WACG drills 12 holes at Round Top project

Western Alaska Copper & Gold Company Sept. 11 reported that it completed 4,232 meters of drilling at Round Top, which is more than double the drilling completed last year at this porphyry copper-silver-molybdenum project in the Illinois Creek Mining District of western Alaska.

With the goal of expanding known mineralization at Round Top, the 2018 program focused on: further testing of the mainstage porphyry mineralization discovered in RT-19, a 2017 hole that cut 166 meters averaging 0.51 percent copper-equivalent; expanding the East Lobe secondary chalcocite enrichment mineralization discovered in RT-11, a 2016 hole that cut 61.6 meters of 0.50 percent copper-equivalent, and in RT-18, a 2017 hole that cut 64.7 meters of 0.65 percent copper-equivalent; and carry out inaugural drilling at the potentially high-grade zinc-lead-silver carbonate replacement mineralization at TG North.

Serving as project geologist for the Anaconda Minerals exploration team that first discovered copper mineralization at Round Top in the 1980s, Western Alaska Copper & Gold President Kit Marrs is very familiar with all these targets being investigated.

This early work made a number of discoveries across the district that includes a nearly mile-wide intrusive complex at Round Top; TG and TG North, high-grade brecciated silver-gold-lead-zinc vein prospects less than a mile northwest of Round Top; Honker, a high-grade gold prospect on a separate group of claims about 13 miles west of the Round Top porphyry; and the Illinois Creek copper-silver deposit, situated about six miles south of Honker.

While the Illinois Creek property was eventually developed into a mine that produced roughly 130,000 ounces of gold and 500,000 oz of silver from 1997 until 2003, the other prospects Anaconda discovered before closing its doors in 1985 went largely unnoticed.

This lack of notice worked out well for Kit and Joan Marrs, who were able to nab full and unencumbered ownership of the mineral rights to Round Top, TG and Honker by simply staking state of Alaska mining claims over the prospects in 2008.

Western Alaska Copper & Gold also has the advantage of using the camp and 4,400-foot airstrip built to support the historical Illinois Creek Mine. The company said this established infrastructure, along with winter access facilitated by a 28-mile winter trail to the Yukon River, is helping to support low-cost exploration and maximize drill production.

This year, the privately held company was able to complete 12 holes with two drill rigs.

Drill hole RT-22, which was started in 2017 and re-entered this year, cut 22.9 meters averaging 0.45 percent copper-equivalent, including a 7.8-meter higher grade zone grading 0.89 percent copper-equivalent.

Western Alaska Copper & Gold said further drill results will be announced when all assays are received and analyzed.

–SHANE LASLEY