Resource World Magazine

38 www.resourceworld.com A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 that have been explored for precious met- als since the turn of the last century,'' said Banyan President and CEO Tara Christie. Blind Creek Resources Ltd. [BCK- TSXV] is focused on the development of a lead-zinc-silver resource at the Blende Project in the Mayo Mining District. The company said it planned to launch a two- phase exploration program shortly. Phase I will test for deposit extensions and obtain mineralized material for additional metal- lurgical studies. Results of Phase I will provide the basis for a Phase II resource estimate and zinc-lead-silver recovery projections that will be outlined in a NI 43-101 compliant report to be released later this year. Zonte Metals Inc. [ZON-TSXV] is gold- focused and aims to pick up exploration projects with large-scale potential. The com- pany's key holdings include the McConnells Jest Project, which covers 3,371 hectares and lies adjacent to Victoria Gold's Dublin Gulch gold project. In June, 2017, the com- pany said it had discovered a new target on the property, which was identified by gold in bedrock assays. The company said a total of 12 quartz-arsenopyrite-scorodite veins were found in samples and returned assays up to 31.3 g/t gold. Alexco Resources Corp. [AXR-TSX, AXU-NYSE] offers silver production in the near future and exploration upside, said the company's Chief Operating Officer, Brad Thrall, when asked to outline the investment case for Alexco. After a four- year pause, Alexco is getting ready to restart production at the United Keno Hill Mine site, which ranks as Canada's second largest producer of silver, behind Cobalt, Ontario. During an illustrious history, it produced 217 million ounces. When Resource World toured the property, a 400 tonne-per-day processing facility was already in place and Alexco was prepar- ing to complete the construction needed to access ore in the Birmingham and Flame and Moth zones. "If we make all the right decisions we should be ready to go by the middle of next year,'' said Alexco CEO Clynt Nauman. Alexco is gearing up to produce 3.5 million ounces of sil- ver annually after re-negotiating a silver streaming agreement with one of its key financial backers, Wheaton Precious Metals [WPM-TSX, NYSE], formerly Silver Wheaton. The deal aims to eliminate some of the downside risk associated with the project. Kestrel Gold Inc.'s [KGC-TSXV] prin- cipal asset is the King Solomon Dome located about a 30-minute drive south of Dawson City, close to placer discoveries that triggered the Klondike Gold Rush. Bulk samples taken by previous operators in Klondike Schist at the King Solomon Dome property have returned assays up to 4 g/t gold in near surface areas surrounding the Dome. Back in May 2017, the company struck an option deal with prospector, Bernie Kreft, to acquire a 100% interest in the Val-Jual property 70 km southwest of Dawson. "Optioning the Val-Jual property gives the company an excellent foothold in the burgeoning White Gold district,'' said Kestrel President and CEO, Kevin Nephin. Kestrel intends to explore what it described as a "high priority project." To earn a 100% interest in the property, Kestrel must spend $500,000 on exploration and drill a mini- mum of 2,500 metres. Previous work has outlined numerous gold and/or arsenic soil anomalies and mineralized zones. Klondike Gold Corp. [KG-TSXV] Ever since the original Klondike discoveries triggered a massive gold rush in 1896, prospectors have been baffled by their inability to find the bedrock source of all the placer gold which has been extracted from the streams and tributaries around Dawson City in the Yukon. Evidence of that work remains vis- ible beside the road into Dawson because of the rock piles that make the area look a bit like a lunar landscape. It has been estimated that the Klondike gold fields may have produced as much as 20 million ounces of gold from placer mines. Yet that same area has yielded only 1,200 ounces

• Cover