New head: Select Resources ready to deal

The new president of Alaska-focused exploration company Select Resources is ready to talk to any potential customer or joint venture partner if there is an opportunity to develop the business. That's the message from Henry "Rick" Sandri, who was promoted from executive vice president in December after Harry Noyes resigned his officer and director positions for family reasons. Select Resources is a mining subsidiary of Bakersfield, Calif.-based Tri-Valley, an oil and gas developer.

"Every asset we have is for sale, lease, trade, expansion or development," Sandri told Mining News. These assets include copper-gold and gold properties in the Fairbanks area, a gold property in Yukon, the recently acquired Admiral Calder calcium carbonate mine on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska and a 50-percent interest in the Monarch calcium carbonate mine in eastern Kern County, California.

Select purchased the Admiral Calder mine from Sealaska in July last year. The mine is not currently in operation. "Sealaska is not a mining company and they didn't recognize the type of commitment it would take, the time to develop markets," Sandri said. "It takes multiple years of slow market penetration." The calcium carbonate on the property is a rare ultra-light grade that could possibly be used in the paint, paper and plastics industries as a whitening product, according to Sandri. The company has to send out samples of the commodity so that they can be tested for use in different product lines. "I hate to say it, but it will be a slow process," Sandri said.

Exploration this summer

On the other hand, if Select finds sufficient gold or copper on its properties, there will be no problem finding customers. There are two anomalies - a gold anomaly and a copper-gold anomaly - to explore on the Shorty Creek prospect this summer. High gold anomalous values have also been detected on the company's Richardson property. "We think it's one of the largest under-explored pieces of ground in central Alaska today," Sandri said. "It's a very interesting target. There are outcroppings and inferred intrusive ore bodies." Tri-Valley's Democrat mine was located in this area some years ago.

"We plan to stake a long-term relationship in Alaska," Sandri said. Noyes, the former president, had worked for Alaska Native corporation Doyon for 14 years. The company's senior geologist, David Oliver, who joined Select last October, was based in Alaska for 12 years with American Copper and Nickel, then joined Sealaska in 1999.

Tri-Valley's president and CEO, Lynn Blystone, has been involved in Alaska's mining and oil industries for more than 20 years, Sandri said.