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General Market Commentary
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General Precious Metals
Millrock preps for 2020 Alaska drilling
Millrock Resources Inc. Oct. 1 said it is investing the C$1.58 million it recently raised to position the company and its properties for expected improving markets for gold-focused exploration companies.
"The moves Millrock has made over the past three months has positioned the company well for what appears to be a coming bull market in precious metals," said Millrock Resources President and CEO Greg Beischer. "We have developed an enviable gold project portfolio that is attracting funding partnerships and should result in substantial drill programs in 2020."
This includes the potential to have drills turning on its West Pogo property in Alaska's Goodpaster Mining District as early as February.
"With drilling comes the potential to increase Millrock's share price through mineral deposit discovery," said Beischer.
Enter Dragonslayer
Last week, Millrock announced that it had entered into an agreement with First Quantum Minerals Ltd., to explore Dragonslayer, a copper-gold property the company generated with the recent financing.
First Quantum can earn the exclusive right to enter an option to joint venture Dragonslayer by funding C$100,000 of initial exploration that includes geochemical surveys, mapping, and prospecting.
This work focused on a geophysical anomaly located in a belt of Cretaceous-aged rocks in eastern Alaska that have demonstrated potential for copper porphyry deposits.
The geophysical anomaly consists of a conductive zone surrounding a magnetic high in a low-lying area with little outcrop exposure.
Millrock said the initial exploration funded by First Quantum is now complete and results are expected later this month.
If First Quantum decides to enter into the option agreement, the Canada-based copper mining company can earn an initial 51 percent interest in Dragonslayer by spending C$6 million on exploration and making cash payments of C$700,000 to Millrock over four years. This ownership can be increased to 80 percent by funding the project to commercial production.
First Quantum has until Dec. 31 to exercise its option to enter into a joint venture on Dragonslayer.
Inroads at West Pogo
In the meantime, Millrock has been refining drill targets at West Pogo, a property that covers what appears to be a western continuation of the Goodpaster deposit being drilled on Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s Pogo property.
Northern Star has traced the Goodpaster zone for 2,300 meters along strike and to a depth of 500 meters with drilling. The company said the drills have tapped both the flat-lying stacked Liese-style and the vertical North Zone-type vein structures currently being mined at Pogo.
Highlights from Northern Star's drilling at Goodpaster include: 2.1 meters of 44.5 g/t gold; 2.2 meters of 28.1 g/t gold; 0.6 meters of 100.1 g/t gold; and 0.3 meters of 170.2 g/t gold.