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o c t o b e r / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4 www.resourceworld.com 11 A s well, a number of grassroots exploration projects have field pro- grams this summer and are taking the opportunity to complete comprehensive soil sampling, chip sampling and survey pro- grams in order to maximize the efficiency of smaller drill programs that may have to wait until next year's exploration season. There is no sense of urgency with markets being what they are, rather companies are taking the time to review data and develop models in order to identify the most promising drill targets and make every metre drilled count. The development of these projects into production would have a significant economic impact in Yukon which has an estimated population of 36,883 and a workforce of just 20,600. The number of advanced and greenfield projects active in the Yukon today, despite the challenges of the markets and the remoteness, speak to the tenacity of the miners, the quality of their projects and the mineral wealth of the Yukon. In an effort to make that mineral wealth a bit more economically accessible, in May of 2014, the Yukon Government announced that a new deputy minister position had been created in the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources. Greg Komaromi has been appointed to lead the Yukon Development Corporation's work on hydroelectric power in the territory. In another positive development, towards the same end, the governments of Yukon and Alaska awarded a consortium of four consulting companies, led by Morrison Hershfield Ltd. of Whitehorse, a contract to assess the feasibility of developing elec- trical and telecommunication connections between Yukon and southeast Alaska. "Through this international collabora- tion, our intent is to increase and improve economic development opportunities," Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources' Scott Kent said. "Our mutual vision is to strengthen our communities through improved telecommunications infrastruc- ture and reliable and affordable energy." The consultants' final report will be pre- sented to the Yukon-Southeast Alaska Economic Development Corridor working group by December 31. The 2014 Yukon Media Tour was an interesting mix, providing the opportu- nity to visit both advanced and greenfield projects. It is promising to hear exploration geologists speaking enthusiastically about the 2015 field season and to hear from those at the mine planning stage. The tour visited the following properties for updates on their exploration and development programs. Chihong Canada Mining's [Private] Selwyn Project is a zinc project with a big mineral zone; the 35 long km property hosts 20 km of continuous mineralization. The project, near the Northwest Territories' border, is located in the Howard's Pass zinc-lead district and is deemed to be one of the largest undevel- oped zinc-lead deposits in the world. In June, 2013, Chihong acquired the remain- ing 50% of the Selwyn Project from joint venture partner, Selwyn Resources. Chihong Canada Mining is a company with the means to bring the project into production. A $38 million drill program is underway with five drills turning and two drills on standby. More than half of the 50,000-metre, infill drill program has been completed with 250 holes drilled so far. The company envisions an opera- tion that will produce 2,500 tpd zinc concentrate and 600 tpd lead concentrate for an initial mine life of 10 years. The project, with eight identified pits, will sig- nificantly increase the Yukon's GDP said J.J. O'Donnell, VP Exploration. A PEA for three of the pits will be completed this year and a PFS is expected to be completed by May 2015. By then all eight pits are expected to be drilled off. Construction is planned for 2018 with production expected to begin in 2020. O'Donnell said the $2.2 billion build, though huge, will not be a challenge for parent company Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd. Currently, the company is building a road and bridges to transport concentrate and large supplies. Chihong has retained Ausenco to expand northern British Columbia's Port of Stewart's facilities to handle shipments from Selwyn. A plant site has been chosen and SRK has been contracted to design the mine and do the geotechnical work. Though the company is private, O'Donnell said they are doing everything to NI 43-101 standards. Banyan Gold Corp. [BYN-TSXV] will begin soil sampling at their 100%-owned, road accessible, Hyland gold project this September. Mark Ayranto, Chairman, said that the 19,000-hectare, (600 claims) prop- erty, located in the Selwyn Basin, has big region potential. Banyan plans to bring in heavy equipment to the 35-man camp in spring 2015 in order to drill out 1 million oz gold on the under-explored property where there is already a 400,000 oz gold equivalent, NI 43-101 resource outlined. All operating permits are in good standing; $5 million was spent on exploration in the last four years. The company has $200,000 in the bank with a burn rate of $10,000 per month. Banyan acquired the property from Argus Metals, paying $1.00 per oz, and is looking at acquiring other similar properties. Ron Carne, President of Atac Resources, recently joined Banyan's advi- sory board; he made the initial discovery FIELD r e P o rt The number of advanced and greenfield projects active in the Yukon today, despite the challenges of the markets and the remoteness, speak to the tenacity of the miners, the quality of their projects and the mineral wealth of the Yukon.