Mining news update from Curt Freeman: Alaska mineral industry cooks this summer

In case you have not heard, Alaska's mineral industry is cooking! Over the last month two new companies have acquired mineral properties in Alaska and most of the existing projects kicked off their summer programs in earnest.

One of Alaska's major mining projects received its final permits to allow mine construction to begin and several others are conducting preliminary and final feasibility studies.

Drilling rigs are scarce as hen's teeth and the helicopters to lift them and the people who run them are booked from now until Christmas (and beyond).

One of the good things that the recent resurgence of the mining industry has brought Alaska is an influx of new geological talent, much of it young and well trained.

Several of these new and talented people will be the next generation of Alaskan mineral experts.

They are being seasoned in field camps all over the state by the current mining cognoscenti, a process that is repeated as each generation of new talent applies itself in Alaska.

Western Alaska

Alaska newcomer Tonogold Resources Inc. has signed an agreement with Calista Corp. on the Nyac gold project in southwestern Alaska. Terms of the agreement, covering approximately 57.600 acres of land, were not released. Historical production in the Nyac District totals more than 500,000 ounces of gold, virtually all of it from placer mining operations. Tonogold said it intends to conduct surface geochemical sampling and mapping starting in June in preparation for drilling in the 2006 season. Welcome to Alaska Tonogold!

NovaGold Resources said 2005 exploration and development work has commenced at the Rock Creek, Big Hurrah and Saddle properties in the Nome District.

Drilling has begun at both Rock Creek and Big Hurrah.

The Saddle target, located approximately 1 mile south of Rock Creek, will be drilled later this summer.

Current plans call for more than 10,000 meters of total drilling including both reverse circulation and core at the three project areas.

Drilling objectives include in-fill resource definition, geotechnical studies, condemnation and exploration to expand known resources.

A major compilation and analysis of the company's extensive historical database has been initiated to further access additional exploration opportunities in and adjacent to NovaGold's large land holdings in the district.

NovaGold Resources said its Donlin Creek project JV partner Placer Dome continues in-fill drilling with three drill rigs. The 20,000 meter 2005 program consists of in-fill drilling in the Acma deposit which is nearing completion with assay results pending. In-fill drilling in the Lewis deposit and other resource areas will continue through July.

St Andrew Goldfields Ltd. announced additional results from its Nixon Fork gold project near McGrath.

Underground drilling results from part of the 4,973 meters of underground drilling completed so far in 2005 included intervals ranging from 0.9 meters grading 9.6 grams gold per tonne to 1.3 meters grading 78 grams gold per tonne.

Drilling has confirmed that the J5A target now extends from the 380 to the 200 meter level of the mine while the 2204 target extends from the 390 to the 240 meter level.

Updated resources for the project were also released and include total measured resources of 23,400 tonnes grading 36.8 grams gold per tonne (27,700 ounces), indicated resources of 68,000 tonnes grading 33.2 grams gold per tonne (72,600 ounces) and inferred resources of 35,000 tonnes grading 27.7 grams gold per tonne (31,200 ounces).

The company said permitting and engineering work continue with anticipated start-up of operation in late 2005 or early 2006.

Liberty Star Gold Corp. said field work has begun on its Big Chunk project near Iliamna. Field efforts will concentrate initially on the White Sox area discovered in 2004 and will expand to other parts of the property as the season continues. Work includes geochemical sampling and an estimated 150 line-kilometers of induced polarization ground geophysics. Diamond drilling began late in June, results are pending.

Full Metal Minerals Ltd. announced that exploration work has begun on the Pebble South property and on the multiple copper-gold porphyry and epithermal gold-silver targets in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula.

At Pebble South, induced polarization ground geophysics and soil sampling will be conducted over the Boo and TYP prospects.

At Boo, two 1.2 kilometer long zones of high chargeability coupled with moderate to low resistivity were identified beneath up to 100 meters of glacial cover.

The prospect lies along the extension of Northern Dynasty's southwest-trending IP anomalies (which includes the Pebble deposit).

At the TYP prospect 13 kilometers north of Boo, a 0.6 kilometer long zone of moderately-high chargeability was identified in 2004 along with anomalous gold, copper and molybdenum in soils.

Work performed during 2005 will refine these targets for drill testing.

Eastern Interior

Silverado Gold Mines said preliminary feasibility work is under way on three mineralized prospects on its Ester Dome gold project in the Fairbanks district. Evaluations are being conducted on the Ethyl Elmes, Grant (O'Dea) and St. Paul prospects where previous work was conducted by the company in previous years.

Alaska Range

Canaco Resources Inc. said exploration has begun at its Hajdukovich gold prospect in the northern Alaska Range.

The 2005 exploration program will consist of reconnaissance geological and geochemical evaluations followed by diamond drilling that will include nine drill holes totaling approximately 1,500 meters.

The principal target, the Sneaker zone, is defined by several occurrences of visible gold in sheeted, northeast-trending, low-sulfide gold-bismuth quartz veins over a minimum 600-metre-by-900-metre area within a five kilometer long alteration trend.

The company also announced that it had staked an additional 40 contiguous claims covering a combined area of 20.5 square kilometers (5,080 acres) adjacent to the original Hajdukovich project.

The newly acquired claims cover two documented gold showings which will be investigated during the summer.

The new claims bring the total area of the Hajdukovich property to 44 square kilometers (10,880 acres).

Alaska newcomer bcMetals Corp. has acquired an option to earn 100 percent of the Johnson project in the central Alaska Range. Terms of the agreement require bcMetals to acquire 1.333,333 shares of Alaska Range Minerals, a private company that controls the project, pay $825,000 over five years to the claim holder ($75,000 within the first year), incur $13.5 million in expenditures by mid-2010 ($500,000 in the first year) or complete a feasibility study, and issue 4 million Alaska Range Minerals shares prior to commercial production (1 million shares in the first year).

The Johnson project consists of 5,680 acres of state mining claims adjacent to the Richardson Highway.

Known mineralization includes copper-nickel-platinum group element mineralization, copper mineralization and gold-silver-lead-zinc mineralization.

At the Verona Pick prospect massive sulfides have been discovered with values ranging up to 21.8 percent zinc, 5.62 percent lead, 32.3 grams per tonne silver and 4.97 grams per tonne gold.

At the Woody prospect massive sulfide samples have returned up to 5.7 percent copper, 7.01 percent zinc, 1.3 percent lead, 96.9 grams per tonne silver and 5.58 grams per tonne gold.

Mineralized float in glacial moraine in the intervening approximately 1,000 meter between Woody and Verona Pick is reported, suggesting possible continuity.

Copper, nickel and platinum group element mineralization occurs in outcrops at the Emerick and Forbes prospects.

These two prospects, approximately 1,500 meters apart on a northwest strike, have returned values up to 6.3 percent nickel, 2.2 percent copper, 0.22 percent cobalt, 1.17 grams per tonne platinum, 2.28 grams per tonne palladium (Emerick) and up to 5.4 percent nickel, 4.13 percent copper, 0.11 percent cobalt, 1.1 grams per tonne platinum, 1.0 grams per tonne palladium (Forbes). Copper mineralization at the Red Knob and Plateau prospects consists of vein structures carrying high grade copper mineralization (to 11.9 percent) which cut andesite containing pyrite and minor chalcopyrite.

At the BLM prospect, discovered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management during their recent Delta River Mining District study, one high copper value in a selected grab sample returned 17.5 percent copper. Geologic mapping and geochemical sampling are on-going with drilling slated to begin in early July. Welcome to Alaska bcMetals Corp.!

Northern Alaska

NovaGold Resources is mobilizing crews to the Ambler and Khotol projects in northwestern Alaska.

Current plans are to drill more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) between the projects.

At Ambler, up to 3,000 meters of core drilling will be directed at expansion of existing massive sulfide resources.

The objective of this program will be to develop an integrated geologic model including grade distribution and zonation, mineralogy, alteration, specific gravity, metallurgy and rock characterization.

Based on the updated model, a new resource estimate is planned which will form the basis of an initial scoping level economic study of the project scheduled for 2006.

At the Khotol project, initial exploration has targeted a series of coincident multi-kilometer scale geophysical and soil geochemical anomalies in areas with only limited historic exploration work.

The target is massive to disseminated precious metal rich poly-metallic replacement mineralization.

Silverado Gold Mines announced that drilling within a section of upper Nolan Creek, near its confluence with Fay Creek, has revealed a significant concentration of placer gold.

The concentration of gold is associated with alluvial outwash where Fay Creek enters Nolan Creek.

The company has recovered 1,320 ounces of placer gold from past mining along Fay Creek.

Past drilling of this area indicated the presence of a drill indicated mineral resource of 2,081 ounces of placer gold.

Cost analysis studies are underway to determine the feasibility of open cut excavation of the deposit during the winter months while the ground is frozen followed by stockpiling the gravel for processing during the summer months.

Southeastern Alaska

Coeur d'Alene Mines announced that it had received all of the remaining federal mine permits that it requires to build and operate its Kensington gold mine project near Juneau. Receipt of these permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency clears the way for start-up of project construction. The company indicated that initial construction activities would begin in July. Congratulations Coeur d'Alene Mines!

Joint venture partners Pacific North West Capital, Freegold Ventures and Lonmin Plc. announced approval and start-up of a $1.1 million drilling program on their Union Bay platinum group element project north of Ketchikan. The 10,000 foot drilling program is targeting geochemical and airborne magnetic and electromagnetic targets defined in the 2004 field program. Results are pending.