The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Mining Explorers 2023 - January 18, 2024
This new 24-man camp served as the headquarters for the drilling, geophysics, and other work carried out during the 2023 exploration program at Sun.
Click on image for larger map of 2023 step-out and historical holes drilled at Sun.
With its sights set on establishing a large volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit with the potential to outshine its contemporaries in Alaska's Ambler Mining District, Valhalla Metals Inc. launched its inaugural drill program at the Sun copper-zinc-silver-gold project in 2023.
After working behind the scenes to secure Sun and Smucker – VMS projects at opposite ends of the highly mineralized Ambler District in Northwest Alaska – Valhalla raised C$10.2 million (US$7.5 million) and listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2022.
Valhalla's initial focus is on Sun, a previously explored VMS deposit that hosts 10.7 million metric tons of resources averaging roughly 11% zinc-equivalent, which includes the value of all the metals in both resource categories
In addition to an already sizeable and high-grade deposit, Sun enjoys the advantage of being directly on the route of the proposed 211-mile industrial access road that will connect Ambler Metals' Arctic Mine project to the west to the Dalton Highway to the east.
Valhalla Metals Chairman Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, who founded Trilogy Metals Inc. and brokered the partnership with South32 Ltd. to create the Ambler Metals joint venture, is very familiar with the geology and potential of the Ambler District.
He also believes the geological, geochemical, and especially the geophysical evidence points to a VMS deposit at Sun that could be even larger than the Arctic deposit that he helped elevate to world-class status.
According to a 2018 calculation, Sun hosts 1.71 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 4.32% (163 million pounds) zinc, 1.48% (55.8 million lb) copper, 1.11% (42 million lb) lead, 60 grams per metric ton (3.3 million oz) silver, and 0.21 g/t (12,000 oz) gold; plus 9.02 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.18% (831.3 million lb) zinc, 1.21% (239.6 million lb) copper, 1.46% (290.3 million lb) lead, 81.7 g/t (22.7 million oz) silver, and 0.25 g/t (73,000 oz) gold.
While this is already a major deposit, a versatile time domain electromagnetic survey flown over the property suggests that the near-surface deposit outlined with drilling so far represents only a fraction of a larger VMS system.
The VTEM survey shows a strong conductor that represents a potential link between Sun and SW Sun. It also indicates the potential to extend the deposit below the 200-meter depths included in the resource.
To get a better view of Sun's expansion potential, Valhalla began its 2023 program with a ground-based gravity geophysical survey at the VMS project.
The company also relogged core from six holes drilled at Sun and SW Sun in 2012.
Highlights from these historical holes include:
• 8.55 meters averaging 2.53% copper, 1% zinc, 5.48% lead, 77.8 g/t silver, and 0.21 g/t gold in hole Sun 12-29.
• 14 meters averaging 1.16% copper, 6.41% zinc, 1.5% lead, 75 g/t silver, and 0.12 g/t gold in hole Sun 12-40.
• 30 meters averaging 1.06% copper, 2.03% zinc, 0.69% lead, 43 g/t silver, and 0.34 g/t gold in hole Sun 12-41.
The distance between the northeastern-most hole relogged (Sun 12-41) and the southwestern-most (Sun 12-40) is roughly 1,350 meters.
Valhalla also completed 1,104 meters of new drilling in four holes in 2023 to fill in gaps within inferred areas of the resource and test the continuation of mineralization downdip and along strike.
Highlights include:
• 13.7 meters averaging 1.24% copper, 3.45% zinc, 0.92% lead, 55.8 g/t silver, and 0.16 g/t gold in hole Sun 23-01.
• 13.8 meters averaging 1.89% copper, 3.35% zinc, 1.23% lead, 94.4 g/t silver, and 0.29 g/t gold in hole Sun 23-03.
• 21.4 meters averaging 1.31% copper, 11.03% zinc, 3.23% lead, 108.3 g/t silver, and 0.24 g/t gold in hole Sun 23-04.
"These are four great step-out holes demonstrating that the VMS system continues to depth with mineable grades and thicknesses of copper, zinc and precious metals. All we need to do is keep drilling to expand the known resources," said Valhalla Metals Chairman Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. "If the Biden Administration wants critical metals, we know where to find them!"
The 2023 program also included lidar and orthophotography surveys over the Sun and Smucker properties.
Smucker, which lies about 60 miles northwest of Sun, hosts more than eight million metric tons of historical resource averaging 0.8% copper, 6.8% zinc, 2.3% lead, and 200 g/t silver.
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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