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o c t o b e r / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 6 www.resourceworld.com 27 miNiNg W hile Washington State isn't known as a powerhouse mining state like Nevada, yes, there is gold there too. Since 2008 Kinross Gold Corp. [K-TSX; KGC-NYSE] has been operating the high- grade, underground Buckhorn gold mine (1.3 million oz grading 12 g/t gold) about 45 miles northwest of Republic, northeast Washington. It's been a successful mine; however, it is expected to run out of ore by year end. Currently, the Buckhorn ore is trucked 76 km by road to the 2,000 tonne-per-day Kettle River mill. Kinross would like to keep the mill operating by custom milling ore supplied by other mines in the region. That's where Adamera Minerals Corp. [ADZ-TSXV] comes in. The junior explorer holds several gold prospects in the region – some of them past producers. Adamara's objective is to find a 1-3 million ounce gold deposit grading 5-15 g/t gold, that is, a high enough grade to support a small footprint underground mine with a mining cost of $400-$600 per ounce. Adamera's prospects in the area include Empire Creek, Flag Hill, Oversight, Lambert and Talisman. Currently, the 2016 exploration program on its Lambert Creek property is underway. Studies of mineral deposits in the region have determined that there are several styles of gold min- eralization, including skarns, veins, and sediment-bound unconformity related deposits. Keeping this in mind, company geologists are testing its new geological concepts and deposit models for the area. In an interview, Mark Kolebaba, President and CEO, told Resource World, "Our business strategy is to explore near the Kinross Kettle River mill as it is already in operation and, therefore, does not need to be permitted or built which, of course, speeds up the timeline if we make a dis- covery. We would like to find an economic gold deposit suitable for the Kinross mill located within 3 to 30 km from the mill. We think that if we can find a deposit of significant size and grade that will peak Kinross' interest." With regards to deposit types, Kolebaba explained that Adamera is looking for stratabound deposits in the Cooke Mountain area. "In the past people thought they were skarns or perhaps volcanic massive sulphide deposits," he noted. "We don't see that. We see strat- abound sedimentary-hosted gold deposits. This new view has changed the way we are exploring." Currently underway is the collection of approximately 700 soil samples and re- evaluation of the property geology on the Lambert property. Later in the season, the company is planning to conduct an exten- sive regional airborne geophysical survey that will cover Lambert Creek. "Soil geochemistry is an extremely effec- tive tool for finding buried mineralization in the area," said Kolebaba, "With our new geological concepts for gold deposits in the region we are obviously very excited to see the results of this current work and plan to drill test any resulting targets." The Lambert Creek property is on strike with the past-producing Overlook, Key West and Key East gold mines and is adjacent to the historic Belcher Mine. As a result of recent staking by the company of about 1,715 acres, the Lambert Creek prop- erty is now contiguous with the company's Oversight property to the south. Adamera has also leased about 2,100 acres in the vicinity. The Lambert Creek property is accessible to the Key East and West mine haul road and is 6 km from the Kettle River mill. The 2016 exploration program has also been under way at the Oversight property with soil sampling being carried out. n Christine Johnson, an ex-Kinross geologist, examines a rock outcrop on Adamera's Lamefoot North property in northeast Washington State. photo courtesy adamera minerals Corp. Adamera Minerals hopes to feed Kinross gold mill by Ellsworth Dickson