North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

While its Niblack copper-gold-silver-zinc project continues to be a mainstay for Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd., several newcomers to its holdings throughout the year have greatly expanded the potential of this Alaska miner.

Located at the end of the Alaskan Panhandle, on Prince of Wales Island, the historic Niblack Mine is found over 1,000 meters north of the current NI-43-101 mineral resources in the Lookout and Trio zones of the property.

Copper production occurred at the old Niblack mine between the years 1902 and 1908, supplying roughly 20,000 tons with average grades of 4.9% copper, 2.2 grams per metric ton gold, and 30 g/t silver.

Modern exploration has shown this mine was tapping into a much larger volcanogenic massive sulfide belt that ribbons its way across the property

According to a 2011 calculation, the Trio and Lookout deposits along this VMS horizon host 5.64 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.95% (118.1 million pounds) copper, 1.74 grams per metric ton (317,220 ounces) gold, 29.5 g/t (5.35 million oz) silver, and 1.73% (215 million lb) zinc; plus 3.39 million metric tons of inferred resource at 0.81% (60.7 million lb) copper, 1.33 g/t (144,710 oz) gold, 20.1 g/t (2.19 million oz) silver and 1.29% (96.3 million lb) zinc.

While awaiting permits for a multi-phased exploration program that included resource upgrade and expansion drilling at Niblack, Blackwolf continued to expand its land holdings on the Alaskan side of the Golden Triangle, near Hyder, Alaska.

After picking up the Cantoo, Casey and Texas Creek projects in 2021, Blackwolf expanded its portfolio with the inclusion of the Mineral Hill and Rooster properties.

As the fourth claim group the company acquired on the Alaskan side of the Golden Triangle, Mineral Hill was reported as hosting multiple gold, silver, and polymetallic prospects that had only been historically explored by trenching and underground drifting.

Like its other properties in the area, this recent addition is located near the towns of Stewart, British Columbia, and Hyder, Alaska.

Even with significant exploration activity in Canada, virtually no modern exploration had been performed in the Cantoo-Mineral Hill area on the Alaska side of the Golden Triangle since the 1930s. Further still, bridge washouts in the early 1960s limited road access to the properties, adding to the difficulty of exploring this region for many decades.

"With the staking of Mineral Hill, Blackwolf now has a five-kilometer-long (3.1 miles) trend of high-grade gold-silver prospects located adjacent to a mine currently in development, that have never been drilled or explored with modern methods and deposit models," said Blackwolf Copper and Gold President and CEO Rob McLeod.

Less than two months later, Blackwolf announced the addition of Rooster.

Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd.

With the 2022 additions of Mineral Hill and Rooster, Blackwolf now holds five properties near the Alaska-Canada border close to Hyder, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia.

"The Rooster property, our first in BC, is located immediately north of our Solo prospect on the Texas Creek property in Alaska, where miners in the 1930's tunneled through glacial ice looking for the source of 'Brucejack Style' gold-silver veins," said McLeod during the announcement.

Covering more than 11,590 acres (4,690 hectares), Rooster lies immediately across the U.S.-Canada border from Texas Creek.

Named after legendary local Rooster Olsen, who had passed shortly before claiming the property, Rooster became the fifth claim group in the Golden Triangle area and is reported as continguous with the high-grade Texas Creek property.

With both of these highly prospective claims, covering any potential gaps in the previous properties' possible mineralization, Blackwolf has positioned itself to practically guarantee paydirt in Southeast Alaska.

Finally, with permitting granting surface exploration at Niblack and exploration drilling at Cantoo, the company rounded off the year with a clean end to its sizable growth.