Australian investments top $100M in Alaska mining
the history of the world-class Ambler Mining District, as well as drilling at the earlier staged Shorty copper proj- ect. Adding to the major investments by South32 and Northern Star, junior explorer Nova Minerals Ltd. is briskly expanding upon a 4.7-million-oz gold resource outlined so far at the Korbel deposit on its Estelle gold property in the state’s Southcentral region in this edition of North of 60 Mining News. Nova’s 2021 drill program is be- ing carried out at the scale needed to expand and upgrade the enormous Korbel resource, while also testing another of the intriguing gold tar- gets across the 125-square-mile (324 square kilometers) Estelle property. “In time, we expect to define mul - tiple new shallow gold resources that will further support our goal of ag- gressively growing the resource in- ventory as we continue to move to- wards gold production at the Estelle gold project,” said Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen. One of the reasons so many Aus- tralian mineral exploration compa- nies are migrating north to Alaska is an enormous amount of unclaimed mineral potential that remains open to mineral entry across The Great Land in this edition of North of 60 Mining News. This is something White Rock Min- erals Ltd. continues to find out at its Red Mountain project. Starting off as a zinc-lead-silver project centered on two historical volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, the company con - tinues to find not only additional VMS prospects but also gold targets across a property that has been expanded to 323 square miles (836 square kilome- ters) as the Aussie junior continues to stake mining claims to cover new prospects identified around its origi - nal Alaska land position. “The dual opportunity to explore an exciting new large orogenic-in- trusion-related gold system and a potentially world-class volcanogen- ic massive sulfide district at a time when all metals are heading into a re- sounding bull market puts White Rock
in a league all by itself,” said Quinton Hennigh, a technical advisor to White Rock Minerals. Alaska’s widely unclaimed min- eral potential has drawn the interest of two Australian minerals explorers – Discovery Africa Ltd. and Ragusa Minerals Ltd. – that picked up pro- spective mining claims open to stak- ing. Discovery Africa entered the Alaska mining scene with the February an - nouncement it had staked Chulitna, a project in Southcentral Alaska that covers gold-copper and tin-silver prospects only about five miles (nine kilometers) away from the paved highway connecting Alaska’s two largest cities. Ragusa, which has directors in common with Discovery Africa, staked up the Monte Cristo gold-copper project next to fellow Aussie explorer Nova Minerals’ Estelle. “The Monte Cristo gold project will target areas near the multi-mil- lion-ounce gold deposits discovered by Nova Minerals Ltd and Gold Min- ing Inc.,” said Ragusa Minerals Chair Jerko Zuvela. Discovery Africa and Ragusa, how- ever, are not the only Australian min- eral exploration companies to nab Alaska mining claims during 2021. Earlier this year, Millrock Resourc- es Inc. announced it had formed a strategic partnership with the newly formed Felix Gold Ltd. to explore a large collection of Alaska gold explo- ration properties, mostly in the Fair - banks Mining District. “The new company, Felix Gold, of which Millrock will become a signifi - cant shareholder, is named after Felix Pedroni, the prospector credited with the initial discovery of gold in Fair - banks in 1902,” Millrock Resourc- es CEO Greg Beischer said of its new Australian partner. Millrock, which has long attract- ed Down Under companies to explore Far North properties, is also partnered with Resolution Minerals Ltd. to ex- plore an enormous land package sur- rounding Northern Star’s Pogo mine in the Goodpaster Mining District.
Northern Star, South32 among major projects BY SHANE LASLEY, NORTH OF 60 MINING NEWS Accounting for at least $100 million invested in mineral exploration and mine development in Alaska during 2021, Australian companies continue to work along the entire breadth of the Last Frontier’s mining industry. Following a year in which COVID-19 protocols and travel restrictions made exploring Alaska challenging, especial- ly for companies headquartered half a world away, this impressive investment in Alaska’s mining sector demonstrates that Down Under interest in the vast and underexplored mineral potential the Far North State has to offer can be expected for a long time. In addition to quality mineral as- sets, Alaska offers Aussie mining companies quality people, something that Northern Star Resources Ltd. commended during its July 22 Inves- tor Day presentation. “I would like to extend a massive thank you and recognize the efforts of our workforce and business partners over in Alaska,” said Luke Creagh, Northern Star Resources’ chief op- erating officer of the Pogo Mine and Yandal operation in Australia. “Like so many others around the world, they worked diligently and responsi- bly through the coronavirus pandemic to continue operations and have set Pogo up for continued success going forward.” This success includes the pouring of nearly 61,000 ounces of gold last quarter. As Northern Star bolsters produc- tion at Pogo, another Australia-based major is investing heavily toward ad- vancing the next generation of Alaska mines. After shelving 2020 Alaska field work due to COVID, South32 is fund- ing one of the biggest programs in
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The Alaska Miner
Summer 2021
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