The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
AngloGold (U.S.A.) Exploration filed exploration permits with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in late May, requesting permission to drill up to 60 core holes this summer on two different properties near the Pogo gold project in Interior Alaska.
The company plans to drill up to 30 holes on the ER project, just west of Pogo, in the upper Goodpaster River drainage. Vancouver, British Columbia-based Rimfire Minerals initially staked some of that property and has optioned its holdings to AngloGold.
The two companies staked additional ground in the area in recent months, increasing the land package to a 16.5-square mile claim block, according to Rimfire.
Helicopter-supported diamond core drilling is tentatively scheduled to start at ER between June 15 and July 1, according to AngloGold's exploration permit application. The actual number of drill holes depends on the initial results, according to a letter submitted to the department by AngloGold's North America Exploration Manager Jeff Pontius. Maximum depth of the core holes will be 2,000 feet.
The Eagle property, several miles southwest of Pogo between the Goodpaster River flats and the Shaw Creek flats, will also be drilled this year. Recent claim staking by the two companies also increased the size of the Eagle block, to 24.6 square miles.
AngloGold submitted an exploration application with the state, requesting permission to drill up to 30 core holes on Eagle this summer. Again, the work will be conducted by helicopter. Maximum depth of the holes will be 2,000 feet.
AngloGold plans to spend $2 million on exploration in Alaska this year, Pontius told Mining News in early April. The amount of drilling will increase from the seven holes punched in the ER property in 2003.
The company has expanded its presence in the Pogo area through claim staking. Including lands staked with partners and by itself, AngloGold's total acreage is 61,000 hectares, Pontius said. That translates to 150,731 acres, or 235 square miles.
Total claims staked in the Pogo area are more than 500 square miles, or 322,920 acres, according to records kept by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Of those claims, about 200,000 acres of land - 312.5 square miles - have been staked since late 2002, throughout 2003 and in the first months of 2004.
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