sampling, and ground geophysics.

Drilling is expected to begin mid-July and finish before the end of September.

"The proposed budget is expected to have a twofold positive impact for the company in that we will continue to de-risk the Arctic project and we will also move forward in unlocking the mineral potential within the 100-kilometer-long VMS mineral belt, as well as around the Bornite copper-cobalt deposit," said Trilogy Metals President and CEO Tony Giardini.

Situated about 16 miles southwest of Arctic, Bornite is a world-class copper-cobalt deposit that is expected to be the second mine project in the pipeline for Ambler Metals.

Ambler Metals team

A permanent, Alaska-based management team for Ambler Metals has also been hired.

Ambler Metals was formed in February as a 50-50 joint venture between Vancouver, British Columbia-based Trilogy Metals and Australia-based South32.

South32 contributed US$145 million to fund the advancement of the Arctic and Bornite mine projects, as well as exploration in the Ambler Mining District, and Trilogy provided the 426,690-acre Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects to the new JV.

The permanent Ambler Metals management team includes Ramzi Fawaz, who serves as president and CEO; Kevin Torpy as vice president of operations; and Rebecca Donald, vice president of finance.

In addition, the Trilogy technical team has transitioned over to Ambler Metals.

Ambler Metals LLC

As president and CEO, Ramzi Fawaz is heading up the Ambler Metals' Alaska-based management and technical team.

"I am extremely excited that the Ambler Metals joint venture has attracted experienced talent to advance the world class Arctic project to the next level," said Giardini.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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