Resource World Magazine

A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 www.resourceworld.com 45 three producing hard rock mines includ- ing: Fort Knox, Pogo and Kensington, and several placer operations, including the Chandler placer project that produced approximately 806,907 ounces of gold in 2016. Gold exploration continues to domi- nate the Eastern Interior Region of Alaska where Freegold Ventures Ltd.'s [FVL- TSX; FGOVF-OTC; FR4N-FSE] Golden Summit Project has had over 36,159 metres of drilling and three NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource updates completed since 2011. The current mineral resource using a 0.3 g/t cut-off is 61,460,000 tonnes grad- ing 0.69 g/t (1,363,000 contained ounces) in the indicated category and 71,500,000 tonnes at 0.69 g/t gold (1,584,000 con- tained ounces) in the inferred category. In 2017, the company has drilled 27 holes and results demonstrate the potential to expand the current oxide resource. Freegold has begun drilling at its Shorty Creek Project located approximately 125 km by paved road northwest of Fairbanks. The 2016 holes extended the copper mineralization intercepted in the 2015 program by over 245 metres to the southwest and to depth. Hole SC 16-01 intersected 434.5 metres (1,425.5 feet) grading 0.36% copper (0.57% cop- per equivalent), including 207 metres of 0.45% copper and was located 125 metres southwest of Hole SC 15-03. After drilling almost 20,500 metres in 2016, Contango ORE Inc. [CTGO-OTCQB] and partner Royal Gold Inc. [RGLD NASDAQ] announced a resource estimate on the Main and North Peak areas of the Tetlin Project near Tok in the Eastern Interior. Using a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold, the measured resource estimates are 97,000 ounces of gold, 260,400 ounces of silver and 1.6 million tons of copper. Indicated resources are estimated at 1.1 million ounces of gold, 4.5 million ounces of silver and 1.6 million tons of copper. Following a positive prefeasibility study for its Livengood Gold Project in 2016, International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. [ITH-TSX; THM-NYSE MKT; IW9-FSE] has approved a US $6.3 million budget to complete baseline environmental work, improve mineralization and evaluate alternative block models for production schedules and metallurgical work. The prefeasibility currently supports a 52,600 tons-per-day operation which will pro- duce 6.8 million ounces of gold over 23 years. The capital costs are $1.84 billion and all-in sustaining costs are US $976 per ounce. Coventry Resources Ltd. [CYY-ASX] resumed exploration of the Caribou Dome high-grade copper project, formerly known as Denali Copper. In 2016, the company completed a 14,000-foot explo- ration and validation drill program along a nearly half-mile mineralized trend. The company has identified numerous high- grade copper intercepts along the trend, including new massive-sulfide lenses and some previously unrecognized along-strike connectivity between lenses. Highlighted intercepts include 46.3 feet grading 9.9% copper, 23.0 feet grading 6.8% copper, and 11.5 feet grading 9.3% copper (drilled thickness). The Southeastern region of Alaska is well known for its volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits (VMS deposits). Last year at the Palmer Project near Haines, Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. [CEM-TSXV] announced a new inferred mineral resource of 8.1 million tonnes grading 1.41% copper, 5.25% zinc, 0.32 g/t gold and 31.7 g/t silver. In 2017, the company will drill 7,000 metres aimed at discovering new mineral deposits. Priority exploration targets include the Cap, Nunatak, HG, and JAG prospects that col- lectively define a several-kilometre-long corridor of mineralization that runs paral- lel to the South Wall-RW Zone trend which has been drilled extensively. The project is being advanced as a joint venture between Constantine (51%) and Dowa (49%), with Constantine as operator. Hecla Mining Company's [HL-NYSE] 100%-owned and operated Greens Creek Mine is one of the largest and lowest-cost primary silver mines in the world, and is the cash generating engine of the com- pany. Last year, Greens Creek produced 9.3 million ounces of silver at a cash cost, after by-product credits, per silver ounce of US $3.84 (a non GAAP measure), and 53,912 ounces of gold. Production in 2017 is expected to be 7.4 to 8.0 million silver ounces at a cash cost, after by-product credits of US $2.50 an ounce. Exploration continues to keep reserves well ahead of production at the silver-rich Greens Creek Mine near Juneau. Definition drilling in the NWW and Deep 200 South zones con- LEFT: A diamond driller at work on the Trilogy Metals Arctic Project located approximately 470 km northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo courtesy Trilogy Metals Inc.

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