Explorers tread carefully near precious Pebble

Explorers from Canada, Washington, Arizona - and Alaska too - have staked claims in the vicinity of the massive Pebble gold-copper deposit. These juniors hope to emulate the success of Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty and take a project to the development stage. As some of their representatives told a mining and sustainable resources conference in Newhalen, Southwest Alaska, in April, the explorers are seeking harmonious relations with the local community as well as valuable minerals.

Full Metal Minerals, another Vancouver company, acquired the 140-square-mile Pebble South claim block in January 2004. Last summer the company collected 1,471 samples (944 soil, 316 stream and 211 rock) and completed 50 line-kilometers of 2D-IP (induced polarization) and about 32 line-kilometers of ground magnetics on the property. Full Metal has spent about $700,000 in the local area, according to Rob McLeod, the company's vice president for exploration.

"Last year with our IP geophysics as well as our soil sampling, we identified 11 interesting anomalies," McLeod told the conference. "But until we start drilling some diamond drill holes, we have no idea what could be there or not." Full Metal hired 11 Native shareholders to work on the project. "We had a great team last year," McLeod said. "All the guys worked really hard, we hope to bring a lot of them back this year, if they're available. It just goes to show, with mineral exploration, that young people have an opportunity to start learning some new skills."

This year Full Metal plans to start with more IP geophysics, refining targets before doing about 5,000 feet of diamond drilling, as well as more mapping and prospecting. "It all depends on what the results of the geophysics are, if we get some really sweet anomalies, we could certainly have a larger program," McLeod said. In response to a question from a local resident about the possibility of mining companies' helicopters scaring away bears, McLeod said that Full Metal had just signed an agreement with four village corporations, and as part of the agreement the company had to be out of the area before the start of bear hunting in the fall.

Briscoe and St. George stake Big Chunk

Jim Briscoe from Arizona teamed up with the geologist who discovered the Pebble deposit, Phil St. George, to stake a 237-square-mile Big Chunk property in utmost secrecy the week before Christmas 2003. Briscoe was following a hunch that Northern Dynasty's claims were just one-quarter of a caldera - the result of a massive volcanic eruption about 90 million years ago - and he wanted the other three-quarters. It reminded him of the Silverbell porphyry system in Arizona. "When I saw the pattern of alteration published by Northern Dynasty it was so close to Silverbell, it took me less than a minute to say there's got to be a caldera there," Briscoe told Mining News.

Only five people knew about Briscoe's plans prior to the mobilization of the staking crew, he said. Curt Freeman of Fairbanks-based Avalon Development pulled strings to get a helicopter carrying Briscoe and the crew out to the site when most people were preparing for the holiday season, and the claim posts were brought out separately in a cargo plane. "I was so paranoid because I thought if Northern Dynasty got a whiff of it, it would all be gone in a puff of smoke," Briscoe said.

The adventure turned out to be the largest single-phase staking project the state of Alaska had ever dealt with. It taxed the computer system, so they had to do much of it by hand, according to Briscoe. Having staked the claims and convinced investors to put in just over $1 million, Briscoe formed Liberty Star Gold on February 1, 2004. Briscoe is president of the company and St. George is vice president for exploration.

Liberty Star did aeromagnetic survey in '04

Liberty Star began conducting an aeromagnetic survey of the Big Chunk area last year. The company's employees also used hand-held computers with GPS to record information on the site, and completed 40.2 kilometers of IP in one month. This summer Liberty Star will do four months of IP and hopes to cover the entire projection of the caldera, starting as soon as the ground has thawed. "We're very enthusiastic about this and have high hopes for mineral discovery," Briscoe told the conference.

The company's budget for 2005 is $4.7 million, and it hopes to accomplish 26,000 feet of drilling this season, comprising 50-70 drill holes. Liberty Star will also initiate environmental studies. "I have to emphasize that we haven't discovered anything yet," Briscoe said. "But this is, to me, the most exciting area and project that I've seen in 40 years of exploration."

Liberty Star will hire and train locally wherever possible, Briscoe said. The company hopes to facilitate long-term educational opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship in the area. Briscoe would like to establish cooperative programs between the community, the University of Alaska and the University of Arizona.

Anyone who applies for a job with Liberty Star will take the Predictive Index personality test, which Briscoe's wife Mardee administers for a living.

The test consists of two long identical lists of adjectives such as "polite", "tolerant", "obedient", "attractive", "hard-working" and "sensitive".

One page asks applicants to select the traits that apply to them, and the other page asks them to select the traits that they think people expect of them.

The result is a detailed analysis of a person's likely work style: whether they prefer routine tasks or constant challenges, how they deal with customers and colleagues, and whether they like to follow instructions or take the initiative.

"There's nothing intrinsically bad or good about the way people do things, it's just that people operate differently," Briscoe said. "By using this tool, we are able to match the person to the job that needs to be done in a very scientific and quantitative way. ... It boils down to making for happy employees and productive employees."

Alaska Earth Sciences assisting clients

Alaska Earth Sciences is an Anchorage-based consultancy, established in 1985, that has been assisting several clients in the Pebble area, including Full Metal Minerals. "We've been champions of this region of Alaska for a long time and we're delighted to see these kinds of activities here," Rob Retherford, president of AES, told the conference. Throughout its existence, AES has partnered with Native corporations, Retherford said. "We've worked with almost all the regions at one time or another in helping them determine where their resources may be and helping them market those resources."

In the 2005 field season AES will be doing four weeks of geophysics, two weeks of rock and sediment sampling, and two weeks of geologic mapping and drilling in the Pebble area. One of AES's clients is real estate developer Greg Ellis from Mill Creek, Wash., who has staked 166 square miles of claims near the Pebble deposit. "Greg is definitely outside of the box," Retherford said. "He saw the excitement and fervor generated by Northern Dynasty and it spurred him on to say, perhaps there's a way that I could participate, and besides that I'd really like to do this with the community."

Ellis runs three non-profit organizations: Humanity First Worldwide, Native Ecotours and Energy for Humanity. "The goal is to build sustainable communities around the world," he told Mining News in a telephone interview. This is Ellis's first foray into the mining industry. He comes to Alaska every summer for fishing, and became interested in the Pebble deposit when he met two Native women from the village of Iliamna on the plane to Anchorage, who asked him to help their community.

"I want to help them add a water system and a sewage treatment system," Ellis said. "I want to build a sustainable community, a green community, more the way it was in the past but with new technologies. ... My plan is to give the bulk of my share of the revenue to do humanitarian projects."

Ellis's other projects include a salmon enhancement program in Seattle, a documentary film about how people in the developed world can make a difference, and a plan to build sustainable communities in India.

"I'm obviously an idealist," he said.

"The reason money is important to me is so I can help people.

I've made a lot of money.

...

I had this vision not quite two years ago and I've just taken off.

I want to empower people to bring their visions and goals about." If Ellis finds valuable minerals on his property, he will set aside areas for Native subsistence and develop the land conscientiously, he said.

"I'm not there to make a quick buck and run and let people come up and rip this place apart. Alaska Earth Sciences are wonderful people.

I had a good feeling about them when I met them.

They're also concerned about the environment and people." Even if he finds nothing, Ellis will still remain committed to the people of Iliamna.

"They're part of my family now," he said.

"I'm all about doing whatever I can to help."