Klondike Star Launches Major Indian River Drilling Program
Seattle, WA - Donald W. Flinn, Vice President, Operations for Klondike Star Mineral Corporation announced the third consecutive winter drilling program on the Indian River Placer Project, located about 25 miles (or 40 kilometers) from Dawson City. The Indian River project covers over 14 square miles (or 37 square kilometers) of placer claims and leases along the southern edge of the Klondike placer mining region of Yukon, Canada.
The plan is to auger drill and sample 150 – 200 holes between November and April, 2007. The winter exploration base facility has re-opened for operations with drill crews and equipment already mobilized to the site.
The auger drilling program is designed to step out from the known mineralized areas identified through the previous delineation and infill drill programs in 2005 and 2006. The objective is to expand the total area and volume of gold-bearing placer material to help assess the economic potential of the property. The drilling results and analysis would be supplemented by the expanded test mining program in the planning stages for 2007 (Press release 9-2006). These initiatives could accelerate the ability of the Company to make a production decision.
In 2005 and early 2006 ninety (90) holes drilled tested a variety of locations on the property, and identified an area of high potential for placer mining. A further one hundred eighty four (184) holes drilled in early 2006 focused mainly on this area, and an area of 1.24 miles (2 kilometers) by .44 miles (.7 kilometers) wide was extensively drilled on a grid of drill-holes spaced 33 yards (30 meters) apart along lines spaced 219 yards (200 meters) apart. This drilling identified an extensive bench gravel deposit along the Indian River, with consistent gold values across its entire width, and gold returned from every hole. The area is considered favorable for placer mining, as overburden is relatively thin and bedrock is only about 8 yards (7.25 meters) deep on average. This area is open for expansion to the east and south, which will be the main focus of the current drill program. Additional infill drilling will also be conducted in this main target area.
Several other areas on the property were also identified which appear to have placer mining potential, and will be tested with further drilling as part of this program. The Company's goal is to bring a large-scale placer mine into production. Based upon conventional mining methods and the nature of the permitting regime for placer mining, it would be feasible to bring a placer mine into production in the short-term. A placer mining operation could generate cash flow for the Company to finance its major exploration and development initiatives.
Drilling is conducted using track-mounted hydraulic auger drills with either 6 or 8-inch diameter augers (6" for exploration and deeper holes). Drill samples are collected in buckets and processed in a small Long Tom sluice box, which accurately simulates conventional placer mining equipment. The heavy minerals accumulated in the sluice are hand panned, and the gold grains picked out. The gold is weighed using a high precision balance.
SOURCE: Klondike Star Mineral Corporation And The Indian River Placer Project