Categories:
Base Metals
/
General Market Commentary
/
Precious Metals
Topics:
General Base Metals
/
General Market Commentary
/
General Precious Metals
PolarX marks its spot
Having this year established the foundations for a systematic investigation of the potential of the 35km-long mineralised corridor covered by the company's 220sq.km Alaska Range landholding in central Alaska to yield large-scale copper-gold deposits, PolarX will hit the ground at full speed next year after a successful 2017 exploration season.
Some smart corporate manoeuvring, more strong drill results -adding to the detailed and now district-scale database the company is using to refine its Alaska Range exploration models - and the arrival of veteran porphyry-copper geologist Tabeart as managing director, have given PolarX an excellent platform to step up its search for a company-shaping deposit in one of the world's best mining jurisdictions.
PolarX was formed via this year's amalgamation of Coventry Resources' Caribou Dam project (JORC 2.8 million tonnes grading 3.1% copper), and Vista Minerals' earn-in option over Canada-based Millrock Resources' Stellar tenement package (including Zackly's non-JORC 1.5Mt at 4.5g/t gold and 2.9% copper), with the option converted to equity leaving Millrock with a 10.7% stake in the new company.
The company has Millrock's experienced exploration team on the ground in Alaska, backed by the equally experienced technical team at Mitchell River Group (MRG) in Perth, Western Australia. MRG, one of PolarX's biggest shareholders, comprises a group of mining technical leaders, including Tabeart and other experts in the geosciences, engineering, permitting, infrastructure and project development.
Tabeart spent 16 years with Western Mining Corporation, managing exploration portfolios in Africa, Mongolia and the Philippines, and his 30 years as a geologist have included direct involvement in the hunt for porphyry copper-gold systems in SE Asia, SW Pacific, the American Cordillera and central and northern Asia.
He's excited by what he sees in Alaska, on a couple of fronts.
First, the extensive landholding now the focus of a holistic exploration program shows surface and geophysical evidence of being mineralised from top to bottom. PolarX is spoilt for targets but its choices have been made easier for now by the work already done at Zackly, Mars, Gemini and Moonwalk, on the Stellar ground, and at Caribou Dome and surrounds on the adjacent southern property.
Caribou Dome and Zackly present underground mining targets with a combined 130,000t of copper (average 3%) and 224,000oz of gold (4.5g/t) in 4.3Mt of resources that have been the focus of recent drilling. PolarX sees options to boost the resource base out towards 8-10Mt at similar grades, and advance mining feasibility work, next year.
The defined mineralisation at Caribou Dam remains open in all directions. New drilling this year to get the Zackly historic, skarn-hosted resource to JORC standards has produced strong results so far, with more to come this month.
Secondly, geological observations have identified overprinting sub-vertical porphyry style veins and hydrothermal breccias in the new Zackly core, which Tabeart sees as being consistent with a view that there might be a buried porphyry system in the district.