The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
To be included in Felix Gold's growing Fairbanks portfolio North of 60 Mining News – April 16, 2021
The headframe of the historic Grant gold mine in the Ester Dome area northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska.
An illustration of historic drill intercepts in relation to the underground working at the Grant Mine.
Millrock Resources Inc. Feb. 13 announced that it has expanded its Fairbanks Mining District gold properties and its partner Felix Gold Ltd. has added David Larimer to lead the exploration of the growing portfolio in Interior Alaska.
In January, Millrock announced it had vended its Fairbanks area properties to Felix Gold Ltd. and would be working with this newly formed Australian mineral exploration company to expand upon and advance exploration on these Interior Alaska gold projects.
The initial projects vended to Felix were Ester Dome, Treasure Island, and Liberty Bell, about 10 miles northwest, 15 miles north, and 70 miles southwest of Fairbanks, respectively.
Since the initial agreement, Millrock and Felix have been expanding their portfolio in the Fairbanks District.
The latest addition is an expansion of the Ester Dome project through a deal for the former Grant Mine, a high-grade gold property that is reported to have produced around 25,000 ounces of gold.
According to a resource estimate completed in 2008, the Grant Mine property hosts 126,000 oz of gold in 613,600 tons of indicated resource averaging 0.21 oz per ton, or about 6.5 grams per ton gold, and 214,100 oz of gold in 2.55 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.08 oz/t, or about 2.5 g/t gold.
Millrock has entered an option agreement to acquire the Grant Mine property from Roger Burggraf for US$2 million to be paid over a six-year period.
This new property will form part of the larger Ester Dome exploration project, which is subject to the arrangement with Felix, which paid the costs to secure the Grant Mine claims and has the option to elect to assume the option agreement rights at any time over the next year. If the Australian explorer assumes the option rights and proceeds to make the purchase of the Grant Mine, Millrock will vest a 1.5% net smelter return royalty on gold production with an advanced minimum royalty provision.
In addition to expanding their Fairbanks Mining District properties, Felix and Millrock are adding talent to the exploration team focused on making new gold deposit discoveries across this expanding portfolio. Toward this end, Felix Gold has appointed David Larimer as vice president of exploration. In this role, Larimer will lead a team of Millrock geologists and technical staff, as well as coordinate amongst local and global experts to maximize the chances of discovery success.
A graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Larimer previously served as principal geologist in charge of exploration for Teck Resources' Red Dog zinc mine in Northwest Alaska, and chief geologist for the Pogo gold mine in Interior Alaska during the time it was owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining.
Over the course of his career, Larimer has shown a keen knowledge of gold deposit genesis and exploration in Alaska's Tintina Gold Belt.
"We have known of Dave Larimer for many years and watched his career progress. Previously, Dave was very helpful in developing Millrock's understanding of gold mineralization in the Goodpaster Mining District, south of Fairbanks," said Millrock Resources President and CEO Greg Beischer. "We think that Dave Larimer will be able to build an outstanding team of exploration geologists composed of Millrock staff, local Fairbanks experts, Felix Gold personnel, and global experts."
Currently a private company, Felix plans to raise at least US$7 million and list on the Australia Securities Exchange.
Upon Felix Gold's successful listing and Australia Securities Exchange approval, Millrock will vest with roughly a 10% share ownership of the Australia-based explorer, dependent on the final capital raising amount.
Felix, however, has decided to defer a go-public decision while waiting for the gold market to further strengthen. A further capital raise as a private company is planned to fund 2021 summer exploration.
An amendment to the original agreement assures that Millrock will receive the agreed 10% share of the private company Felix Gold in the event that it does not go public.
Royalty provisions of the original agreement – 1.5% net smelter return royalty on Ester Dome, and 2% NSR royalties on Treasure Creek and Liberty Bell in favor of Millrock – remain unchanged.
"As major shareholders of Felix Gold, our company will be very supportive and help unravel the geological puzzle presented for gold mineralization in the Fairbanks District," said Beischer.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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