The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
MRO: TSX.V
President and CEO: Gregory Beischer
Chief Exploration Officer: Philip St. George
Through careful execution of the project generator model, Millrock Resources Inc. has built a portfolio of grassroots mineral prospects in Alaska, New Mexico and Mexico.
In finding joint venture partners to help fund exploration, the project generator model lessens Millrock's need to raise money in tight equity markets, minimizes the risks involved with grassroots exploration and exposes shareholders to a larger amount of exploration expenditure per dollar invested.
In Alaska, the company has eight projects prospective for gold, copper, zinc and associated metals.
Of these, Alaska Peninsula, a 500,000-acre tract highly regarded for its porphyry copper-gold potential, was the primary focus in 2015.
In 2012, Millrock entered into an exploration agreement with Bristol Bay Native Corp. that includes an option to secure a 100 percent leasehold interest for mining on this land package.
In 2014, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. agreed to fund a US$600,000 reconnaissance exploration program in exchange for an exclusive right to enter into an option to joint venture projects on the huge property.
To narrow the search, the partners launched the 2014 season with 1,140 line-kilometers of airborne magnetic and resistivity surveys, followed by a mapping and sampling program.
Results from this initial work intrigued First Quantum enough to take up the option and fund a 2,400-meter drill program to test two of the most promising prospects - Dry Creek, formerly known as Bee Creek, and MDB, short for Mallard Duck Bay.
Dry Creek was initially explored by Bear Creek Mining, which drilled five holes in 1976.
One hole cut 160 meters averaging 0.25 percent copper, 0.011 percent molybdenum, including 20 meters of 0.35 percent copper and 0.018 percent molybdenum, according to a Bear Creek Mining report. Similar results were encountered in two holes drilled in 2006, including one intercept of ll8 meters averaging 0.32 percent copper and 0.21 g/t gold.
Historical work along with sampling completed last year outlines a core zone rich in copper, gold and molybdenum surrounded by a halo of anomalous zinc, lead and manganese.
All told, this zoned mineralization covers roughly 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares).
Situated roughly 20 miles south of Dry Creek and about three miles south of the community of Chignik Lagoon, MDB hosts a large alteration zone that was first recognized by prospectors at the turn of the 20th Century but had never been drilled prior to the 2015 program.
In March, Millrock signed an agreement with a major gold mining company under which the unnamed major will fund research and reconnaissance exploration focused on defined areas in Alaska that the two companies see as having potential for high-grade gold deposits. This collaboration has allowed Millrock to pursue prospects and deposits that are owned by other parties. Projects approved by a technical committee with representatives from both parties will be subject to separate farm-in and joint venture agreements that provide the undisclosed major an option to acquire up to 80 percent of each project.
In July, Millrock announced the acquisition of an extensive, proprietary database of geological information from nearly two decades of exploration that Anglogold-Ashanti and International Tower Hill Mines carried out in the Goodpaster Mining District where the Pogo gold mine is located. This geological database was acquired from Corvus Gold Inc., a spin-out company formed to explore International Tower Hill's non-Livengood assets. Millrock also purchased West Pogo, a gold property located about two miles (three kilometers) west of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.'s Pogo Mine, and the right of first refusal to acquire LMS, another gold project in the area from Corvus.
Millrock's Alaska portfolio also includes: Apex-El Nido, home to two historical high-grade gold mines in Southeast Alaska; Lisburne, a large claim group in Northwest Alaska that is prospective for large-scale zinc-lead-silver deposits similar to Red Dog; Stellar, a copper-gold project situated some eight miles (13 kilometers) north of the Denali Highway; Estelle, a copper-gold project in the Kahiltna Terrane region of Southcentral Alaska that is being explored under a joint venture with Teck Resources; Cristo, a large porphyry copper-gold prospect located a few miles northeast of Estelle; Humble, a Late Cretaceous-aged magmatic complex located 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Dillingham; AUDN, a porphyry copper-gold deposit comparable to the Pebble deposit located about 55 miles to the northeast; and Fortymile, a gold property located near the Alaska-Yukon border.
Cash and Cash Equivalents: C$2.7 (June 30, 2015)
Working Capital: C$2.1 million (June 30, 2015)
Market Capitalization: C$4.8 million (Sept. 22, 2015)
P.O. Box 200867, 719 E 11th Ave. Suite C, Anchorage, AK 99520
Tel: 907-677-7479 Fax: 907-677-3599
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