The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - August 28, 2024
U.S. GoldMining CEO Tim Smith talks with the drill crew testing extensions of a higher-grade core at the Whistler deposit.
Clockwise from top left: Drill rig at Raintree West deposit; processing of drill core in the Whistler Core Shack; Whistler site management and U.S. GoldMining Sustainability Committee; exploration geologists collect samples from outcrop of porphyry alteration in Whistler Orbit.
Toward its ultimate goal of unlocking the value of Whistler, U.S. GoldMining Inc.'s 2024 program at this large gold-copper project about 100 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, has three components – resource upgrade and expansion, environmental baseline studies, and stakeholder engagement.
"Tracking in parallel with our technical programs at Whistler, we have progressed activities to ensure all stakeholders, including policy makers, regulators and the community are informed of our ongoing progress and potential future mine development activities," said U.S. GoldMining CEO Tim Smith. "As such, we are committed to transparent and open stakeholder engagement as an important foundation to earning social license for the Whistler project."
This commitment to establishing Whistler as a technically and sustainably sound future source of gold and copper was underscored by the U.S. GoldMining board's sustainability committee visit to Whistler earlier this month.
During its tour of Whistler, the U.S. GoldMining sustainability committee was able to get a firsthand look at the technical, environmental, and stakeholder engagement initiatives being carried out at the Southcentral Alaska gold-copper project in Southcentral Alaska.
On the technical front, crews have completed more than 2,500 meters of resource expansion and upgrade drilling at Whistler this year.
According to a 2021 calculation, three deposits at Whistler – Whistler, Raintree, and Island Mountain – host 6.6 million ounces of gold, 1.13 billion pounds of copper, and 24.4 million oz of silver in all resource categories.
U.S. GoldMining is currently focused on the Whistler Orbit, a roughly 5-mile-diameter (7.6 kilometers) area surrounding Whistler and Raintree that hosts more than a dozen earlier staged porphyry copper-gold targets.
The company views Island Mountain, which lies about 12 miles south of the Whistler Orbit, as a compelling secondary deposit that would add value after a mine is established.
Whistler, the largest and most advanced deposit, hosts 107.8 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.5 g/t (1.75 million oz) gold, 0.17% (399.4 million lb) copper, and 1.95 g/t (6.8 million oz) silver; plus 153 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.35 g/t (2.83 million oz) gold, 0.13% (455.3 million lb) copper, and 1.48 g/t (7.3 million oz silver.
One of the primary focuses of this year's drill program is to confirm a higher-grade core and further delineate mineralization within the Whistler deposit.
The upgrade and expansion potential of Whistler was underscored by WH23-03, a hole drilled at the end of 2023 that cut 547.2 meters averaging 0.17% copper, 0.77 g/t gold, and 1.55 g/t silver from a depth of 53 meters.
This was the longest copper-gold-silver intercept ever drilled at Whistler, and the hole was still in mineralization when drilling was stopped at a depth of 600.15 meters last fall due to a freeze-up of the water supply for the rig.
This year, drill crews were able to re-enter and extend the hole by 274.35 meters to a depth of 874.5 meters. Assays are pending from this extension, and other drilling has been completed so far this year.
In addition to this extension, U.S. GoldMining has completed one hole at each the Whistler and Raintree deposits.
Raintree hosts 7.76 million metric tons of open-pit mineable indicated resource averaging 0.49 g/t (121,000 oz) gold, 0.09% (14.9 million lb) copper, and 4.88 g/t (1.2 million oz) silver; plus 11.77 million metric tons of open-pit mineable inferred resource averaging 0.62 g/t (235,000 oz) gold, 0.07% (18 million lb) copper, and 4.58 g/t (1.7 million oz) silver.
Raintree also hosts higher-grade underground mineable resources.
The 2024 technical program also includes surface exploration of some of the earlier staged porphyry gold-copper targets that have been identified within the Whistler Orbit.
"As we advance our second exploration season at the Whistler project, with our technical work programs underpinned by a strong set of standards around sustainability and care for the environment, I want to acknowledge our professional and hard-working field teams that are executing on the 2024 program and delivering on budget, ahead of schedule and, most importantly, safely," said Smith.
The safe execution of its 2024 program reflects one of the top priorities of U.S. GoldMining's commitment to strong ESG (environmental, social, and governance) standards.
Clockwise from top left: Drill rig at Raintree West deposit; processing of drill core in the Whistler Core Shack; Whistler site management and U.S. GoldMining Sustainability Committee; exploration geologists collect samples from outcrop of porphyry alteration in Whistler Orbit.
"We have developed a comprehensive environmental management plan and safety management system which has resulted in no known instances of environmental non-compliance and no lost time incidents so far in the 2024 field season," U.S. GoldMining penned in an update on its progress at Whistler.
On the environmental front, technicians have been collecting baseline water quality samples and have completed an eagle habitat survey so far this year. Wetland mapping and archaeological surveys are planned for the second half of the 2024 field season.
When it comes to the social aspect of ESG, U.S. GoldMining management has conducted significant stakeholder engagement activities, including meeting with local policymakers, community organizations, Native groups and community members. This outreach includes sharing the economic benefits of a future mine at the Whistler copper-gold project during public meetings and in one-on-one meetings with various Alaska stakeholders, including:
• Alaska Native groups like Cook Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI) and the Tyonek and Knik tribes.
• Various business leaders at the Mat-Su Regional Spring Economic Summit held in Wasilla.
• Friends of West Susitna open house events at Skwentna and Willow.
• Smith presented to the House Resource Committee at the Alaska State Capitol, and has met with several state senators and representatives.
The company has also supported several community events, such as Iron Dog, Skwentna 200, and Skwentna Fly In.
"We are proud to be able to invest back into the Alaska community through contracting and hiring locally, and via sponsorship of various recreational events in the region in which we operate," said Smith. "We look forward to further building our relationships with communities, organizations and the public at large as we advance the Whistler project."
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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