The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Mining Explorers 2023 - January 18, 2024
Existing roads could lower the need for helicopter-supported drilling in certain areas of the Flat gold project in Alaska.
Continuing to build upon a strong partnership it has built with Doyon Ltd., the Alaska Native regional corporation for Interior Alaska, Tectonic Metals Inc. launched its first drill program at the recently acquired Flat gold project in Southwest Alaska last year.
"Our inaugural 2023 drill program is all about unveiling the tier one potential of the Flat gold project," Tectonic Metals President and CEO Tony Reda said as the company was gearing up for the August start of a 5,000-meter drill program.
Located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the world-class Donlin Gold project, Flat is a 92,160-acre property Tectonic leased from Doyon that covers the likely lode source of two creeks – Flat and Otter – that is estimated to have produced more than 830,000 oz of placer gold since 1908. When you add in other streams draining Chicken Mountain on the property, this total is more than 1.3 million oz of alluvial gold.
Historical exploration carried out from the 1960s until 2003, including roughly 11,000 meters of drilling, has outlined a 3,800-meter-long and up to 600-meter-wide gold-in-soil anomaly formed by intrusion-hosted mineralization that begins at surface and remains open along strike and at depth.
Highlights from the historical drilling include: 24.7 meters averaging 12.56 grams per metric ton gold; 1.4 meters averaging 211 g/t gold; 76 meters averaging 0.98 g/t gold; and 36.6 meters averaging 1.36 g/t gold.
"With 55 historical drill holes all encountering gold mineralization, we're thrilled about the possibilities that lie ahead. Out of these, 25 drill holes ended in mineralization, highlighting the incredible depth potential at Chicken Mountain," said Reda.
The 2023 program included oriented diamond core drilling that provides a better understanding of the structures that carry the gold mineralization at Chicken Mountain and reverse circulation drilling that targeted a portion of a 4,000-meter-long gold-in-soil anomaly at Chicken Mountain, much of which is untested by drilling.
In addition to drilling, the company expanded Flat through staking of state mining claims and an option on two claim blocks that cover three potential intrusions that are along trend on the north side of the project.
"Two of the potential intrusions lie immediately north of and drain into Otter Creek, which has already produced 417,000 ounces of recorded placer gold. Surprisingly, historic data indicates that these areas have seen minimal exploration and no drilling in contrast to the southern portions of the Flat Gold System."
The new properties include two claim blocks – Jam and Caribou – the company acquired under an option with an unnamed third party.
Jam is a 640-acre claim block about one mile north of Flat that covers an exposed monzonite intrusion, volcanic cap rocks and related hornfels, and several historical gold showings.
Caribou, which lies about 10 miles northeast of Jam, is a 2,080-acre block of claims where the geology and geophysics indicate the potential for another intrusion.
"Introducing 'The Flat Gold System' – a network of interconnected geophysical anomalies that indicate six confirmed or potential intrusion related gold systems. Spanning a 20-kilometer trend, these intrusion targets are significant in size and interpreted to be bedrock sources for placer gold, reinforcing our belief that Flat is a tier one opportunity," said Reda.
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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