EX-99.1 2 exhibit99-1.htm PRELIMINARY FEASIBILITY STUDY Filed by sedaredgar.com - Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. - Exhibit 99.1

Update of Mineral Resource and Reserve
Estimates and Preliminary Feasibility Study,
Workman’s Bench Antimony-Gold Lode Deposit,
Nolan Creek,
Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk Mining
District,
Northern Alaska, January 1, 2009


NI 43-101 Technical Report For:

Silverado Gold Mines, Ltd.
1820-1111 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia,
CANADA V6E 4M3

Prepared by:
Thomas K. Bundtzen, AIPG Certified Professional Geologist
Pacific Rim Geological Consulting, Inc.

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Pacific Rim Geological Consulting Inc.

P.O. Box 81906, 4868 Old Airport Road
Fairbanks, Alaska, 99708
Fax: +1 907 458-8511
Phone: +1 907 458-8951
Email: bundtzen@mosquitonet.com
Website: www.pacrimgeol.com

 

Left cover photo: Exposure of ‘A’ Zone semi-massive stibnite-quartz-gold vein, @ Station #203808, in ‘A’ Crosscut, Workman’s Bench, Nolan Creek area

Right cover photo: Air compressor unit underground in ‘A’ Crosscut, Workman’s Bench Lode, Nolan Creek area

Important Notice

This report was prepared as a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report in accordance with Form 43-101F1, for Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. (the Client), by a Qualified Person, Thomas K. Bundtzen, President of Pacific Rim Geological Consulting Inc. (the Contractor). The quality of information, conclusions, and estimates contained in this report are based on: 1) information available at the time of preparation as of October 15th , 2008; 2) data from outside sources; and 3) the assumptions, conditions, and qualifications as put forth by the writer of the report. This report is intended to be used by the Client, subject to terms and conditions of the Contractor. The relationship permits the Client to file this report as a Technical Report with applicable securities regulatory authorities pursuant to provincial securities legislation.

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Contents

1 Summary 10
       
  1.1 Property description and location 10
       
  1.2 Ownership 10
       
  1.3 Geology and Mineralization 11
       
  1.4 Development and operations 11
       
  1.5 Exploration concept 12
       
  1.6 Status of Exploration 12
       
  1.7 Mineral Resources and Reserves 13
       
  1.8 Prefeasibility Study 14
       
  1.9 Mineral Reserve Statement 14
       
  1.10 Conclusions and recommendations 15
       
2 Introduction and terms of reference 16
       
  2.1 Source of data and information 16
       
  2.2 Scope of personal inspections 16
       
  2.3 Units of measure 17
       
3 Reliance on other Experts 18
       
4 Property description and location 19
       
  4.1 Mineral tenure 22
       
  4.2 Silverado’s property title and interest 22
       
  4.3 Location and maintenance of property boundaries 22
       
  4.4 Location of mineralized zones, mine workings, and mineral resources 23
       
  4.5 Environmental liabilities 23
       
  4.6 Permit requirements 26
       
5 Accessibility, climate, local resources, infrastructure, and physiography 27
       
  5.1 Infrastructure 29
       
6 History 31

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  6.1 Historical ownership of property 31
       
  6.2 Exploration and development by previous owners 31
       
  6.3 Historical production 32
       
7 Geological Setting 36
       
8 Deposit types 38
       
9 Mineralization 39
       
  9.1 Lode Deposits 39
       
  9.2 Placer Deposits 41
       
10 Exploration 42
       
  10.1 Results of placer and lode exploration 42
       
 

10.2

Placer gold deposits 44
       
  10.3 Lode deposits 44
       
  10.4 Origin of exploration data 47
       
11 Drilling 52
       
  11.1 Placer drilling programs 52
       
  11.2 Lode Drilling Program 52
       
12 Sampling method and approach 59
       
  12.1 Placer deposits 59
       
  12.2 Lode deposits 59
       
13 Sample preparation, analyses, and security 63
       
  13.1 Independence of sample preparation and analysis 63
       
  13.2 Sample preparation and analytical procedures 63
       
  13.3 Quality control and quality assurance 65
       
14 Data verification 67
       
  14.1 Data verification by qualified person 67
       
  14.2 Exploration data limitations 69
       
15 Adjacent properties 70
       
16 Mineral processing and metallurgical testing 71

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  16.1 Placer deposits 71
       
  16.2 Lode Deposits 71
       
17 Mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates 77
       
  17.1 Summary 77
       
  17.2 Disclosure 78
       
  17.3 Known issues that materially affect mineral resources and mineral reserves 78
       
  17.4 Assumptions, methods, and parameters 78
       
  17.5 Placer gold resources estimation 79
       
  17.6 Workman’s Bench lode resource estimation 79
       
  17.7 Pringle Bench inferred resource estimation 94
       
  17.8 Mineral Reserve Statement 98
       
18.0 Other relevant data and information 99
       
  18.1 Prefeasibility study Workman’s Bench 99
       
  18.2 Mining 99
       
  18.3 Processing 109
       
  18.4 Administration, Engineering, and Infrastructure 113
       
  18.5 Environmental and Social Considerations 116
       
  18.6 Project Implementation Schedule 119
       
  18.7 Capital Costs 121
       
  18.8 Operating Costs 123
       
  18.9 Economic Analysis 126
       
19 Interpretation and conclusions 131
       
  19.1 Lode antimony-gold mineralization 131
       
  19.2 Placer gold mineralization 133
       
20 Recommendations 134
       
  20.1 Lode exploration and development 134
       
  20.2 Placer exploration and development 134
       
  20.3 Budget requirements 134

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21 Dates and signature 136
     
22 References 137
     
23 Certificates 143

Figures

Figure 4.1 Figure 4.1 Silverado updated placer claim configuration, Nolan Creek, August 7th, 2008, as plotted on sectional base 20
     
Figure 4.2 Figure 4.2 Silverado updated lode claim configuration, Nolan Creek, August 7th, 2008 21
     
Figure 4.3 Location map of Nolan Creek placer and lode mineral deposits 25
     
Figure 5.1 Nolan Creek location map 28
     
Figure 6.1 Location of areas test-mined by Silverado 34
     
Figure 7.1 Geologic map of the Nolan Creek area Koyukuk District; modified from Dillon and Reifenstuhl (1990) and Hamilton (1979) 37
     
Figure 9.1 Photomicrographs, Workman’s Bench mineralized system 40
     
Figure 10.1 Map of Nolan Creek Basin illustrating 870 Khz geophysical anomaly in gray 45
     
Figure 10.2 Section of 1994 drill hole results for Workman’s Bench 46
     
Figure 10.3 Summary of 2004 and 2007 soil anomalies in Workman bench and Hillside areas 48
     
Figure 10.4 Combined VLF-EM data acquired by Silverado during 2004 and 2007 49
     
Figure 10.5 VLF-EM survey of Fortress Area showing both northeast structural trend 50
     
Figure 10.6 Stacked geochemical and structural data set in Fortress gold-bearing trend 51
     
Figure 11.1 Drill and Trench Locations on Pringle Bench 57
     
Figure 11.2 Drill Locations on Workman’s Bench  58
     
Figure 12.1 Location of underground development and channel samples, Workman’s Bench 61
     
Figure 16.1 Tabled Rougher Concentrate from bulk sample from Workman’s Bench Deposit 72

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Figure 16.2 Hazen mineralogical separation process flowchart , Workman’s Bench bulk sample 73
     
Figure 16.3 Gold (bright color) in stibnite (gray grain), Workman’s Bench Bulk sample 74
     
Figure 16.4 Stibnite-gold concentrate from table product—example 1 75
     
Figure 16.5 Stibnite-gold concentrate from table product—example 75
     
Figure 17.1 Surface view of Workman’s bench mineralized zones 81
     
Figure 17.2 Probable Reserve polygons for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 83
     
Figure 17.3 Probable Reserve polygons for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s bench 85
     
Figure 17.4 Probable Reserve polygons for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 87
     
Figure 17.5 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 89
     
Figure 17.6 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 90
     
Figure 17.7 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘C’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 91
     
Figure 17.8 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s Bench  92
     
Figure 17.9 Surface view of Pringle Bench mineralized zones 95
     
Figure 17.10 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘A’ Zone, Pringle Bench 96
     
Figure 17.11 Inferred Resource Polygons for ‘West’ Zone, Pringle Bench 97
     
Figure 18.1 Simplified outline illustrating mine infrastructure, Nolan lode mine development……. 99
     
Figure 18.2 Simplified surface plan view, proposed Workman’s Bench underground development 100
     
Figure 18.3 Spiral decline into Workman’s Bench deposit 101
     
Figure 18.4 Simplified concept of the working face, Workman’s Bench deposit 102
     
Figure 18.5 Side panel of proposed Workman’s Bench mine 103
     
Figure 18.6 Side panel of proposed Workman’s bench cut and fill method 103
     
Figure 18.7 Ventilation design, proposed Workman’s bench mine development 104
     
Figure 18.8 ‘A’ Crosscut looking southeast. Note near-horizontal phyllitic schist bands 105
     
Figure 18.9 Core logging summary from 2007 core drilling 106
     
Figure 18.10 Mill flow sheet, Nolan lode project. From Sepro SystemsTM , 12/31/08 111

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Figure 18.11 Overview of Nolan Camp 115
     
Figure 18.12 Shop facility at Nolan Camp showing mechanic working on mining equipment 115
     
Figure 18.13 Reclaimed mined lands, valley of Nolan Creek, near left limit bench, 2008 119
     
Figure 18.14 Four year antimony price in USD/lb Source: www. Metalprices.com 127
     
Figure 18.15 Five year gold price in USD/ounce ; source: www.Goldprice.com 127
     
Figure 18.16 Price sensitivity diagrams for antimony and gold, Nolan lode project 130

Tables

Table 1.1 Silverado’s placer deposit mineral resources, Nolan Creek 13
Table 1.2 Silverado’s probable lode mineral reserves lode mineral resources, Nolan Creek area 13
Table 1.3 Silverado’s inferred lode mineral resources, Nolan area 14
Table 2.1 Units of measure used in this report 17
Table 6.1 Placer gold production from Silverado properties, 1979 to 2007, Nolan Creek 35
Table 10.1 Summary of exploration activities, Nolan Creek, 1981 to 2008 42
Table 10.2 Summary of Silverado’s soil sampling programs, Nolan Creek, 2003 to 2007 43
Table 10.3 Summary of Silverado VLF/EM data, Nolan Creek, 2004 to 2008 43
Table 10.4 Summary of Silverado exploration trenches, Nolan Creek, 2004 to 2007 44
Table 11.1 Summary of lode drilling programs 52
Table 11.2 Collar location and data, Pringle Bench 54
Table 11.3 Collar location and data Workman’s Bench 55
Table 12.1 Table of selected sample composites 2008 Workman’s Bench core drilling program 62
Table 14.1 Duplicate analytical comparisons between QP and Silverado contractor samples 67
Table 14.2 List of Duplicate Samples Workman’s Bench Drilling Program 2008 68
Table 16.1 Composition of the Heavy-Liquid Sink Product 74
Table 16.2 Selected stibnite quality characteristics 76
Table 17.1 Silverado’s placer deposit mineral resources, Nolan Creek 77
Table 17.2 Silverado’s probable lode mineral reserves lode mineral resources, Nolan Creek area 77
Table 17.3 Silverado’s inferred lode mineral resources 77
Table 17.4 Summary of sample assay intervals from Workman’s Bench deposit, Nolan Creek 79
Table 17. 5 Polygonal probable reserve block summary for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 84
Table 17.6 Polygonal block summary for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 86
Table 17.7 Polygonal Probable reserve Calculation for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 86
Table 17.8 Probable mineral reserve data for ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘West’ Zones, Workman’s Bench 88
Table 17.9 Polygonal Block Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘C’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 93
Table 17.10 Polygonal Block, Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 93
Table 17.11 Polygonal Block, Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 93
Table 17.12 Polygonal Block, Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s Bench 93
Table 17.13 Inferred Antimony and Gold Resources From ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and West Zones 94
Table 17.14 Summary of Inferred Antimony and Gold resources from ‘A’ and ‘West’ Zones 94

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Table 17.15 Polygonal block inferred resource calculation for ‘A’ Zone, Pringle Bench 98
Table 17.16 Polygonal block inferred resource calculation for ‘West’ Zone, Pringle Bench 98
Table 17.17 Mineral reserve estimate, Workman’s Bench lode 98
Table 18.1 Five year mine plan, Workman’s Bench/Nolan lode project 107
Table 18.2 Annual schedule for Nolan Creek lode development when in full production 109
Table 18.3 Planned mill production schedule 112
Table 18.4 Summary of core employment requirements for the Nolan lode project 113
Table 18.5 State agencies involved in permitting Nolan lode project 117
Table 18.6 Federal agencies involved in permitting Nolan lode project 117
Table 18.7 Initial permit goals for Silverado’s Nolan lode development. for 2009 and 2010 118
Table 18. 8 Project implementation schedule 120
Table 18.9 Capital cost categories and sources for estimates 121
Table 18.10 Itemized capital cost estimates, Nolan lode project, 2008 122
Table 18.11 Operating cost categories and sources for estimates 123
Table 18.12 Project monthly and annual operating costs when in commercial production 124
Table 18.13 Year-by-year summary of operating costs, Nolan lode project 126
Table 18.14 Macro assumptions, output of gold and stibnite (antimony), Nolan lode project 126
Table 18.15 Base cash flow analysis Nolan lode project 128
Table 20.1 Budget estimate, Nolan Creek lode project 134

 


 

APPENDIX I Summary of Relevant Sample Data Used in Calculation of Measured Sb and Au Resources, Workman’s Bench 144
   
APPENDIX II Summary of Relevant Sample Data Used in Calculation of Measured Sb and Au Resources, Pringle Bench 157

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1      Summary

1.1      Property description and location

This technical report discloses mineral resource estimates and a preliminary feasibility study for lode gold-stibnite deposits in the Nolan Creek Area (Nolan Creek) of the historic Koyukuk Mining District of Northern Alaska. According to government reports, historic placer gold production in the area is about 350,000 oz of placer-style gold. Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. (Silverado) is exploring and developing placer-style gold deposits and vein-hosted gold-stibnite deposits in this area. Nolan Creek is about 175 mi north-northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. This analysis is focused on the lode antimony-gold deposits.

Nolan Creek is part of the Koyukuk Mining District, which covers about 12,500 sq mi (32,000 km2), is bounded on the east by the South Fork of Koyukuk River, the Alatna River on the west, the continental divide of the Brooks Range on the north, and the Kanuti River Basin on the south. Nolan Creek is at the center of the Koyukuk Mining District. Elevations in the area range from 4,635 ft on Vermont Dome to about 1,220 ft on the floodplain of the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River.

Silverado’s mine properties occur in the SE1/4, Township 31 North, Range 12 West, the NE1/4, Township 30 North, Range 12 West, and SW1/4, Township 31 North, Range 11 West, Fairbanks Meridian. All of the mining claims occur in the Wiseman B-1 USGS quadrangle of northern Alaska.

Regularly scheduled commuter flights from Fairbanks to the state-maintained Coldfoot Airport are currently provided by Wright Air Service Inc. Silverado’s Nolan Creek properties are road-accessible from Fairbanks via the Dalton Highway.

1.2      Ownership

Government records as of August 7, 2008 indicate that Silverado Gold Mines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverado, holds numerous mining claims at Nolan Creek. Silverado’s claim groups consist of placer and lode claims; the U.S. Mining Law of 1872 (amended) allows for a locater to stake either a placer deposit or a lode deposit. Silverado has 204 unpatented, federal placer mining claims covering approximately 4,080 acres (1,651 ha) in three, non-contiguous groups and 407 unpatented federal lode mining claims covering approximately 8,140 acres (3,294 ha).

The majority of all federal mining claims are fully controlled by Silverado. Payment of claim holding fees for the 2008 calendar year is due on or before December 1, 2008, with annual claim assessment due by September 30 of each year. Claim holding payments were made in August, 2008. The Thompson Pup claim group of six placer claims is subject to a purchase royalty of 3% of net profits on 80% of gold production payable to third parties. The Hammond Property (24 federal placer claims) is subject to a lease with an option to purchase from Alaska Mining Company Inc. (Alminco).

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1.3      Geology and mineralization

The bedrock geology of Nolan Creek is dominated by units of the Brooks Range schist belt, a poly-deformed package of schist, greenstone, and orthogneiss. The schist belt is part of the Coldfoot sub-terrane of the Arctic Alaska terrane, which underlies more than 75% of the south flank of the Brooks Range.

The Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench properties contain quartz-stibnite-gold veins that cut a high-angle, structurally controlled zone that is 150 ft to 300 ft wide and at least 1,600 ft in length. These quartz-only and stibnite-quartz (gold) veins strike northeast and cross-cut low angle cleavage at steep to vertical angles. Besides locally massive stibnite, the quartz-carbonate vein stock works also contain arsenopyrite.

The gold-stibnite-quartz veins of Nolan Creek Valley strongly resemble the gold-antimony deposit type (U.S. Geological Survey Deposit Model 36C). These deposits are characterized by the presence of stibnite, berthierite, high fineness gold, and aurostibnite hosted in metamorphosed, quartz-carbonate-bearing, compressive shear zones within low grade, greenschist facies metamorphic rocks. The deposit types are characterized by deformed, ductile fabrics and tectonically recrystallized, fine grained, granoblastic stibnite lobes and lenses.

The gold-antimony deposit type 36C is considered to be a sub-type of the mesothermal, auriferous lodes found in mineral provinces worldwide. Mineral deposit type 36C is not very well documented in North America but well studied in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Worldwide examples include deposits in the Transvaal of South Africa, the Reefton District in New Zealand, and deposits in Eastern Europe and in Russia. Olympiada in Siberia is an example of a large, productive gold (stibnite) deposit of this type.

Placer gold deposits eroding from the Sb-Au vein deposits have formed in valleys and on benches of Nolan Creek valley and the Hammond River areas.

1.4      Development and operations

For 14 of the last 27 years, Silverado has produced minor amounts placer gold during seasonal test-mining periods. From 1979 to 2003, Silverado’s production activities involved extraction of placer gold from:

  • The main channels of Archibald and Fay Creeks, which are left limit tributaries of Nolan Creek;

  • The Nolan Deep and 3B1 Channels, which are ancestral fluvial concentrations of Nolan Creek basin; and

  • A number of individual bench placer deposits designated Wooll, Mary’s, West Block, Swede’s Channel, Eureka, Dolney, and Workman’s Bench placer deposits that represent left limit segments of ancestral channels of Nolan Creek valley

In each case, production was initiated only after exploration had been completed. Total production from 1981 to 2007 was 23,150 oz of placer gold recovered from 271,771 cu yd of gravel at an average grade of 0.085 oz /cu yd gold. More than two-thirds of the total gold output has been from the underground drift mining of frozen auriferous gravel. The remaining gold production has come from the exploitation of shallow placer deposits using open cut mining methods.

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Lode antimony development was confined to the World War II Era, when approximately 5 tonnes of massive stibnite was extracted from surface exposures of massive stibnite on Smith Creek and shipped to market. Silverado has not produced any lode materials from the Nolan Creek area.

1.5      Exploration concept

Silverado has engaged in both lode and placer exploration for more than 25 years. Until 2006, however, Silverado has focused on exploration for placer-style gold. Silverado has drilled 900 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes to explore the bench and channel placer deposits of the Nolan Creek and Hammond River areas. This exploration has led to the development and the test mining of placer deposits at Nolan Creek. This includes development and test mining of the relatively high grade, Mary’s Bench and Ogden-Eureka Bench deposits in 1994; the West Block and 3B1 Underground deposits in 1995, the Swede Channel development in both 1999 and during 2005 to 2006; and the Mary’s East deposit during 2007.

Silverado recently refocused its exploration efforts on the lode potential of the area. From 1994 to 2008 exploration drilling for lode gold deposits totaled 3,230 ft (990 m) in 15 RC drill holes and 16,152 ft (4,924 m) in 59 shallow core drill holes. Samples have been analyzed for gold, antimony (stibnite is a sulphide of antimony), and other metals. A systematic soil sampling grid totaling 1,383 samples covers portions of the mineralized trends in Smith Creek area and Fortress Mountain. Silverado has defined a northeast-trending zone of antimony-arsenic-gold anomalies as a result of this soil sampling program.

1.6      Status of exploration

The 2007-2008 core drilling, limited to first phase campaigns on Pringle and Workman’s Bench, indicated the existence of significant, northeast-striking, steeply dipping, antimony-gold structural zones on Silverado’s lode claims. The drilling helped to identify:

  • A 150 ft to 300 ft wide, diffuse zone of antimony-gold-bearing quartz veinlets on Pringle Bench with individual veins just 1 in to 3 in wide;

  • A more focused zone averaging about 110 ft thick on Workman’s Bench that contains semi-massive to massive stibnite zones up to 15 in thickness;

  • A clear linkage between mineralized zones on Pringle and Workman’s Bench, for a combined strike length of at least 1,600 ft; and

  • Consistent elevated gold values in practically every stibnite-bearing sample in core or in channels. Massive stibnite has yielded grades of up to 1.61 oz/ short ton gold, 13 samples averaged nearly 0.40 oz/short ton gold (this is not an average grade of the deposits, only an indication of potential gold grades within massive stibnite).

The results of the 2007-2008 drill campaign prompted Silverado to focus future exploration work on Workman’s Bench with the aim to market and process selected high grade stibnite-bearing areas. Workman’s Bench was accessed with 570 ft of underground workings late in 2007 for the purpose of conducting detailed channel sampling and metallurgical studies. A 400 lb bulk sample of stibnite-bearing mineralization was submitted in 2008 for a bench testing to Hazen Research Inc. Preliminary results show that during a flotation

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test, about 98% of the gold was recovered in 38% of the weight and assayed 0.542 oz/ton. A 15 kg, -20 mesh ‘rougher concentrate’ yielded three separate, streamed products: gangue minerals, stibnite, and arsenopyrite-gold.

1.7      Mineral resources and reserves

Mr. Thomas K. Bundtzen, President of Pacific Rim Geological Consulting Inc. (Pacific Rim), and independent Qualified Person (QP) for this project, has estimated indicated and inferred placer gold resources, a probable reserve of lode antimony and gold and an inferred resource of antimony and gold on Silverado’s mining claims.

The mineral resources for Silverado’s placer gold and the mineral resources and reserves for the lode stibnite-gold deposits in the Nolan Creek area are reported in Table 1.1, Table 1.2, and Table 1.3.

Table 1.1      Silverado’s placer deposit mineral resources, Nolan Creek

  Cut-off grade Quantity Grade  Metal
Resource category (oz/cu yd Au) (cu yd) (oz/cu yd Au) (oz Au)
Indicated 0.06 66,800 0.095  6,250
Inferred 0.01 185,670 0.033  6,177
Notes:
The effective date of these resources is July 2, 2008
Rounding may result in some discrepancies.
No processing recovery factors have been applied to these resource figures.

The industry standard unit of quantity for Alaskan placer deposit is cubic yards. The weight of a cubic yard varies, but averages about 2.4 short tons.

Table 1.2      Silverado’s probable lode mineral reserves, Nolan Creek area

Reserve
Category
Cut-off
grade
(% Sb)
Quantity
(ton)
Grade
(% Sb)
Metal
(ton Sb)
Grade
(oz/ton Au)
Metal
(oz Au)
Probable 4.0 42,412 28.00 11,880 0.408 17,300
Notes:
The effective date of these resources is January 1, 2009
Rounding may result in some discrepancies.
No processing recovery factors have been applied to these resource figures.
The unit ton refers to short tons.

Cut-off grade is 4.0% Sb ‘equivalent’, which the combined values of gold plu antimony expressed in terms of antimony alone

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes indicated and inferred gold resources in placer deposits held by Silverado in the Nolan Creek area (see table 1.1) . No new information concerning either indicated or inferred placer gold resources has been generated for the Nolan Creek project since the release of those estimates in July, 2008, which are filed on SEDAR (www.SEDAR.com); also accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

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Table 1.3      Silverado’s inferred lode mineral resources, Nolan Creek area

Resource
Category
Cut-off grade
(% Sb)
Quantity
(ton)
Grade
(% Sb)
Metal
(ton Sb)
Grade
(oz/ton Au)
Metal
(oz Au)
Inferred 4.0 27,697 12.26 3,397 0.230  6,372
Notes:
The effective date of these resources is January 1, 2009
Rounding may result in some discrepancies.
No processing recovery factors have been applied to these resource figures.
The unit ton refers to short tons.

Cut-off grade is 4.0% Sb ‘equivalent’, which the combined values of gold plus antimony expressed in terms of antimony alone

1.8      Prefeasibility study for mining Workman’s Bench antimony and gold resources

Silverado asked the QP to complete a prefeasibility study in order to evaluate the merits of extracting antimony and gold from Workman’s Bench, referred to in this chapter as the ‘Nolan lode development’, using the indicated resource base demonstrated in Chapter 17 of this report. The conceptual work plan would involve the selective underground extraction of high quality vein mineralization, processing of ore with a nearby surface plant using gravity (and possibly flotation) technologies, recovering most of the gold value on site at Nolan Creek, and shipping a metallurgical grade stibnite concentrate to overseas buyers; either Asian (China) or European (Rotterdam, Netherlands) markets.

Assuming an antimony price of $2.25/lb and a gold price at $700/ounce, a seasonally operated 125 tpd concentrating plant could ship stibnite concentrates during a five year period and make a profit of about $27 MD over the life of the operation. The mine would pay back capitals costs in the third or fourth quarter of the third year of development. Antimony, which accounts for 77 percent of the value of the product under the mining scenario, would clearly drive the project although gold (23 percent of total value) is a significant byproduct. Gold bars would be produced at the mine site thus creating cash flow. Maintaining stibnite (ore of antimony) concentrate quality for overseas markets is very important to the success of the proposed development. Other factors include wall rock stability underground permitting issues, and metal price trends of both antimony and gold.

1.9      Mineral Reserve Statement

On the basis of the information presented in Section 18 of this report, the economic viability of the proposed extraction and treatment of the indicated mineral resource defined in the Workman’s Bench lode system has been demonstrated. Modeling of the Workman’s Bench lode system has been undertaken in such a manner such that the resource tonnage and grade estimates already provide sufficient allowance for grade dilution and losses in mine recovery; hence, no further modifying factors are required before reporting these as a mineral reserve. The QP therefore considers the indicated mineral resource estimates in the Workman’s Bench lode system as defined in the November 18, 2008 press release to be a probable mineral reserve in terms of the CIM definition.

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Table 1.2 sets out the probable mineral reserves in the Workman’s Bench lode deposit. These reserves are valid as of January 1, 2009.

1.10      Conclusions and recommendations

In 2008, Exploration programs for development of lode-style gold-antimony deposits became the focus of activities by Silverado. The QP recommends that these programs should remain in place for development of the Workman’s Bench area. The QP also recommends the following (some of which have been initiated by Silverado):

  • For 2009, Silverado should focus on: 1) a program designed to upgrade inferred resources at both Workman’s and Pringle Benches into indicated resource categories; and 2) drill a few holes in the Hillside area to confirm or refute potential extensions of mineralization from lower Smith Creek to that location

  • In 2009, initiate lode development of the Nolan Creek lode development. This will involve: 1) continued aggressive permitting; 2) geotechnical work (ABA accounting); and 3) underground development and collection and processing of a bulk sample.

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2      Introduction and terms of reference

This Technical Report was requested by Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. This report is intended to disclose mineral resources and reserves and disclose the results of a pre-feasibility study in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) for Silverado’s holdings in the Nolan Creek Area (Nolan Creek). The independent Qualified Person, Mr. Thomas K. Bundtzen, President of Pacific Rim Geological Consulting Inc. (Pacific Rim), is responsible for this report. Henceforth Mr. Bundtzen is referred to as the QP.

2.1      Source of data and information

The sources of information are numerous and include U.S. Government, State of Alaska, and internal Silverado reports, which are detailed in the References section of this report. In December, 2004, the QP produced an Independent Technical Review of all of Silverado’s mineral properties in Alaska (Bundtzen, 2004). That document reviewed all aspects of Silverado’s operations, including (amongst other things) exploration, development, and mining activities, environmental remediation steps needed for compliance, and permitting issues at all of their properties. Although comprehensive in nature, the report format was not designed to be compliant with Form 43-101F1. Information from Bundtzen (2004) was used in the compilation of this Technical Report.

In July, 2008, QP completed the NI43-101 compliant document: Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk Mining District, Northern Alaska, July 29, 2008. This document was released by Silverado and is available on their website @ www.silverado.com.

Data used in the estimation of mineral resources and the pre-feasibility analysis was supplied by Silverado.

2.2      Scope of personal inspections

During his career with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the QP completed geological mapping and mineral resource investigations on some Silverado properties described in this Technical Report. The author visited Nolan Creek in 1994, when Silverado was producing placer gold from the Mary’s underground and Ogden-Eureka open cut placer deposits, and witnessed Silverado’s placer gold processing activities. The purpose of the 1994 trip was to observe Silverado’s gold production activities, which were subsequently described in the official State of Alaska, Minerals Report series (Bundtzen et al, 1996).

In 1999, the QP sampled and mapped stibnite-gold lodes on Smith Dome and in Smith Creek basin, which constitutes a part of Silverado’s lode claim group in the area. The QP’s 1999 work in the Koyukuk Mining District was completed on behalf of North Star Exploration Inc., a junior mining company then based in Denver, Colorado. From November 14 to 15, 2004, the QP visited Silverado’s operation at Nolan Creek, where he examined current infrastructure, and discussed with Silverado geologists Brian Flanigan and Edward Armstrong technical databases stored on the property.

The QP has also technically reviewed Silverado’s exploration and placer mining activities on the left limit bench of Nolan Creek and at Workman’s Bench during 2006 to 2008 and produced a series of reports for Silverado (Bundtzen 2006 a, b, c; 2008 a, b, c).

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During April 22 to 24, 2008, the QP examined stibnite mineralization in the Workman’s Bench underground workings, collected channel samples across mineralized veins to cross-check those collected by Silverado geologists, mapped the geological features in underground drifts and crosscuts, and acquired a large bulk sample for laboratory bench testing. During June 13 to 14, 2008, the QP examined all mineralized intercepts from the 2007 core drilling program on Workman’s Bench and examined and sampled surface exposures of stibnite mineralization also on Workman’s Bench.

On September 28 and 29, 2008, the QP visited Nolan Camp and examined all significantly mineralized core intervals acquired from the 2008 exploration of the Workman’s bench property. A total of 124 mineralized intervals were examined. The analytical data was compared with each of the mineralized zones to confirm the elevated antimony and gold values in the sampled intervals.

2.3      Units of measure

Table 2. 1 describes the units of measure used in this report. The author has generally used the original units of measure for company data, which was reported in the English system, or industry conventions to avoid conversion errors and confusion. All dollar amounts are in U.S. currency.

Table 2.1      Units of measure used in this report

Type Unit abbreviation Description (with SI conversion)
area acre acre (4,046.86 m2)
area ha hectare (10,000 m2)
area km2 square kilometer (100 ha)
area sq mi square mile (259.00 ha)
concentration g/t grams per tonne (1 part per million)
concentration oz/cu yd troy ounces per cubic yard
concentration oz/ton troy ounces per short ton (34.28552 g/t)
length ft foot (0.3048 m)
length m meter (SI base unit)
length mi mile (1,609.344 m)
length yd yard (0.9144 m)
mass g grams (SI base unit)
mass kg kilogram (1,000 g)
mass oz troy ounce (31.10348 g)
mass t tonne (1,000 kg)
mass ton short ton or US ton (0.90719 t)
time Ma million years
volume cu yd cubic yard (0.7646 m3)
volume gallon U.S. liquid gallon (3.785411784 L)
volume L litre (SI base unit)
temperature °C degrees Celsius
temperature °F degrees Fahrenheit (°F = °C × 9/5 + 32)

Notes:

SI refers to the International System of Units; Degrees Celsius is not an SI unit but is a de facto standard for temperature

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3      Reliance on other experts

No reliance on other experts who are not qualified persons was made in the preparation of this report.

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4      Property description and location

Nolan Creek is at the center of the Koyukuk Mining District and about 175 mi north-northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. Claim records submitted to the QP on December 22nd, 2008 by Silverado employee Mr. Roger Burggraf in Fairbanks are summarized below.

As of August 7th, 2008, Silverado’s Nolan Creek holdings consist of 204 unpatented, federal placer mining claims covering approximately 4,080 acres ( 1,651 ha) in three, non-contiguous groups, and 407 unpatented federal lode mining claims covering approximately 8,140 acres (3,294 ha) in one group. An updated list of all of Silverado’s placer and lode claims is included in Appendix I.

All of Silverado’s claims, with the exception of seven of the placer claims, are in the SE1/4, Township 31 North, Range 12 West, the NE1/4, Township 30 North, Range 12 West, and SW1/4, Township 31 North, Range 11 West, Fairbanks Meridian. All of the claims are in the Wiseman B-1 quadrangle, southern Brooks Mountain Range, northern Alaska.

The first and largest group of federal mining claims, referred to by Silverado as the Nolan Creek Gold Project, consists of 197 contiguous placer mining claims covering about 12 sq mi and a second placer claim group of eight contiguous claims that cover about 0.5 sq mi; the latter group lies about 0.25 mi east of the first claim group. Silverado Gold Mines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverado, is the registered owner of the 197 placer claims.

The second group of six (6) placer claims are on Thompson Gulch (i.e., Thompson Pup claim group), which are known as Discovery Claim on Thompson Pup, No. 1 Above Discovery, No. 2 Above Discovery, No. 3 Above Discovery, L&L Bench, and Rough Gold Bench.

Silverado’s third placer claim group, referred to as the Hammond Property, contains 24 contiguous federal placer claims leased from Alaska Mining Company (ALMINCO) that are about 1 mi east of the Nolan Creek Gold Project claims.

Silverado has 407 federal lode mining claims, many of which overlap or are superimposed over their federal placer mining claims; an updated claim location appears in. This total includes recent additions to the lode claim group to the east and north of the historic holdings.

In addition Silverado controls 36 federal lode claims owned by ALMINCO in the Hammond River area, some of which overlap the placer claim group previously described.

In total, Silverado controls 611 federal placer and lode mining claims in the Nolan Creek area.

Eight (8) key federal lode mining claims secure the mineralized zones on the Workman’s and Pringle Benches that are the focus of this investigation. They include claims covering the NE1/4 of section 33, Township 30 North, Range 12 West Fairbanks Meridian, which include claims SSH10, SSH09, SSH07, SSH11, 151, 179, 152, and SSH14 (figure 4.2) .

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Figure 4.1 Silverado updated placer claim configuration, Nolan Creek, August 7th, 2008 , as plotted on sectional base


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Figure 4.2 Silverado updated lode claim configuration, Nolan Creek, August 7th, 2008, as plotted on sectional base


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4.1      Mineral tenure

All of Silverado’s mineral properties at Nolan Creek are federal mining claims. The U.S Mining Law of 1872 (as amended) allows for a locater to stake either a placer deposit or a lode deposit. Under the federal mining law, a 20 acre placer claim with the dimensions of 660 ft by 1,320 ft may be staked. For lode claims, the dimensions are 600 ft by 1,500 ft.

There are many individual claim names. Many of the original placer claims acquired or staked by Silverado have historic names such as Mary’s Bench, Workman’s Bench, Clara Discovery, and others. Beginning in 2006, new lode and placer claims were designated in numerical succession.

The Alaska State Government requires a mining license tax from all mineral production net income of the tax payer regardless of underlying land ownership. For a major mining operation, it is computed at $4,000 plus 7.0% of the excess over $100,000 of net income (Alaska Department of Natural Resources, 2004). Furthermore, there is a 3.5 year tax exemption period after initial production begins. Depletion is figured as an allowable deduction of 15% of annual gross income, excluding from gross income an amount equal to rents and royalties. The Alaska State corporate income tax rate is 9.4% if net profit is more than a set threshold amount.

4.2      Silverado’s property title and interest

The majority of the Nolan Creek federal mining claims are controlled by Silverado Gold Mines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverado. Annual fees must be paid to the federal government. Silverado must also pay a federal mining claim holders fee of $125 per claim by August 28th, 2008 or within 90 days of location. Maintenance and holding fees for the federal placer and lode mining claims in Nolan Creek totaled approximately $84,000 USD for the 2008 calendar year, which were paid on July 31st, 2008 to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management by Silverado; $7,500 USD of this total is to cover maintenance fees for sixty federal placer and lode mining claims owned by ALMINCO.

The Thompson Pup claim group of six placer claims is subject to a purchase royalty of 3% of net profits on 80% of gold production payable, to Mr. Frank Figlinski and Mr. Lyle R. Carlson.

The Hammond Property (24 federal placer claims) is subject to a lease with an option to purchase from Alaska Mining Company, Inc. (Alminco) for $500,000, with terms including payment, subject to a purchase royalty of 10% of gross production from the claims with a minimum royalty payment of $80,000 annually, regardless of the level of production activities.

4.3      Location and maintenance of property boundaries

Claim posts are located in the field on all four sides of each claim. The laws of the State of Alaska permit staking both state and federal mining claims with the assistance of a helicopter, and many claims were staked at Nolan Creek using this mode of transportation during the winter period. In the spring, all claims were checked with GPS on the ground. The federal law allows for a 20 acre association claim to be located adjacent to the initial location. The locater must record the locations within 45 days of staking. An affidavit of

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annual labor must be filed in the recording district of location and at the principle land management agency, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (USBLM) office by December 30 of each year.

4.4      Location of mineralized zones, mine workings, and mineral resources

Past test mining of placer gold deposits by Silverado has occurred in a number of localities in Nolan Creek Valley (Figure 4.). These include a number of small, discontinuous, placer gold deposits, including Ogden-Eureka, Swede Channel, Mary’s East, Mary’s North, and 3B-1 Deposits, all of which are found on a left limit bench system above Nolan Creek, and Archibald and Faye Creeks, which are typical modern stream placer deposits. The Slisco Bench is a terrace placer deposit that occurs on the right limit of Hammond River about 3 mi northeast of Nolan Creek Camp.

More recently, exploration for hard rock lodes has taken place on Pringle Bench north of Smith Creek and especially on Workman’s Bench to the southwest, which are part of the same northeast-striking vein and vein-fault antimony-gold mineralized system.

Nolan Creek is classified as an ‘industrial stream’, which recognizes placer mining as a determined use in the Koyukuk district. Under Alaska State law all disturbed lands must be reclaimed after mining activities have ceased, regardless of land ownership. For placer mining in Nolan Creek, Silverado participates in the statewide bond pool administered by the ADNR. Reclamation has occurred consistent with the operating plan and has been reduced from a bonded 60 acres to about 40 acres, per discussions with USBLM field personnel.

The Nolan Creek property is on federal lands that are adjacent to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, which is administered by the U.S. National Park Service (USNPS). According to records researched by the QP, neither the USBLM nor USNPS have ever lodged a complaint about exploration or mining activities that have occurred on Silverado’s claims.

A potential issue for future mine closure on the property deals with the maintenance shop facility at the Nolan Creek Mine. The shop has a dirt floor and has been in use since the early 1980s. The shop may contain contaminated soils that will need to be remediated at mine closure. There also is a solid waste permit application that has been submitted to the ADEC for the burial of clean metal material. Based on discussions with USBLM personnel, these issues are not, at present, considered to be a significant environmental concern.

4.5      Environmental liabilities

Because the claims are federal, reclamation activities follow guidelines administered by the USBLM. Overall water quality is administered by the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC). The QP conducted an audit of the ADEC and Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR) websites for any environmental liabilities related to Silverado’s Nolan Creek properties, and could not find any notice of water quality violations, public notice violations, non-point source water pollution control issues, or wastewater violations.

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Nolan Creek is classified as an ‘industrial stream’, which recognizes placer mining as a determined use in the Koyukuk district. Under Alaska State law all disturbed lands must be reclaimed after mining activities have ceased, regardless of land ownership. For placer mining in Nolan Creek, Silverado participates in the statewide bond pool administered by the ADNR. Reclamation has occurred consistent with the operating plan and has been reduced from a bonded 60 acres to about 40 acres, per discussions with USBLM field personnel.

The Nolan Creek property is on federal lands that are adjacent to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, which is administered by the U.S. National Park Service (USNPS). According to records researched by the QP, neither the USBLM nor USNPS have ever lodged a complaint about exploration or mining activities that have occurred on Silverado’s claims.

A potential issue for future mine closure on the property deals with the maintenance shop facility at the Nolan Creek Mine. The shop has a dirt floor and has been in use since the early 1980s. The shop may contain contaminated soils that will need to be remediated at mine closure. There also is a solid waste permit application that has been submitted to the ADEC for the burial of clean metal material. Based on discussions with USBLM personnel, these issues are not, at present, considered to be a significant environmental concern.

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Figure 4.3 Location map of Nolan Creek placer and lode mineral deposits

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4.6      Permit requirements

Silverado requires an Alaska Placer Mining Application Permit (APMA Permit) to operate on their claims at Nolan Creek. Two Nolan Creek claims were found to be listed on active State of Alaska APMA Permits during calendar year 2007, which reflects the recent underground placer mining activities that have taken place in Swede Channel and Mary’s East placer deposits. Other APMA Permits identified on other claims in Nolan Creek Valley have been closed due to inactivity. Permits to process waste water at Nolan Camp and for fuel storage have been received. The former implements a new technology that processes human waste waters to meet drinking quality standards.

An active Plan of Operations on Nolan Creek is filed with the USBLM. Both surface and underground mining activities follow the rules administered by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Silverado’s mining operations on Nolan Creek have been inspected by MSHA officials several times during 2002 to 2003. The QP observed two field inspections of Silverado activities by MSHA officers during 2006 to 2007. One citation was issued during the spring of 2006 to Silverado that requested remedial action at their portal for the ‘Swede Channel Project’. The portal for the mine-test was shored up and subsequently approved by MSHA.

The company has acquired a permit from the USBLM to collect a bulk mineralized sample. This will allow Silverado to acquire up to 1,000 cu yd of mineralized materials for metallurgical testing and analysis from their Workman’s Bench stibnite-gold resource area.

During his review of the ongoing operations this year, the QP identified the need for Silverado to produce a potential acid generation (PAG) plan designed to mitigate Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) initially for both the bulk sample collection effort and later for underground development of the Workman’s Bench lode (Bundtzen, 2008b, c). Permitting for potential (ARD) will require compliance with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), a program that has been administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This year, the State of Alaska took over primacy of NPDES as have more than 30 other US States, which mean that NPDES permitting requirements in Alaska will be processed through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC). The NPDES regulatory package will include: 1) impacts and risks to surface water; 2) mitigation of total dissolved solids (TDS); 3) permitting of tailings and decant water containment facilities; and 4) treatment and management costs. Specific permit types will depend on an assessment of risks analysis, which must be completed by Silverado prior to development.

A regulatory issue did affect Silverado’s 2007 core drilling program on Pringle Bench north of Smith Creek. Exploration must comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as codified in USBLM regulation 36CFR 800. Silverado hired Northern Land Use Research (NLUR) of Fairbanks, Alaska to complete a cultural review on a number of claims where historic mining activities had taken place. Last year, NLUR produced a report for Silverado detailing the extent of historical artifacts present on the mining claims. That report was then forwarded to the USBLM (Neely, 2007). After the USBLM reviewed the 2007 NLUR report, their staff recommended removal of a historic cabin on Smith Creek and removal of an elevated sluice on the south wall of Smith Creek.

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5      Accessibility, climate, local resources, infrastructure, and physiography

The Koyukuk Mining District is bounded on the east by the South Fork of Koyukuk River, the Alatna River on the west, the continental divide of the Brooks Range on the north, and the Kanuti River basin on the south. Elevations in the district range from 4,635 ft on Vermont Dome to about 1,220 ft on the floodplain of the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River. Other prominent landforms present at or near Nolan Creek include Smith Dome at 4,005 ft elevation, Montana Mountain at 3,270 ft, and Midnight Dome at 3,860 ft.

Vegetation in the area is dominantly mature white spruce forests and occasional groves of birch and alder. Although lower slopes are heavily forested, the entire area was logged during the late 19th to early 20th Centuries to provide fuel for early underground placer mine activities, heat for miner’s cabins, and wood for construction activities. Currently, the timberline is at about 2,500 ft elevation. Alpine species consist of various mosses and blueberries.

Nolan Creek is at the center of the Koyukuk district . Regularly scheduled commuter flights from Fairbanks to the 4,500 ft long, state-maintained Coldfoot Airport are provided by Wright Air Service Inc. Nolan Creek is road-accessible from Fairbanks via the Dalton Highway, which services the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the North Slope oil fields.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline and Dalton Highway corridor in the valley of the Middle Fork, Koyukuk River is east-southeast of the Nolan Creek property holdings . The small community of Wiseman, with a 2000 census population of 28, is at the junction of the 7 mi long, secondary access road that links the Dalton Highway with Silverado’s Nolan Creek mine camp. In 1985, the access road from Wiseman to Nolan Creek was upgraded to secondary standards by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF).

Silverado’s Nolan Creek property is remote and far from Alaska’s urban areas. Silverado’s camp is located 175 air mi north-northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest community, with a population in 2007 of about 98,000.

The community of Coldfoot, which is about 13 mi south of the community of Wiseman, has Alaska’s most northern gas station, grocery, bar, and public lodging facilities. The weather station at Coldfoot provides the Alaska State Weather Service with climatic condition on the Southern Brooks Range. DOTPF operates a large shop facility at Coldfoot on a year-round basis, and maintains a 125 mi long segment of the Dalton Highway and the Coldfoot Airport.

Nolan Creek Valley is located about 75 mi north of the Arctic Circle. Winter usually begins in late September or early October and lasts until early April. A very brief spring is followed by summer in early June, which lasts until late August. Fall weather conditions occur for about one month in September. Coldfoot, about 15 mi southeast of Nolan Creek Valley, recorded the unofficial all-time, State of Alaska record low of –82°F in January, 1989.

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5.1 Nolan Creek location map.

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Temperatures as high as 85°F have been recorded in nearby Wiseman. Exploration drilling by Silverado has taken place from June 1 to late October. For example, the 2007 core drilling program ended on October 23, when temperatures rapidly decreased to –10°F and froze the water lines. The annual duration of surface exploration and test-mining activities ranges from 135 days to 150 days.

During 2008, core drilling on Workman’s Bench was delayed until June 8th, due to a late spring thaw. An early May startup had been planned. Heavy snows prevented access into areas where collars were planned. Sub-freezing temperatures that occurred well into May reinforced the company decision to delay the start of the drilling season until June 8th.

The camp is underlain by permafrost for up to several hundred feet. This necessitates engineering of facilities to combat the thawing of the substrate and drawing water from wells, which tend to freeze.

Silverado has operated seasonal, underground placer drift mines intermittently from 1994 to 2007. These mine methods, which blast with standard drill-and-shoot techniques and excavate frozen gravels with low-profile mining equipment, are dependent upon freezing weather conditions. Since 1994, winter drifting has taken place from November 1 to March 31. When temperatures exceed 15°F underground, test-mining activities are curtailed to avoid thawing of frozen gravels until colder temperatures are encountered.

The freezing ground conditions also affected the underground testing of lode antimony-gold mineralization in the 470 feet of drifts and crosscuts constructed Workman’s bench during late 2007 and early 2008. Because the ground was in a frozen state, there was no need to shore up underground workings and no timbering was required. The portal was closed tight in early spring and underground conditions remained safe and intact although some deterioration caused by thawing at the portal required some remedial work in the fall. The reinforcement of wall rock competency by freezing conditions is an important positive factor in the development of the antimony-gold-lodes.

5.1      Infrastructure

Nolan Camp is located in the valley of Nolan Creek about 2 mi above the confluence with Wiseman Creek. The original Nolan operations, including camp, buildings, machinery shops, and related equipment, were constructed in the late 1980s. Power is produced by a diesel power plant at the camp site. Nolan Camp was upgraded in 2002 and again in 2007 so that underground and open-cut mining operations could be effectively carried out. The upgrading and efforts included:

  • The purchase and installation of a ten room housing unit;

  • The construction of an engineering office;

  • The upgrading of laboratory facilities;

  • The installation of a new sewage treatment facility;

  • The construction of a new kitchen and cafeteria; and

  • The installation of new communications equipment.

The camp is capable of housing 30 workers on a full-time basis.

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Water is obtained from a well near Wiseman, about 5 mi from Nolan Camp, and transported to camp with a water truck. Water is then pumped into three 2,500 gallon plastic holding tanks that are housed in the main utility room. A conventional well near the camp is no longer used because of problems encountered with permafrost, which freezes the well casing.

Tailings have been stored on BLM approved pads at several sites in Nolan Creek Valley. Tailings ponds have been constructed during seasonal mining activities, and operate under a 100% recycle technology.

Silverado has fuel containment facilities associated with their two 15,000 gallon capacity diesel tanks. All gasoline is purchased in 55 gallon barrels. Both gas and diesel tanks, which are stored on liners in accordance with ADEC specifications, are located about 100 yd west of the cafeteria and bunkhouse complex.

There appears to be adequate space for storage of tailings, mine equipment, and fuel in Nolan Creek Valley. Most exploration, development, and test mining activities from placer claims have been of a small scale nature, extracting and processing less than 50,000 tons of mineralized material each year. Each year, this quantity of materials has been stacked for processing, restacked after processing, and reclaimed in a manor required by the Alaska Department of natural Resources, the principle agency that administers the State of Alaska’s mined land reclamation programs.

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6      History

6.1      Historical ownership of property

Placer mining claims held by Silverado in the Nolan Creek Valley area are centered on historic claims located by miners and prospectors prior to World War II. Prior to 1920, the claims were held by more than 30 small companies and individuals. During the 1930s to1960s, prospectors consolidated most of the claim group in Nolan Creek Valley.

In 1978, Silverado leased ten core placer claims on Nolan Creek while working its claims staked the same year. In 1981, Silverado acquired 55 core claims in Nolan Creek Valley, which forms the base of the placer interests today. In 1991, Silverado acquired key claims on Woll Bench and adjacent areas near Archibald creek from Mr. Paul Dionne, who was mining pacer gold at a small scale with underground drift mining methods. Silverado located an additional 150 placer mining claims starting in 1994 and ending in 2007.

In 1994, Silverado leased 38 placer mining claims from Alminco on the Hammond River. This claim group includes the Eldorado Association, which includes the ‘Slisco Bench’ system that has been explored with drilling by Silverado up through 2006. Silverado has maintained this lease on this claim group through 2008.

Because placer mining activity dominated Nolan Creek Valley, Silverado held only a small number of federal lode claims until the last 5 years. Historic lode mining claims were largely confined to Smith Creek Valley. In 1978, the Smith Lodes 1 to 3 were also acquired. Silverado agent Mr. Brian Flanigan staked 38 federal lode claims for Silverado in 2003 (SS01-SS38 series). Agent Mr. Glen Drexler staked 221 lode claims for Silverado in 2006 and 68 lode claims for Silverado in 2007. During 2008, five (5) federal placer claims and fifty four (54) federal lode claims were dropped in Nolan Creek valley and Marion Creek area to the east, bringing the total to 611.

6.2      Exploration and development by previous owners

Prior to Silverado activities in Nolan Creek Valley, exploration and development work by previous claim owners was minimal. Mine development was directly associated with surface and underground placer gold mining activities. During World War II, some trenching of stibnite (antimony) lode mineralization took place on Pringle Bench north of Smith Creek. Pacific Rim could find no evidence of any drilling programs that took place on either in Nolan Creek Valley or in the Hammond River property area during this period.

Since 1983, mineral resource estimates have been prepared by Silverado contractors for Nolan Creek deposits (see Armstrong, 2001; Armstrong et al, 1994; Childress, 1995; House, 1995a, b, c; Murton, 2004; and Flanigan, 2004 ). These estimates have been made over a period of time when the rules that govern public disclosure of mineral resource data has significantly changed in the United States, Canada, and abroad.

In general, most mineral resource estimates made by Silverado do not conform to guidelines set forth in Sections 1.2, 1.3, and 2.4 of NI 43-101, and have not been relied upon in this analysis. However, some resource estimates of individual placer gold deposits made by Armstrong et al (1994), Murton (2004), and Flanigan (2004) do conform to NI 43-101, and have been used in this analysis.

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In 2004, the QP prepared an independent technical review of Silverado’s mineral properties in the Fairbanks Mining District and at Nolan Creek (Bundtzen, 2004). This report provides a comprehensive summary of the lodes and placer mineral properties in both areas, but was not presented in Form 43-101F1 format and was hence not compliant with NI 43-101.

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes and documents exploration and development activities by previous workers in the area.

6.3      Historical production

Placer gold was found on the bars of the Koyukuk River between 1885 and 1890, and the first commercial discoveries on Nolan Creek and tributaries of the Hammond River and tributaries were made in 1901 (Cobb, 1974). Since then, about 344,990 oz of gold have been recovered from both open cut and underground placer mines in the Koyukuk District (Kurtak et al, 2002a, b). The largest single producer has been Nolan Creek and its tributaries, Smith Creek and Archibald and Fay Gulches, which have produced an estimated 185,000 oz of placer gold from 1901 to 2007, or about 54% of the Koyukuk District total. More than 100,000 oz of gold was produced during 1908 to 1911 by underground drift miners on Nolan Creek.

Figure 6.1 shows the location of Silverado’s past placer mining activities from 1979 to the present. In that period gold production was intermittent. Total production from 1979 to 2007 was 23,150 oz of placer gold recovered from 271,771 cu yd of gravel at an average grade of 0.085 oz/cu yd gold (Table 6.1) .

Silverado’s production of placer gold began in 1979, when a small test cut on Archibald Creek yielded about 12 ounces of coarse placer gold. Silverado’s initial placer mining efforts on Nolan Creek focused on mining restricted fractions of pay gravels on Archibald and Fay Creeks at the upper end of Nolan Creek basin. Production totaled 730 ounces from 12,166 cubic yards in 1981; 304 ounces of placer gold from 4,343 cubic yards in 1984; and 1,338 ounces of placer gold in 20,585 cubic yards in 1987 (Armstrong, 1984). Recovered grade during all three years ranged from 0.060 -0.070 ounce gold/cubic yard. During 1989-1990, Paul Dionne drifted underground on the Wool Bench south of Archibald Creek and reported grades of 0.100 oz/ton gold. His results and the success of other drift miners in the Koyukuk district led Silverado test-mine underground placer gold resources on their Nolan Creek claims.

From 1994 to 1995, Silverado extracted gold bearing gravels from two underground mining operations, the Mary’s Bench and 3B1 ore bodies; and four surface-mineable sources: the Ogden-Eureka Bench, Phase 3 Open Cut, West Block, and Mary’s Bench Hydraulic Pit. During this two year production period, Silverado’s placer mining activities in the Nolan Creek property area were nearly continuous with underground stopes being extracted during the winter and surface mines developed during the summer. Pay gravels from all sources were washed during the summer months. During 1994-1995, 13,162 ounces of placer gold, much of it of jewelry grade, were recovered from 100,307 cubic yards of gravels, at an average grade of 0.131 ounces gold /cubic yard. Production steeply declined during 1996 to 1998 because of the lack of drill-indicated (underground) resources.

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During 2002-2003, Silverado explored and developed the ‘Nolan Deep Channel underground drift project’, which was quickly terminated after encountering ‘live water’ and roof and sidewall instability.

During 2006-2007 Silverado began a phased development of the Swede Channel and Mary’s East underground drift mine projects. Both mine developments were initiated after RC drill hole data identified placer gold deposits. Silverado recovered 4,661 ounces of placer gold from 34,228 loose cubic yards of gravel at an average grade of 0.136 ounces gold per loose cubic yard.

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Figure 6.1      Location of areas test-mined by Silverado

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Table 6.1      Placer gold production from Silverado properties, 1979 to 2007, Nolan Creek

Year

Location

Bank cu yd
(BCY)
Placer gold
recovered
(oz)
Recovered grade
(oz/BCY)
1979 Fay Creek NA 12 NA
1981 Archibald/Fay Creek 12,166 730 0.060
1984 Archibald/Fay Creek 4,343 304 0.070
1987 Archibald/Fay Creek 20,585 1,338 0.065
1993 Thompson Pup 33,800 1,304 0.038
1994 Mary’s Bench Underground 16,143 2,697 0.167
1994 Ogden-Eureka Bench Open Cut 29,300 5,733 0.196
1995 Phase 3 Open Cut 22,285 2,394 0.107
1995 3B1 Underground 12,991 1,006 0.077
1995 West Block Open Cut 18,988 1,305 0.069
1995 Mary’s Bench Hydraulic 600 27 0.045
1996 Dolney Bench Open Cut 5,042 126 0.025
1998 Archibald Creek Open Cut 5,947 128 0.022
1999 Swede Channel Underground 4,575 623 0.136
1999 Workman’s Bench Open Cut 5,580 112 0.020
2000 Workman’s Bench Open Cut 14,919 201 0.013
2003 Nolan Deep Channel; Wool Bench, Mary’s Bench 30,279 451 0.015
2006 Swede Channel 8,896 951 0.105
2007 Swede Channel and Mary’s East 25,332 3,711 0.146
Total   271,771 23,153 0.085

Notes:

Modified from Bundtzen (2004); unpublished Silverado production files, and Bundtzen (2006c; 2008).

Includes 1,338 ounces of gold nuggets produced by lessee Eclipse Mining in 1987 and 623 ounces of placer gold produced by lessee Mike Roberts in 1999

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7      Geological setting.

The bedrock geology of Nolan Creek is dominated by units of the Brooks Range schist belt, a poly-deformed package of schist, greenstone, and orthogneiss (figure 7.1) . The schist belt is part of the Coldfoot sub-terrane of the Arctic Alaska terrane, which underlies more than 75% of the south flank of the Brooks Range.

Nolan Creek has been subjected to the effects of Pleistocene glaciation, which has carved U-shaped profiles in the various trunk valleys (figure 7.1) . Glacial drift of the Middle Pleistocene Sagavanirktok River Glaciation occupies hill slopes, low saddle areas, and high level cirques to maximum elevations of about 3,200 ft at Nolan Creek. The Late Pleistocene Itkillik Glaciation left various types of drift in major trunk streams including in the valleys of Middle Fork, Koyukuk River. During the Itkillik glacial maximum, an extensive 9 mi long by 2 mi wide lake, called Glacial Lake Wiseman, inundated nearly the entire valley of Wiseman Creek. With valley base levels reestablished to much lower levels, Glacial Lake Wiseman was eventually drained to the east, cutting a steep, till-covered, bedrock canyon to the Middle Fork, Koyukuk River. Such rapid base level adjustments are a key mechanism for the development of placer-style gold mineralization at Nolan Creek.

Brittle deformation began to form as the last regional metamorphic gradients subsided in Middle Cretaceous time as manifested in an orthogonal, stress field pattern that is in a conjugate relationship in the Nolan Creek and Hammond River areas. A northeast-striking high angle fault cuts across the left limit of Nolan Creek over Vermont Pass and into Hammond River canyon. A northwest-trending fault in conjugate relationship with northeast structures trends up Wiseman Creek, and possibly through lower Hammond River canyon.

Placer gold deposits eroding from the Sb-Au vein deposits in the Coldfoot Terrane have formed in valleys and on benches of Nolan Creek valley and the Hammond River areas.

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes all aspects of the geologic setting of the area. A more complete geologic setting of the Nolan Creek area was released on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and can be accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

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Figure 7. 1 Geologic map of the Nolan Creek area Koyukuk District; modified from Dillon and Reifenstuhl (1990) and Hamilton (1979).


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8      Deposit types

The Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench properties contain quartz-stibnite-gold veins that cut a high-angle, structurally controlled zone that is 150 ft to 300 ft wide and at least 1,600 ft in length. These quartz-only and stibnite-quartz (gold) veins strike northeast and cross-cut low angle cleavage at steep to vertical angles. Besides locally massive stibnite, the quartz-carbonate vein stock works also contain arsenopyrite.

The gold-stibnite-quartz veins of Nolan Creek Valley strongly resemble the gold-antimony deposit type (U.S. Geological Survey Deposit Model 36C). These deposits are characterized by the presence of stibnite, berthierite, high fineness gold, and aurostibite hosted in metamorphosed, quartz-carbonate-bearing, compressive shear zones within low grade, greenschist facies metamorphic rocks. The deposit types are characterized by deformed, ductile fabrics and tectonically recrystallized, fine grained, granoblastic stibnite lobes and lenses.

The gold-antimony deposit type 36C is considered to be a sub-type of the mesothermal, auriferous lodes found in mineral provinces worldwide. Mineral deposit type 36C is not very well documented in North America but well studied in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Worldwide examples include deposits in the Transvaal of South Africa, the Reefton District in New Zealand, and deposits in Eastern Europe and in Russia. Olympiada in Siberia is an example of a large, productive gold (stibnite) deposit of this type.

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes lode and placer mineral deposit types in the Nolan Creek area, including the Workman’s bench area. Detailed descriptions of placer and lode deposit types are described in the report, which was released on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and can be accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

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9      Mineralization

9.1      Lode deposits

The Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench properties contain quartz-stibnite-gold veins that cut a high angle, structurally controlled zone that is 150 ft to 300 ft wide and at least 1,600 ft in length. These quartz-only and stibnite-quartz (gold) veins strike north 45° east and cross-cut low angle cleavage at steep-to-vertical angles. Besides locally massive stibnite, the veins also contain significant arsenopyrite. Individual quartz-sulfide veins north of Smith Creek range from 1 in to 4 in thick and can be traced for at least 400 ft of strike length (Ebbley and Wright, 1948).

Bedrock units on Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench consist of dark gray, carbonaceous phyllite and schist, light gray quartz-rich meta-sandstone, greenish gray chlorite rich muscovite schist, and occasional lenses of calcareous chlorite schist. Isolated boudins of greenstone-gabbro have also been observed, but not in place. The layered rock units have been deformed by both open and sub-isoclinal folds. Metamorphic foliation in the hanging wall and footwall zones of the vein-fault zone is normally shallow, with dips of less than 45°. S1 foliation usually parallels compositional banding, but locally, a conspicuous S2 secondary cleavage crosscuts compositional banding at a high angle. Northeast and northwest-striking, high angle fault zones and low angle thrust faults cut the metamorphic rock basement.

Lode mineralization at Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench systems consists of a northeast-striking, steeply dipping zone of gold-bearing, quartz-stibnite veins and veinlets. At Workman’s Bench, stibnite-bearing veinlets occur from 86 ft to 234 ft from the portal or over a width of about 150 ft. Because the drift was cut perpendicular to strike, this represents a true thickness of the vein-veinlet swarm. A more focused zone of quartz stibnite vein concentration occurs mainly from 136 ft to 234 ft or an estimated width of about 98 ft, where 67 individual veins were identified. Within the ‘Crosscut A’ zone, 21 of the veins contained identifiable stibnite. In the ‘Crosscut C’ zone, the same mineralized stock work veins occur from 120 ft 228 ft or an estimated width of 108 ft. 79 individual veins were identified, 22 of which contain stibnite.

At Pringle Bench, which is the northeasterly extension of the Workman’s Bench system, the same stibnite-quartz vein-fault system widens to nearly 400 ft in three subsidiary zones. However, unlike the Workman’s bench system, where individual veins can be traced continuously both laterally and vertically, the stibnite-quartz (gold) veins are more diffuse, with less certainty in correlating individual veins along strike.

A majority of veins observed in either trenches, core, or underground workings exhibit nearly horizontal slickensides, suggesting intrusion of hydrothermal fluids along fault zones and lateral movement subsequent to vein emplacement.

Polished section analysis shows that two basic fabrics are observed in the stibnite (aurostibnite)-quartz veins:

  • Simple, twinned stibnite blades and grains showing resorption textures with euhedral, quartz crystals and grains.

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  • Extensive shearing and local coarsening of sulfide grains (mainly stibnite), 120° triple junctions in mono-mineralic stibnite, and recrystallization of gangue minerals (quartz) that indicate dynamic metamorphism.

Mineralization in the ‘A Zone’ at Workman’s Bench contains a shear fabric consisting of parallel lamina of recrystallized stibnite. These fabrics are referred to in the literature as thermal metamorphic textures (i.e., Ineson, 1989).Microprobe analyses by Cannon Microprobe Inc. document the such minerals as siderite (as gangue) and accessory arsenopyrite occur in the stibnite-bearing zones (figure 9.1) .

Figure 9.1 Photomicrographs, Workman’s Bench mineralized system

More than 90% of the veins and veinlets dip steeply southeast, with dips ranging from 50° to 85°. A few veins dip steeply northwest. A system of east-west to northwest striking, moderately dipping vein-faults cut through the underground workings. The QP observed that these faults both offset, to a minor degree, the northeast-striking, stibnite-bearing veins, but are also cut by other northeast-striking stibnite veins

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9.2      Placer deposits

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes lode and placer mineralization in the Nolan Creek area, including the Workman’s bench area. No significantly new placer deposit mineralization information has been generated for Nolan Creek project since that report was released on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and which can be accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

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10     Exploration

10.1     Results of placer and lode exploration

Since 1978, Silverado has explored for placer gold and lode gold deposits on their Nolan Creek and Hammond River-Silsco Bench properties. Table 10.1 summarizes the scope of the exploration work that has been conducted on Silverado properties since about 1981. Until 2006, most of the exploration work focused on placer gold deposits. Through the end of 2007, an estimated 910 RC drill holes that total 58,756 ft have evaluated placer gold deposits in the study area (Table 10.1) . Drill holes range from 25 ft to 145 ft in depth and average 62 ft in depth. During the drill program, more than 11,750 five-ft intervals were systematically panned down the entire length of each drill hole. The drill holes were generally designed on 50 ft centers. In Nolan Creek Valley, drill hole collars are oriented along north 070° west (290°) lines, which crosscut the northeast trend of ancestral and modern, gold-bearing fluvial deposits. On Slisco Bench in the Hammond River area, drill holes are spaced at 50 ft intervals but aligned to cross the channel orientation which trends northeast in the north and northwest in the south. An estimated 6,380 ft of underground exploration drifts have been completed by a contractor of Silverado.

RC drilling is the principle exploration method used by Silverado in the identification of placer gold deposits in the Nolan Creek and Hammond River areas. RC drilling campaigns have led directly to the development and test mining of placer deposits at Nolan Creek. These would include successful development of the relatively high grade, Mary’s Bench and Ogden-Eureka Bench deposits in 1994; the West Block and 3B1 Underground deposits in 1995, The Swede Channel development in 1999 and 2005 to 2006; and the Mary’s East deposit during 2007.

Table 10.1      Summary of exploration activities, Nolan Creek, 1981 to 2008

                                   Activity Sample count Drill hole count Total drilled (ft)
Soil/stream sediment samples 1,383(1) NA NA
Rock chip samples 275 NA NA
Rotary drilling (lode) 739 14 3,695
Core drilling (lode) 1,822 59 16,152
Reverse circulation drilling (placer) 11,751(2) 910 58,756
Trenching 328(3) NA 4,422(3)
Underground exploration drifts NA NA 6,380(4)
Geophysical surveys (VLF/EM) NA NA 70.28 line mi(5)
Notes:
(1) Does not include soil sampling conducted by USBLM on Silverado claims.
(2) 5 ft intervals were panned and gold, where encountered, weighed or estimated.

(3) Estimated from 2004, 2006, and 2007 Silverado work. Does not include federal government exploration work.

(4) Exploration drifting only. Does not include production or development stopes.
(5) Does not include airborne work conducted by USBLM over Silverado claims.

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However, drilling also led to the decision to develop the Nolan Deep Channel deposit during 2002 to 2003, which failed due to geo-technical issues, including an unseasonably warm winter and the presence of live water.

Prior to 2007, lode exploration includes soil, rock, and geophysical investigations that have been followed up by limited drilling campaigns. A systematic soil grid totaling about 1,383 samples covers portions of the mineralized trends in Smith Creek area and Fortress Mountain. A northeast-trending zone of antimony-arsenic-gold anomalies were identified in soils.

Follow-up geophysical studies, using the VLF/EM method, covered soil surveys in the Smith Creek area, including the Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench, the Hillside stibnite occurrence, and in the so-called Fortress trend. From 1994 to 2008 exploration for lode gold deposits totaled 3,230 ft in 15 RC drill holes and 4,716 ft in 19 shallow core drilling holes. A combined 1,738 samples (at 5 ft and variables lengths) have been laboratory tested for gold, antimony, and other metals. An estimated 4,422 ft of trenching has taken place mostly on Pringle Bench, at Workman’s Bench prospects. Rock-chip samples test mineralized outcrops in the Nolan Creek Valley. Beginning in 2004 and carried through to 2008, Silverado placed an emphasis on surface VLF/EM geophysical exploration of identified mineralized trends. The firm has completed a total of 70.28 line miles covering 2.85 square miles of surface area. Trench interval, soil, and VLF/EM exploration statistics are compiled in Table 10.2,

Table 10.3, and Table 10.4 summarize VLF/EM data and trench statistics, respectively.

Table 10.2      Summary of Silverado’s soil sampling programs, Nolan Creek, 2003 to 2007

Year

Location of soil grid

Grid
coverage
(sq ft)
Sample
count
Analytical methods(1)

2003 and 2004 Workman’s Bench, Hillside, and Wool Bench  171,000 398 ME-ICP41; Au-ICP21
2007 Workman’s and Pringle Bench, and Hillside  208,700 695 ME-ICP41; Au-ICP21
2007 Fortress  107,240 290 ME-ICP41; Au-ICP21
Total    486,940 1,383  

Notes:

(1) Analytical methods as designated by ALS Chemex Labs.

Table 10.3      Summary of Silverado VLF/EM data, Nolan Creek, 2004 to 2008

Year Grid location Survey area Linear distance
    (sq mi)(1) (mi)
2004 Hillside and Wool Bench 0.60 11.57
2007 Workman’s Bench, Pringle Bench and Hillside 0.69 18.02
2007 Fortress 0.36 9.33
2008 Hillside 0.11 2.61
2008 Fortress 1.09 28.75

Notes:(1) Line spacing variable but generally 32 ft apart.

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Table 10.4      Summary of Silverado exploration trenches, Nolan Creek, 2004 to 2007

Year Target area    Trench name Length (ft) Sample count
2004 Hillside Trenches A,B,C 911 104
2006 Pringle Bench Trenches D,E,F 920 71
2007 Pringle Bench Trenches G,H,I,K,L,M 1,296 153
Total     4,422 328

10.2      Placer gold deposits

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes lode and placer mineralization in the Nolan Creek area, including the Workman’s bench area. No significantly new placer exploration information has been generated for Nolan Creek project since that release of information, which was posted on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and can be accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/

10.3      Lode deposits

The combination of soil surveys, VLF/EM geophysical data, past trenching and limited RC drilling on Smith Creek at Pringle Bench and Workman’s Bench laid the foundation for the interpretation of the character of lode mineralization (figures 10.6; 10.7) . An early 1993 drill campaign tested mineralization at Thompson’s Pup. Four drill holes penetrated a brownish gray phyllite with varying degrees of silicification, pyritization, and generally weak hydrothermal alteration. Arsenopyrite and trace stibnite were identified in two drill logs (93TPHR-03; 04). At 50 ft to 55 ft in drill hole 93TPHR-04, grades were 145 ppb gold, > 1.0% arsenic, and 25 ppm antimony, in association with abundant quartz veins.

In 1994, Silverado completed a short, rotary drill program to test the lode potential of the Workman’s Bench area, where stibnite-gash veins were found in a placer mine cut. A ‘first phase’ program consisted of about 750 ft of drilling in four drill holes that ranged from 130 ft to 300 ft in depth. Figure 10.7 illustrates the results. Three different horizons display vein-hosted gold-antimony mineralization over 100 ft to 120 ft of true width. The veins range from 0.026 oz/ton Au to 0.086 oz/ton Au over 5.0 ft assay intervals, with up to >1.0% antimony and 4,370 ppm arsenic. One 10.0 ft assay interval averaged about 0.036 oz/ton Au, >1.0% antimony, and 3,300 ppm arsenic. Underground exposures have shown that veins dip vertical or steeply southeast, not northwest as shown in 1994 cross sections.

During 1999, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (USBLM) completed surface prospecting activities in the Smith Creek lode area as part of their study of the Koyukuk Mining District. Results of these studies are summarized in Kurtak et al (2002a, b). Five grab samples of quartz-sulfide mineralization were taken from veins on Workman’s Bench while 13 samples tested vein exposures on the left (north) limit of Smith Creek, about 800 ft northeast of Workman’s Bench. The 18 grab samples averaged 0.092 oz/ton Au and 33.0% antimony, but individual samples ran as high as 0.476 oz/ton Au and 61.7% antimony (USBLM sample #11705).

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In 2000, The USBLM flew a contracted airborne geophysical survey over portions of the Koyukuk mining district. Data was collected over a 40 sq mi area that generally covered Silverado’s Nolan Creek property. Flight lines were approximately 1,500 ft apart and oriented northwest to take into account the northeast structural trend of known mineralization.

In the summer of 2003, Silverado modeled the resistivity data using Surfer 8.02 by Golden Software, with kriging parameters that focused on narrow target zones (Flanigan, 2003; Flanigan et al, 2003). The modeled geophysical data resulted in the recognition of two northeast-trending 870 Hz resistivity lows, one of which more-or-less correlates with the trend of quartz-sulfide veins on Smith Creek and the associated gold, antimony, and arsenic-in-soil anomalies (Figure 10.6) . This geophysical anomaly, with associated quartz-sulfide lode prospects and metalliferous soil anomalies, has been referred to by Silverado as the ‘Solomon Shear’ lode target (Flanigan, 2003). Silverado estimates that the Solomon Shear is about 1 mi long and 0.25 mi wide, with geophysical indications of extensions, possibly offset, for an additional 2 mi to 3 mi to the northeast. Also during 2003, Silverado geological staff acquired the multi-element geochemical data from all rotary drill programs

Figure 10.1      Map of Nolan Creek Basin illustrating 870 Khz geophysical anomaly in gray

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Figure 10.2      Section of 1994 drill hole results for Workman’s Bench


completed previously in Nolan Creek basin, and generated ‘Kriged’, contour maps for 26 of 35 analyzed elements. The contour intervals were based on information from 635, non-uniformly spaced, drill holes that were primarily evaluating placer deposits, but which penetrate bedrock for

46


depths of 2 ft to 6 ft. The elemental data from the RC drill holes confirm the existence of a significant arsenic-antimony-gold system in the Workman’s Bench area.

During 2006 to mid-2008, Silverado added to all existing information and arrived at a coherent model for mineralization in Nolan Creek. The trench, soil, and drill data all show a series of parallel, nearly vertical, quartz-carbonate-stibnite-gold veins that trend from Workman’s Bench on the southwest to Pringle Bench on the northeast for a minimum strike length of 1600 ft (figure 10.3) . Although the same vein system, the Pringle Bench mineralization is characterized by thinner, somewhat discontinuous mineralized zones and lower gold values as compared to Workman’s Bench where semi-massive stibnite veins appear to be more continuous, thicker, and contain higher gold values. The resistivity low in the ‘Solomon Shear Zone’ is interpreted by Silverado to be several parallel fracture systems that might control mineralization (figure 10.4) .

In 2007, Silverado also conducted VLF-EM geophysical, and soil sample surveys in the Fortress Trend northeast of the Workman Bench-Hillside area previously summarized. Soil sample grid area of anomalous arsenic, gold, and antimony in soil samples, and generalized locations of gold-quartz-bearing structures and veins are also shown. Elevated VLF/EM readings appear to crudely coincide with arsenic-gold anomalies. In 2008, VLF/EM coverage continued in the Fortress area.

The most significant contrast to data in the Fortress Trend as compared to the Workman-Hillside trend is the documentation of east-west-striking gold structures. Silverado believes that they now recognize two distinct auriferous structural trends, the gold-bearing, antimony-quartz veins that are fairly well documented in the general Smith Creek area, and gold-quartz-arsenopyrite Fortress-type veins exposed on the ridge between Hammond River and Nolan Creek, with up to 0.24 oz/ton Au and 28.09 percent antimony in the nearby Saddle area. Northeast structures of the first type in the Fay Creek area contain antimony, arsenic, and sparse gold anomalies.

Exploration work conducted during the latter part of 2007 and all of 2008 focused on: 1) driving 470 feet of underground drift to affirm surface and core sampling results and collection of bulk sample for a metallurgical test; and 2) ; completion of 41 diamond drill holes totaling 13,737 feet to test the extent of the Workman’s Bench antimony-gold mineralized system (figure 10.6) . This confirmed that several, parallel mineralized veins are intersected by diamond drill holes for a strike length of approximately 1,200 feet and a maximum vertical depth of 450 feet.

10.4      Origin of exploration data

Although Silverado has utilized and benefited from government-sponsored mineral investigations, the majority of the exploration work compiled from Nolan Creek Valley has been carried out by subcontractors over a 27 year period beginning in 1979. Subcontracting drilling firms have included Alaska Arctic Drilling, Inc., of Fairbanks, Alaska, and more recently Penn-Jersey Drilling of Wasilla. The exploration programs have been carried out through Silverado employees and contractors.

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48



49



50



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11      Drilling

11.1      Placer drilling programs

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes lode and placer mineralization in the Nolan Creek area, including the Workman’s bench area. No new placer drilling information has been generated for Silverado’s Nolan Creek project since that release of information, which was placed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and can be accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/ .

11.2      Lode Drilling Programs

Drilling programs investigating lodes in the district are more recent than the extensive placer drilling programs. Table 11.1 summarizes lode drilling programs conducted by Silverado since 1993.

Table 11.1      Summary of lode drilling programs

Year

Location

Drilling
method
Drill
hole
count
Amount
of drilling
(ft)
Assay
count


Drilling contractor

1993 Thompson Pup percussion 4 1,275 255   Tri-Con Mining Company
1994 Workman’s Bench percussion 4 780 156   Tri-Con Mining Company
2003 Pringle Bench and Hillside percussion 5 1,340 260   American Arctic Drilling
2006 Pringle Bench percussion 1 300 56   American Arctic Drilling
Total percussion     14 3,695 727    
2007 Pringle Bench diamond 11 2,415 607   Silverado Contractors
2007 Workman’s Bench diamond 7 2,140 588   Silverado Contractors
2008 Workman’s Bench diamond 41 11,597 627   Silverado Contractors
Total diamond     59 16,152 1,822    

Drilling to define lode-style deposits commenced in 1993 when short (130 ft to 300 ft) RC drilling was used to test for stibnite-gold-arsenic mineralization on Thomson’s Pup and later on Workman’s Bench. At Workman’s Bench the shallow holes intersected thin, steeply dipping quartz-stibnite veins some of which contained elevated gold grades. Another program in 2003 tested isolated thin vein targets on Hillside and Pringle Bench. Elevated gold, stibnite, and arsenic intersections were encountered in this program. All RC drill holes were sampled at 5 ft intervals.

In 2007 Silverado purchased it’s own diamond drill rig and contracted the drilling to Tricon, originally using BTW-sized co on the Pringle Bench and Workman’s Bench deposits. A conversion to NQ core which is larger in diameter by about ¼ inch, was made during July, 2008. NQ refers to the size of the core, which is approximately 1.75 inches in diameter. Core drilling is better suited to this narrow-vein style of deposits than RC percussion drilling.

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During 2007, Silverado tested closely spaced stibnite-quartz veins and veinlets at Pringle Bench north of Smith Creek using eleven diamond drill holes totaling 2,715 ft (3). Also during 2007, Silverado drilled a further seven drill holes (2,140 ft) to test the Workman’s Bench deposit (4).

During 2008, Silverado drilled 41 diamond drill holes totaling 11,597 feet to test the Workman’s Bench system and to advance inferred resource estimates into indicated resource categories. During 2007, seven (7) drill holes penetrated the Workman’s bench mineralized veins. All drill holes were oriented at -45o. In 2008, a decision was made to provide systematic drill intercept control along the strike and depth of the mineralized system. Hence drill orientations ranged from -45o to -65o in order to intersect the mineralized veins at different depths from the surface. Drill collars and azimuth bearings were laid in such a way as to provide more-or-less equidistant spacing, a requirement for estimating indicated resources.

Diamond core drill holes were initially sampled at 5 ft intervals regardless of geological intervals. Silverado soon recognized the need to selectively sample the thin mineralized quartz veins and changed their sampling protocol so that smaller samples, better representing these veins, could be taken. Core from drilling provided important geological and structural information that the RC chips could not provide. It is apparent that the target stibnite-quartz-gold veins are steeply dipping to vertical.

Collar location, orientation data and drill footage summaries for the RC and diamond core programs on Pringle and Workman’s bench are provided in Tables 11.2 and 11.3. Coordinates for all collars are determined with GarminTM Global Positioning System (GPS) units using a datum of NAD27 Alaska. This datum is used because the topographic bases created by Silverado in the 1990s was grounded in NAD27 Alaska, which is also the same used for USGS 1:63,360 scale maps that cover the area. GPS measurements are taken twice for each collar location. If a discrepancy is detected, then a third and forth measurement is taken to insure that the collar is accurately located.

Core recovery has been excellent, and has averaged about 95% in most drill holes. This allows for accurate recording of structural features in core as well as relationships between wall rock, mineralization, and alteration if any. Standard trigometric calculations were used to calculate the actual dip of the vein(s) in core and the true thicknesses. This is an important consideration when estimating true thicknesses of relatively thin, stibnite-bearing quartz veins used to estimate the stibnite-gold resources for the Workman’s Bench.

No down-hole orientation surveys were conducted. Oriented drill holes are important to insure that drill azimuths are not off course. The QP judges that: 1) the relatively short drill holes that accessed the mineralized zones; 2) the relative competency of the host rocks; and 3) the near horizontal foliation of the host lithology probably minimize the potential of drill holes bending and diverting off course from their projected azimuth directions. When the QP examined core interval data, most mineralized zones; i.e., ‘A’ Zone, occurred in core where intercepts were projected to take place. The QP has informed Silverado that a down-hole, oriented core program should be included in future exploration drilling campaigns.

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Table 11.2      Collar location and data, Pringle Bench.


DDH
Number

UTM Easting
(m)
UTM
Northing
(m)

Datum

Zone

Collar Elevation
(ft)

Azimuth

Dip

Total Depth
(ft)

Core Diameter
                   
06SH01 618868.02 7486656.03 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1801.50 320 -45 300 RC, 8 in
                   
Total-1               300  


DDH
Number

UTM Easting
(m)
UTM
Northing
(m)

Datum

Zone

Collar Elevation
(ft)

Azimuth

Dip

Total Depth
(ft)

Core Diameter
                   
07SH02 618888.00 7486745.27 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1848.50 320 -45 212 BTW
                   
07SH03 618867.00 7486735.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1848.50 320 -45 102 BTW
                   
07SH04 618867.00 7486735.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1848.50 320 -45 284 BTW
                   
07SH05 618889.00 7486768.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1872.60 320 -45 297 BTW
                   
07SH06 618913.00 7486776.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1884.90 320 -45 139 BTW
                   
07SH07 618931.00 7486782.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1898.10 320 -45 207 BTW
                   
07SH08 618942.00 7486790.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1900.50 320 -45 182 BTW
                   
07SH09 618942.00 7486790.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1900.50 320 -45 92 BTW
                   
07SH10 619008.00 7486676.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1873.70 320 -45 301 BTW
                   
07SH11 618985.00 7486706.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1876.40 320 -45 307 BTW
                   
07SH12 618985.00 7486704.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1876.40 320 -45 292 BTW
                   
Total-11               2,415  

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Table 11.3 Collar location and data Workman’s Bench.


DDH
Number
UTM Easting
(m)

UTM Northing
(m)


Datum


Zone

Collar Elevation
(ft)


Azimuth


Dip

Total Depth
(ft)


Core Diameter
                   
07SH01 618652.00 7486576.58 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1749.10 140 -45 312 BTW
                   
07SH13 618571.00 7486484.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1776.80 143 -45 358 BTW
                   
07SH14 618571.00 7486484.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1776.80 100 -45 407 BTW
                   
07SH15 618579.00 7486499.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1776.80 100 -45 323 BTW
                   
07SH16 618525.00 7486470.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1766.00 140 -45 397 BTW
                   
07SH17 618500.00 7486495.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1763.30 140 -45 252 BTW
                   
07SH18 618615.00 7486507.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1811.00 90 -45 91 BTW
                   
08SH01B 618669.37 7486571.13 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1751.20 140 -45 312 NQ
                   
08SH02 618662.66 7486569.92 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1752.71 110 -45 343 NQ
                   
08SH03 618675.00 7486564.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1755.00 140 -50 252 NQ
                   
08SH04 618740.14 7486553.52 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1751.00 320 -50 55 NQ
                   
08SH05 618771.00 7486541.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1751.00 320 -50 30 NQ
                   
08SH06 618621.85 7486506.24 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1788.00 100 -50 72 NQ
                   
08SH07 618551.00 7486477.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1777.00 140 -50 370 NQ
                   
08SH08 618485.00 7486452.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1772.00 140 -50 452 NQ
                   
08SH09 618426.00 7486379.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1762.00 140 -50 457 NQ
                   
08SH10 618558.00 7486465.33 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1777.00 140 -45 317 NQ
                   
08SH11 618584.00 7486489.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1780.00 140 -60 362 NQ
                   
08SH12 618584.00 7486489.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1780.00 100 -50 282 NQ

55



08SH13 618619.24 7486508.75 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1788.00 90 -60 312 NQ
                   
08SH14 618674.39 7486570.08 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1752.00 140 -45 242 NQ
                   
08SH15 618671.51 7486567.75 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1752.00 180 -45 397 NQ
                   
08SH16 618671.51 7486567.75 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1752.00 190 -45 352 NQ
                   
08SH17 618672.65 7486567.85 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1752.00 140 -70 497 NQ
                   
08SH18 618501.00 7486434.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1803.00 140 -60 472 NQ
                   
08SH19 618501.00 7486434.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1803.00 140 -45 307 NQ
                   
08SH20 618501.00 7486434.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1803.00 110 -50 397 NQ
                   
08SH21 618501.00 7486434.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1803.00 170 -50 402 NQ
                   
08SH22 618560.00 7486468.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1777.00 140 -60 302 NQ
                   
08SH23 618560.00 7486468.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1777.00 165 -50 307 NQ
                   
08SH24 618560.00 7486468.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1777.00 120 -50 317 NQ
                   
08SH25 618451.00 7486419.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1765.00 140 -45 427 NQ
                   
08SH26 618426.00 7486379.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1762.00 120 -45 450 NQ
                   
08SH27 618426.00 7486379.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1762.00 140 -45 400 NQ
                   
08SH28 618426.00 7486379.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1762.00 160 -45 450 NQ
                   
08SH29 618451.00 7486419.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1765.00 110 -45 450 NQ
                   
08SH30 618451.00 7486419.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1765.00 155 -45 450 NQ
                   
08SH31 618451.00 7486419.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1765.00 140 -55 487 NQ
                   
08SH32 618639.00 7486563.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1758.00 160 -45 307 NQ
                   
08SH33 618639.00 7486563.00 NAD 27 Alaska 5W 1758.00 160 -45 367 NQ
                   
Total-41               11,597  

56


Figure 11.1      Drill and Trench Locations on Pringle Bench

57


Figure 11.2      Drill Locations on Workman’s bench

58


12      Sampling method and approach

12.1      Placer deposits

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes lode and placer mineralization in the Nolan Creek area, including the Workman’s bench area. No new information concerning sampling methods and approach for placer deposits has been generated for Nolan Creek project since that release of information, which was filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and can be accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

12.2      Lode deposits

Four types of samples are collected during lode exploration soil samples, trench samples, drill core samples, and percussion drill hole samples. Soil samples were taken every 50 ft over established grids. Silverado used hand-held, mechanized augers to collect the samples and sometimes spade shovels. Trench channel samples are taken each 5 ft; mineralized veins are selectively sampled at smaller intervals if necessary (to a minimum of 3 in). Drill hole core was split and, like the trench samples, sub-sampled at 5 ft lengths. When mineralized veins are encountered, a narrower (to a minimum of 6 in) segment may be collected. This reflects Silverado’s interest in evaluating the stibnite-bearing veins for selective extraction rather than looking at the deposits as a lower grade bulk tonnage play.

The location of trenches and diamond drill holes are shown for the lode deposits at Pringle Bench and Workman’s Bench in the previous section, Summaries of the number of percussion and diamond core samples are also shown in the previous section in Table 11.1. The locations of channel samples for the Workman’s Bench deposit are shown in Figure 12.1.

Table 12.1 shows the method in which analyzed intervals are presented during the diamond core drill program.

In February 2008, Silverado completed an underground channel sample program of thin zones of quartz-stibnite mineralization exposed in the workings driven in late 2007. Sample widths across mainly massive stibnite veins ranged from 3 in to 8 in and averaged 4.5 in. In April 2008, Silverado re-entered the underground workings and collected an additional 92 channel samples along 460 ft of underground development.

A portable, air-powered chipper (i.e., jackhammer) and chisel were used to extract the samples at mostly 5 ft intervals. The sample channel was first cut with an air-powered rock saw before being extracted with the jackhammer. Sample weight was estimated to be about 15 pounds each, for a total of approximately 600 kg for the 92 samples. The broken sample was collected on a plastic sheet lain on the floor of the drive immediately below the channel. The QP considers that adequate care was taken in the collection of the material in the sampled intervals.

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The QP collected 23 independent channel samples from underground workings, using sampling methods similar to those described above. The samples were taken across 16 northeast-striking, steeply-dipping, stibnite-quartz (gold) veinlet zones, four quartz veins without visible sulfides or sulfosalts, and three northwest-striking cross faults. A bulk sample collected underground from ‘A’ Zone weighing 415 lb was shipped to Hazen Research, Inc., Lakewood, Colorado, for a metallurgical bench test.

During September 29-30, 2008 the QP inspected the methodology of the sampling methods and approaches during the processing of core from the 2008 Workman’s Bench exploration program. In contrast to the 2007 exploration drill program on both Pringle and Workman’s Benches, where 5.0 foot lengths of core were systematically assayed along with selected mineralized zones, sample intervals selected during the 2008 drill program on Workman’s Bench was entirely focused on the relatively thin mineralized veins intervals in core. Five foot intervals in core were not assayed if veinlet mineralization was not recognized. This Silverado decision reflects the desire to focus exclusively on relatively small, high grade, antimony-gold veinlet zones in core. As a result, the total number of assay intervals during the 2008 drill program (627) was only 52 percent of the 2007 drill program total (1,195) despite the fact that drill footage in 2008 (11,597 ft) exceeded the drill footage in 2007 (4,555 ft) by about 160 percent.

During June 13-14 and September 29-30, 2008, the author examined nearly all of the mineralized drill intervals selected for assay from the 2007 and 2008 drill programs. Based on these observations, the QP judges that the sampled intervals are representative of the mineralization tested.

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61


Table 12.1 Table of selected sample composites , illustrating composited assay information and true widths of mineralized structures from 2008 Workman’s Bench core drilling program.

Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole #
(Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channel
Samples
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb (%)


Au
(oz/ton)

Brief Description


1

08SH02



West of
‘A’ Zone
160.0

160.6

0.6

23.30

0.031

Quartz-Stibnite vein
about 2.0 inches wide
(visual by Bundtzen)
2


08SH02





‘A’ Zone


186.5


187.5


1.0


37.92


0.091


5 inch (true thickness)
quartz-stibnite vein with
semi-massive stibnite in
medial portion
3

08SH02



‘B’ Zone

193.0

193.8

0.8

7.11

0.190

2 parallel quartz-stibnite
veins totaling about 4
inches in thickness
4


08SH03





West of
‘A’ Zone

41.3


42.5


1.2


37.91


0.301


Sheared stibnite-quartz
zone; about 1 foot true
thickness; textures look
like ‘A’ zone (offset?)
5

08SH03



‘A’ Zone

115.9

117.0

1.1

26.73

0.410

Several closely spaced,
quartz-stibnite veins at
vertical orientations.
6

08SH03



Hanging
wall ‘A’
zone
117.0

117.5

0.5

0.07

0.360

Hanging wall with 0.86 %
As; trace stibnite in
quartz
7
08SH03

‘B’ Zone
130.3
130.9
0.6
13.65
0.130
Stibnite-quartz vein zone
with visible siderite
8

08SH03



‘C’ Zone

195.5

196.1

0.6

0.70

0.130

Quartz-stibnite zone; 10
% Sb2S3; possibly ‘C’
zone

62



9


08SH01B


  West of
‘A’ Zone

33.8


35.2


1.4


53.44


0.280


Massive stibnite with only
minor quartz; QP
estimate is 11 inches true
width

63


13      Sample preparation, analyses, and security

13.1      Independence of sample preparation and analysis

To the QP’s knowledge, all primary sample preparation from both lode and placer mineral exploration programs at Nolan Creek was conducted by professional geologists employed by Silverado. All work completed on behalf of Silverado was completed by or under the supervision of a contractor of Silverado. Officers, directors, and associates of Silverado were not involved in sample preparation. Independent, off site analytical laboratories perform addition sample preparation of samples from the lode-style deposits.

Analysis of placer samples is performed on site by Silverado contractors. Analysis of lode-style deposit samples (core, percussion, trench, and underground channel) is performed by independent, off site laboratories.

13.2      Sample preparation and analytical procedures

Samples from placer deposits are analyzed in their entirety (i.e., no sub-sampling) to minimize potential bias from sub-sampling of material with such a large proportion of gold nuggets. The primary sample is processed through a gravity separation technique at the drill rig to separate gold nugget, fine gold, and heavy minerals from the host gangue material. A systematic procedure was developed by Tricon Mining geological staff for the collection and preparation of percussion drill hole samples. The sample is emitted from the drill and immediately submitted to a drill-mounted cyclone to dissipate the sample velocity, and then passed through a JonesTM splitter. The split sample is then processed through a Denver Gold SaverTM. The oversize exits the revolving drum screen to a picking plate where +¼ inch nuggets are hand-picked. The – ¼ inch undersize reports to a Teflon lateral action sluice and the resultant heavy mineral concentrate is hand-panned. The gold in the concentrate is then picked with tweezers. The remaining fine heavy concentrate is treated with amalgamation and the resultant gold bead is weighed along with the hand-picked gold with a ChampTM electronic balance.

The company (and the QP) judges that the combined weight of the hand-picked gold and the fine gold represents most of the gold in the sampled interval. Because there will always be some loss of gold during this analytical procedure, the gold grade in the sample is not likely to be overstated.

Silverado conducted volume measurements of samples collected during 2003 and 2004 drilling programs. Results of these measurements showed that a 5 ft sample from the Nolan Deep Channel averaged 14.80 gallons, whereas a 5 ft sample from the Mary’s East Bench deposit averaged 19.20 gallons. The Nolan Deep Channel deposits contain significant amounts of silt, sand, and clay, whereas the left limit bench deposits such as those at Mary’s East are much coarser grained. Determination of volumetric measurements results in a more accurate estimate of gold grade in the placer deposit. Hence each placer deposit has been volume-characterized by Silverado contractors during exploration.

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Sample grades for placer deposits are expressed as gold content per bank volume of material where bank volume is the in situ volume of material. To calculate the bank volume the sample volume must be factored using a predefined swell factor that quantifies how much the volume of the sample increases as a result of extraction. Swell factors for mine operations were estimated by Murton (2004) to be 130%, whereas the calculated swell factor during the 2003 to 2004 rotary drill programs was calculated by Flanigan (2004) to be 117%. The weight of the gold extracted from the sample (the method of recovery which was described previously) is divided by the bank volume of the sample to determine the grade of the sample expressed in oz/cu yd Au.

Two methods are traditionally used by Silverado to estimate gold grades in a placer resource. One method is to calculate the amount of gold present in a bank cubic yard or ounces gold/cubic yard. When all of the values are on or near the bedrock-gravel interface, an alternative method of estimating gold quantities in a placer deposit is the amount of gold present on one square foot of surface area on bedrock—known as a bedrock square foot or ‘brsf’. Because most of the placer gold in the Nolan Deep Channel and in left limit benches are ‘bedrock placers’, some Silverado geologists have expressed gold values in exploration drill programs in ‘brsf’. This value varies with the thickness of auriferous materials both above and below the bedrock-gravel interface. Silverado has established conversion factors for converting ounces gold/brsf to ounces gold/cubic yard, which systematically varied from valley floor and bench deposits. For this summary, the QP expressed all drill hole grade data in ounces gold per cubic yard.

Sample recovery calculations have been implemented by Silverado geological staff and described by Flanigan (2003 d; 2004 c, e). The QP could not verify every sample or the reported results for authenticity, but he is reasonably confident that sampling programs were carried out in a professional manner by competent, qualified individuals.

Diamond core samples are split in half on site by Silverado personnel using a core saw. Half of the core is submitted to external laboratories for analysis and half is retained on site. Samples from RC drilling are split with a splitter and surface samples are split by contracted laboratory personnel.

ALS Chemex of Vancouver, Canada, an ISO 9001:2000 accredited laboratory, has analyzed most of the Silverado sample stream from lode-style deposits. More recently, Alaska Assay Laboratories LLC of Fairbanks, Alaska, an ANS/ISO/IEC Standard 17035:2005 accredited laboratory, has been used by Silverado for analytical work. Both laboratories produce a coarse split from which a finely ground material to 150 mesh is analyzed. The pulverized material and the coarse reject are stored by the laboratories for possible re-analysis.

Trench and drill core samples submitted to ALS Chemex are analyzed by the following methods: ME-MS41 (41 multi element), Au-AA23 (fire assay gold to 5 ppb level), and Sb-AA65 (> 1% antimony or referred to as ‘ore grade’ antimony). Soil samples shipped to ALS Chemex are analyzed by the ME-ICP41 (41 multi-element) and Au-ICP21 methods.

The 23 samples of mineralization collected by the QP and submitted to Alaska Assay Laboratories LLC were analyzed using the following methods: Au-30 element (multi-element), fire assay AA for

65


gold and silver, and ICP-4A (ore-grade antimony). The packages from each laboratory are roughly comparable in both elemental suite and analytical methods.

13.3      Quality control and quality assurance

Quality control and quality assurance (QAQC) is routinely performed by Silverado exploration contractors. Standards have been obtained from Shea Clark Smith, (Minerals, Exploration, and Environmental Geochemistry) in Reno, Nevada that supplies standards for mining companies. For core intervals intersecting vein zones, two standards and one blank are randomly inserted in batches of twenty (20) sample intervals. One standard contains 0.174 oz/ton gold. The other standard contains 0.261 oz/ton gold. For core penetrating mainly wall rock zones, one standard and one blank are randomly inserted into batches of twenty (20) samples, with the standard used containing 0.174 oz/ton gold. The standards for gold that were inspected by the QP all appear to be within a narrow 1.0 percent of the values.

Core recovery is checked in every box coming off the drill rig. The QP witnessed core loggers estimating core recovery during 2007. During 2008, Silverado's geological contractors have reported that core recovery is averaging 95% since the exploration drilling switched to NQ core. During his October 22-23, 2007, June 13-14, 2008, and September 29-30, 2008 site visits, the QP notes that core recovery is consistently very high and averages >90 percent.

The QP considers that Silverado contractors have competently prepared samples analysis and dispatch to external laboratories. The QP has observed sampling procedures and QAQC issues since about 2003. The QP examined unpublished company reports (i.e., House, 1995 a,b,c), and completed one phone and one on-site interview (in Vancouver) with the RC drill program exploration manager during the mid-1990s. After interviewing the manager, the QP was satisfied that adequate QAQC procedures were carried out by Silverado and their contractors during the mid-1990s placer drilling campaigns. Sample preparation and analytical procedures conducted prior to 1993 are unknown.

Sample security is maintained by geological contractors. Samples are stored in a secure trailer at Nolan Camp. Individual samples are composited into larger rice bags and sealed with plastic tape. Samples are then transported by contractors to the ALS Chemex preparation laboratory in Fairbanks, Alaska.

During the April inspection of the Workman’s Bench underground workings, the QP suggested some modifications to Silverado contactors during the collection of channel samples underground, which included covering the floor of the drift with a tarp to collect the samples and to prevent contamination and using larger sample bags than were being used.

The analytical package selected from external assay laboratories is adequate and reflects the need to: obtain precise antimony and gold values, obtain information on trace metals such as bismuth, lead, arsenic, cadmium, and selenium, and to seek to understand background levels of other elements for

66


environmental monitoring reasons. Because Silverado is evaluating the lode resources of the area for potential development, it is useful for Silverado to take a broad look at the elemental suite present in the affected environment in order to better design an environmental monitoring program. Data from Workman’s Bench shows Ca values as high as 17.50 percent. This may indicate a high CaCO3 content of some sample intervals.

For the 2008 program, only mineralized sample intervals were assayed leaving the bulk of the core volume not submitted for assay. The QP suggests that a selected portion of the unanalyzed core should be submitted for acid-base accounting (ABA) in the future, in order to better predict the acid generating capacity (AGC) of the site during development and for permitting requirements.

In addition, marketability issues are being addressed. Some metals are considered to be deleterious in antimony purchases. For example, most antimony smelters will not accept material that exceeds 0.5% combined lead and arsenic. Smaller amounts of selenium and bismuth also pose potential limitations and may invoke smelter penalties. Hence a broader suite of elemental information has been acquired during the exploration of what is basically an antimony-gold-arsenic system.

67


14      Data verification

14.1      Data verification by qualified person

The QP observed core logging and trench samples being prepared for shipment from Nolan Creek during October 22 to October 23, 2007. The QP also observed Silverado contractors preparing placer samples for separation of placer gold, the subsequent weighing of recovered gold and calculation of gold per unit volume of material. Concentrate splits are stored at Nolan Camp. The QP inspected these records during 2003 to 2004 and also looked at chip trays collected during 2006 to 2007. The QP observed placer exploration conducted by Silverado contractors during underground development of Swede Channel in 2006. The QP is confident that Silverado contractors conducted a sound panning program that was directly factored into the development of drifts and crosscuts.

Selected field duplicates of sampled intervals, two from underground channels, and one from a trench, were submitted by the QP to an umpire laboratory (Alaska Assay Laboratories LLC) to check analytical results from ALS Chemex. In as much that the samples are collected by different individuals at different times and analyzed by different labs, the QP judges that results from this limited comparison indicate acceptable levels of bias and accuracy for gold and antimony values (Table 14.1) .

Table 14.1      Duplicate analytical comparisons between QP and Silverado contractor samples

Sampler Sample # Sb (%) Au (oz/ton) Description
QP 203808 43.64 1.190 Underground sample, Alaska Assay Laboratories
Karsten Eden WBUG5-S2 50.04 1.040 Underground sample, ALS Chemex
QP 203810 41.00 0.696 Underground sample, Alaska Assay Laboratories
Karsten Eden WBUG8-S3 58.02 0.696 Underground sample ALS Chemex
QP 267397 36.51 0.793 Trench Sample, Alaska Assay Laboratories
Silverado Contractor Trench J1 29.30 0.120 Trench Sample, ALS Chemex

During 2008, Silverado submitted sixty-one (61) duplicate samples of mineralized core to ALS Chemex, and analyzed them for the Au-GRA21 and Sb-AA65 packages (Table 14.2) . The QP did not rigorously compare the data but generally found that, by visual inspection, the assay results for both antimony and gold compared, in the average within 2.5 percent.

During April 8-9, and June 13 to June 14, 2008, the QP visited Nolan Camp and examined all significantly mineralized core and surface and underground intervals acquired from the 2007 exploration of the Workman’s Bench property. During September 29-30, 2008, the QP examined all significant mineralized intervals intercepted by the 2008 drill program. A grand total of 124 mineralized core sample intervals (182 assay intervals) were examined from the Workman’s Bench lode. During October 22-24, 2007, the QP also briefly examined surface exposures of mineralization in snow-covered trenches on Pringle Bench but did not examine core intervals from the drill program that took place there.

68


Table 14.2 List of Duplicate Samples Workman’s Bench Drilling Program 2008

Total: 61 duplicate samples

FA08083476 08SS215
08SS13 08SS218
08SS14 08SS227
08SS18  
08SS25 FA08100110
  08SS177
FA08086192 08SS182
08SS33 08SS190
08SS46  
08SS51 FA08100111
  08SS158
FA08093001 08SS159
08SS102 08SS170
08SS106  
08SS111 FA08093000
  08SS73
FA08093002 08SS80
08SS119  
08SS122 FA08127442
08SS123 08SS313
08SS124 08SS326
   
FA08076587 FA08127448
08SS02 08SS302
08SS09 08SS305
   
FA08093003 FA08130451
08SS52 08SS342
08SS67 08SS351
08SS68  
08SS70 FA08135958
  08SS353
FA08095943 08SS372
08SS138  
08SS147 FA08135959
08SS149 08SS375
08SS150 08SS386
   
FA08117975 FA08136610
08SS235 08SS393
08SS241 08SS398
08SS242  
  FA08137318
FA08117976 08SS413
08SS254 08SS426
08SS255  
08SS192 Analytical Methods:
  Au-GRA21
FA08117977 Sb-AA65
08SS281  
08SS283  
08SS287  
FA08108706  
08SS195  
08SS196  
08SS212  
   
FA08108707  

69


In the vast majority of cases (>97%), the mineralized zones had corresponding elevated values of antimony and frequently (but not always) gold. In four (4) examples (2.2 percent of the total 182 sample assay intervals), where stibnite-quartz and trace visual gold was identified in core, analytical results did not indicate correspondingly high metal values; i.e., sample intervals 08SS216 (DDH 08SH14), 08SS379 (DDH 08SH32), 08SS380 (DDH 08SH32), and 08SS243 (DDH08SH17). The QP has requested that these intervals be rerun by ALS Chemex. Data from those re-analyzed intervals have not been completed for this report. In the remaining 97.8 percent of the assay intervals, analytical results seemed to correspond with estimated amounts of mineralization; i.e. estimated content of stibnite and occasional visible gold. Appendix II provides additional sample interval notes and assay information for inspection by the reader.

14.2      Exploration data limitations

Although drill core intervals can be checked through re-assay activities, placer intervals cannot be checked as the sample material is completely consumed. After interviews with Silverado contractors involved with the 1990s placer exploration programs, the QP is satisfied that exploration data acquired during that time is reliable. The QP interviewed Silverado contractors involved in placer drill hole sampling during the 2003 to 2004 programs. The QP is satisfied that this placer sampling was carried out in a sound manner.

The QP cannot comment on the validity of sampling and analysis performed prior to the mid 1990s, because he was not present during the exploration programs. The early RC drill programs directed at assessing lode mineral potential in the Nolan Creek area are not very well documented. For example, the specific locations of drill hole collars on the Thompson Pup area could not be found. Although the QP’s review has benefited by observing paper results from RC drilling in prior to 1993, the most important data set has been that collected since about 1995.

70


15      Adjacent properties

No modern lode mineral exploration work of significance has been conducted on adjacent lands. Doyon Limited (Doyon), a native regional corporation based in Fairbanks, has selected lands 2.0 mi to the west of Nolan Creek that contain base metal prospects and some placer gold in nearby streams (e.g., lead and zinc mineralization has been identified in calcareous schist thought to be base metal occurrences). The QP is not aware of any deposit types like those known at Nolan Creek that have been documented on the Doyon-owned lands. Antimony-gold vein deposits were discovered by ADNR geologists at Sukupak Mountain about 20 mi northeast of Nolan Creek Camp (Dillon, 1989; Mull, 1989). This occurrence is similar to the mineralization found at Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench, but very little data for the Sukapak Mountain occurrence is available except for assays from a few surface samples. Because of this, no data from lode prospects in adjacent areas was used in this analysis. The privately funded structural analysis by Proffett et al (1982) and Driscoll (1987) has been useful in this analysis in understanding the structural regime of the area.

There are significant placer gold prospects immediately flanking the Nolan Creek and Hammond River claims held by Silverado. The QP has relied on the synopsis published by Kurtak and others (2002 a, b) of the USBLM for pertinent information concerning placer potential on Silverado’s claim groups.

The QP has been unable to verify any of the information with respect to adjacent properties and that information is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Nolan Creek property.

71


16      Mineral processing and metallurgical testing

16.1      Placer deposits

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes mineral processing and metallurgical testing of placer gold deposits held by Silverado in the Nolan Creek area. No new information concerning mineral processing and metallurgical testing of placer deposits has been generated for Nolan Creek project since that release of that information, which was filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and can be accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

16.2      Lode Deposits

Until very recently, Silverado has not completed mineral processing or testing of lode mineralization in the Nolan Creek area.. Silverado has acquired a permit from the USBLM to collect and process a maximum 1,000 cu yd of material from the Workman’s Bench lode for metallurgical testing. The bulk sample will be collected to determine grinding, flotation, and other processing and mineralogical characteristics of stibnite.

In April 2008, the QP collected a 414 lb bulk sample of semi-massive to stibnite, vein quartz, and wall rock gangue all from the defined mineralized ‘A’ Zone in the Workman’s Bench underground workings (see Bundtzen (2008c). The purpose was to determine the mineralogical nature of the antimony mineralization and the source of significant gold values. There is much variation in gold content of the stibnite zones even within constrained sample collection areas. The bulk sample was sent to Hazen Research Labs Inc. (Hazen) in Golden, Colorado, USA in order to discover the most optimal grind for potential marketing of a stibnite product, identify the mineralogical nature of gold and antimony values in the mineralization.

Two reports were produced by Hazen in September: 1) Report #1-Flotation and Gravity Results, Workman’s Bench Stibnite-Gold Deposit, Wiseman District, Alaska; and 2) Report #2-Mineralogical Examination, Workman’s Bench Stibnite-Gold Deposit, Wiseman District (Hazen Research, 2008 a, b).

In Report #1 (Hazen Research, 2008a), rod mill grinding followed by two rougher stages yielded a gold recovery of 98% and an antimony recovery of nearly 100% in 37.8 percent of the weight, which strongly indicates flotation may be a viable process for recovering gold and antimony at Workman’s Bench. The gold and antimony grades from the sample were 0.546oz/ton (as stated, 18.7 g/t) and 36.7 present respectively, which compare fairly closely to the average inferred resource grades of 39.13 % antimony and 0.395 oz/ton gold from ‘A’ Zone (see Bundtzen, 2008c). Gravity separation using a quarter DeisterTM shaking table produced a second, cleaner gold and arsenopyrite concentrate that that assayed 9.4 oz/ton (as stated, 356.0 g/t) gold (Figure 16.1) . This test work indicates that coarse gold and coarse stibnite can likely be recovered by gravity separation; however, fine grained components of both mineralogical products may require flotation. Given the tendency for stibnite to ‘slime’, a flotation circuit may be an important prerequisite for a recovery system. Using gravity only methods would result in a stibnite recovery of approximately 80 percent, and gold recovery of about 90 percent. No duplicate flotation and gravity confirmation tests were completed by Hazen.

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Figure 16.1 Tabled Rougher Concentrate from bulk sample from Workman’s Bench Deposit submitted by QP to Hazen Research Labs, Inc., Lakewood, Colorado


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Report #2 (Hazen Research, 2008b) was designed to learn more about the mineralogical constituents of the bulk sample. In an effort to determine the nature of the gold occurrence, gravity concentration was carried out using heavy liquid, to enable detection and to allow examination of a statistically valid number of gold particles and also to obtain preliminary information on response to gravity separation. A 500-g split from the minus 10-mesh head sample was dry-screened at 35-mesh, and the oversized material was stage-crushed to minus 35-mesh for the gravity separation and the mineralogical work on the separated fractions.

For the separation, the minus 35-mesh split was wet-screened at 500 mesh. The minus 35- by plus 500-mesh fraction was separated with heavy liquid using acetylene tetrabromide at a specific gravity of 2.96 to upgrade the heavy minerals and concentrate the gold. Figure 2 shows the flowchart of the separation process.

Figure 16.2 Hazen mineralogical separation process flowchart , Workman’s Bench bulk sample.

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The heavy liquid sink product contained as predicted, dominantly stibnite, but also other minerals as summarized in table 16.1 below.

Table 16.1. Composition of the Heavy-Liquid Sink Product

Constituent Estimate
  Area, %
Stibnite 85
Gangue 10
Pyrite (including marcasite) 3
Arsenopyrite 2
Rutile 1
Chalcopyrite Trace
Covellite Trace
Gold Trace

Small gold inclusions (less than 20 µm) in stibnite were observed in the sink product. The identification was confirmed by EMP which shows 100 % Au. Also, fine microcrystalline gold was observed associated with stibnite. The EMP analysis of these particles also showed 100 % Au. Figure 16.3 illustrate this gold inclusions in stibnite.

Figure 16.3 Gold (bright color) in stibnite (gray grain), Workman’s Bench Bulk sample.

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A split portion of the concentrate from the shaking table was panned to concentrate the gold even further. Several gold particles were observed ranging in size between 500 µm to about 2 mm. Figures 16.4 and 16.5 illustrate the gold in the shaking table concentrate; note the coarse nature of the gold particles in the sample.

Figure 16.4 Stibnite-gold concentrate from table product—example 1

Figure 16.5 Stibnite-gold concentrate from table product—example 2

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Table 16.2 compares a selected roster of industry standard trace impurities with trace elements identified from the Workman’s Bench stibnite zones. Arsenic, lead, selenium, bismuth, tellurium, and tin, all pass accepted industrial criteria (maximum quantities) for those metals. The QP did not obtain analytical data for mercury, which should be tested in the future.

Table 16.2 Selected stibnite quality characteristics from Amaigmet-Canada versus values determined from Workman’s Bench samples.

Amaigamet-Canada metal Average Workman’s Bench main Average subsidiary Sb-Au zone
specifications Sb-Au zone  
<0.5% As + Pb 0.16% As + Pb 0.08% As + Pb
Trace Se (<30 ppm Se) 5.0 ppm Se 8 ppm Se
Trace Te (<10 ppm) <2 ppm <2 ppm
Trace Sn (<10 ppm) <4.0 ppm <4.0 ppm
Trace Bi (<10 ppm) <3 ppm <3 ppm
Trace Hg (<20 ppm) NA NA

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17      Mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates

17.1      Summary

Silverado’s placer gold resources and the mineral resources and reserves for the lode stibnite-gold deposits in the Nolan Creek area are reported in Table 17.1, Table 17.2, and Table 17.3.

Table 17.1 Silverado’s placer deposit mineral resources, Nolan Creek

  Cut-off grade Quantity Grade Metal
Resource category (oz/cu yd Au) (cu yd) (oz/cu yd Au) (oz Au)
 Indicated 0.06 66,800 0.095 6,250
 Inferred 0.01 185,670 0.033 6,177
Notes:
The effective date of these resources is July 2, 2008
Rounding may result in some discrepancies.
No processing recovery factors have been applied to these resource figures.

The industry standard unit of quantity for Alaskan placer deposit is cubic yards. The weight of a cubic yard varies, but averages about 2.4 short tons.

Table 17.2 Silverado’s probable lode mineral reserves, Nolan Creek area

Reserve
Category
Cut-off
grade
(% Sb)
Quantity
(ton)
Grade
(% Sb)
Metal
(ton Sb)
Grade
(oz/ton Au)
Metal
(oz Au)
Probable 4.0 42,412 28.00 11,880 0.408 17,300
Notes:

The effective date of these resources is January 1, 2009

Rounding may result in some discrepancies.

No processing recovery factors have been applied to these resource figures.

The unit ton refers to short tons.

Cut-off grade is 4.0% Sb ‘equivalent’, which the combined values of gold plu antimony expressed in terms of antimony alone

Table 17.3 Silverado’s inferred lode mineral resources, Nolan Creek area

Resource
Category
Cut-off
grade
(% Sb)
Quantity
(ton)
Grade
(% Sb)
Metal
(ton Sb)
Grade
(oz/ton Au)
Metal
(oz Au)
Inferred 4.0    27,697 12.26 3,397 0.230 6,372
Notes:
The effective date of these resources is January 1, 2009
Rounding may result in some discrepancies.
No processing recovery factors have been applied to these resource figures.
The unit ton refers to short tons.

Cut-off grade is 4.0% Sb ‘equivalent’, which the combined values of gold plu antimony expressed in terms of antimony alone.

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17.2      Disclosure

The mineral resource estimates reported in this section were prepared by Mr. Thomas K. Bundtzen, President of Pacific Rim Geological Consulting Inc. and AIPG Certified Professional Geologist. Mr. Bundtzen is the QP and is independent of Silverado as defined by NI 43-101.

In accordance with CIM Definition Standards (2005), a mineral resource may be sub-divided in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated, and Measured categories. “Measured and Indicated mineral resources” are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the application of technical and economic parameters to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. An “Inferred mineral resource” is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified, geological and grade continuity (CIM, 2005).

17.3      Known issues that materially affect mineral resources and mineral reserves

The QP is unaware of any issues that materially affect the mineral resource in a detrimental sense. This conclusion is based on discussions with Silverado, where it advised that:

  • To the best of its knowledge, there are no known material exploration, legal, marketing, socio-economic, political, title, permitting, or taxation issues;

  • To the best of its knowledge, apart from the usual environmental aspects that require consideration as part of any mineral exploration project, there are no known material specific environmental issues; and

  • To the best of its knowledge, there are no known material mining, metallurgical, or infrastructure issues other than those discussed in this Technical Report.

17.4      Assumptions, methods, and parameters

The QP estimated mineral resources using the following steps:

  • Personal inspection of both Workman’s Bench lode-style and the Nolan Creek placer- style gold properties during 1994, 1999, 2004, and 2006 to 2008.

  • Database compilation and data validation.

  • Geological interpretation and modeling.

  • Compositing assay intervals to a common length.

  • Determination of average material density for both lode and placer properties.

  • Analysis of grade variability.

  • Polygonal estimation of grade by compositing of sample assay information taken within designated widths and lengths of mineralized zones.

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  • Assignment of appropriate cut-off grades, the lowest grade that can be mined economically.

  • Classification of confidence in the estimates with respect to CIM (2005) guidelines.

  • Mineral resource tabulation and validation of the resource estimate.

17.5      Placer gold resources estimation

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes indicated and inferred gold resources in placer deposits held by Silverado in the Nolan Creek area (see table 17.1) . No new information concerning either indicated or inferred placer gold resources has been generated for the Nolan Creek project since the release of those estimates in July, 2008, which are filed on SEDAR (www.SEDAR.com); also accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

17.6      Workman’s Bench lode resource and reserve estimations

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released NI 43-101 Report: ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which presents inferred antimony and gold resource estimates in the Workman’s Bench lode deposit in the Nolan Creek area. A significant diamond drill program has taken place on Workman’s Bench since those resource estimates were made, which changes what is now known about resources there. Hence, resource estimates in Tables 17.2 and Table 17.3 supersede the inferred resource estimates filed on SEDAR (www.SEDAR.com); and are also accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

Silverado has defined the Pringle Bench and Workman’s Bench areas with eleven (11) diamond drill holes (2,715 ft) and forty-one (41) diamond drill holes (11,597 ft), respectively. During analysis of the drilling data and subsequent underground exploration, Silverado noted that stibnite bearing zones on the Workman’s Bench property contained zones of massive stibnite locally up to 15 in thick and contained consistently high gold grades (up to 2.86 oz/ton Au) in drilling core intercepts of stibnite veins. Silverado has subsequently focused exploration definition on the Workman’s Bench deposit.

A total of 1,158 assay intervals were obtained from the 2007-2008 Workman’s Bench diamond drill core program. Table 17.3 summarizes the sample control available at Workman’s Bench.

Table 17.4 Summary of sample assay intervals from Workman’s Bench deposit, Nolan Creek

Sample type Sample
  count
Workman’s Bench underground 2008 119
1994 RC drilling 156
2007 core drilling 531
2008 core drilling 627
Surface trench samples 8
Total 1,441

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In late November and December of 2007, mine crews drove 570 ft of drifts and cross cuts into the Workman’s Bench mineralized area. The underground mine workings intersected the northeast-trending, quartz-stibnite-gold veinlet zone identified in surface exposures and in core drilling intercepts. The purpose of Silverado’s work was to test the stibnite-quartz-gold system at a position approximately 50 ft to 62 ft vertically below the surface exposures and about 120 ft to 135 ft above the 2007 drill hole core intersections.

To date, the drilling program, coupled with the underground sampling and mapping program, has helped to identify four (4), northeast-striking, steeply dipping stibnite-quartz vein-faults that are discernable from the wider stockwork vein swarm that contains elevated gold and antimony values. These four zones, hereafter referred to as A Zone, B Zone, C Zone, and West Zone, contain narrow but persistent zones of semi-massive to massive stibnite, which are the focus of the resource evaluation efforts.

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Figure 17.1 Surface view of Workman’s bench mineralized zones, showing locations of underground workings, drill hole control, and interpreted extensions and overall widths of A, B, C and West Zones.


82


The focus of the QP’s analysis of data from Workman’s Bench lode is to provide new probable reserve and inferred resource estimations of the amount of high grade antimony (gold) mineralization present in three principal stibnite-bearing vein zones exposed in drill core, surface exposures, and in underground workings.

The QP is familiar with the extent and character of the stibnite mineralization present in the underground workings. The QP, accompanied by Silverado’s contractors, traveled to Nolan Camp during June 13 to June 14, 2008 and reviewed significant intercepts of stibnite mineralization in the 2007 drill hole core library as well as all available certified assay results as completed by ALS Chemex. The QP also traveled to Nolan Camp during September 29-30, after the 2008 drill program had ended, and reviewed all significant core intervals. The September visit added greatly to the understanding of the Workman’s Bench mineralized system, and helped the QP to improve the accuracy of resource predictions.

Subsequently and upon completion of a pre-feasibility study in this report, there is enough information to estimate probable reserves. Previously the QP made inferred resource estimates for the Workman’s Bench deposit on the basis of 35 drill core and surface sample intervals. The assay interval data used in the indicated and inferred resource estimates presented here (See Appendix II) includes 124 samples from forty-one (41) diamond core drill holes, eight samples from trench exposures, and 16 samples from underground exposures. Although wider zones of low-grade stibnite mineralization have been documented during exploration, the QP focused on estimation of the narrow higher grade intervals, just as done in the previous inferred resource estimates. During 2008, Silverado located drill collars with the goal of obtaining more detailed, regularly spaced drill control (35 ft to 50 ft spacing) than what was available when the inferred resource estimates were released by the QP on July 29th, 2008.

Thrush et al (1968) specifies specific gravity estimates for pure stibnite (4.52), for quartz gangue (2.70), and for pelitic schist (2.66) . A tonnage factor was calculated using the equation provided by Peters (1978). Pure stibnite would have a tonnage factor of about 7.1 cu ft/ton. The tonnage factor used in the stibnite resource while preparing this inferred resource estimate is 8.2 cu ft/ton.

Mineral resource estimation has been restricted to zones defined with 4% antimony-equivalent values (7% stibnite), reflects the sharp boundaries of the stibnite-bearing vein zone. Grades lower than 4.0 percent antimony are judged by the QP to be below a realistic economic limit for extraction of a vein-zone. Gold value is taken into account in the calculation of the 4% minimum economic value.

The QP uses a polygonal estimation technique, described by Peters (1978) and Storrar (1981), to estimate both probable reserve and inferred resource estimates for mineralized zones in the Workman’s bench deposit. Figure 17.2 -to-17.4 shows polygonal blocks for the indicated resource calculations for the ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘West’ zones, for which probable reserves have been calculated. Tables 17.4 -to-17.6 show the polygonal block calculations for the probable reserve estimates. Table 17.7 shows data for each mineralized zone on Workman’s Bench where probable reserves could be calculated.

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Figure 17.2 Probable reserve polygons for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area

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Table 17.5 Polygonal probable reserve block summary for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s Bench

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony (tons) Gold (oz/ton) Gold (ounces)
1 365 4.70 17.2 0.056 20.4
2 337 4.20 14.1 0.120 40.4
3 445 22.80 101.5 1.090 485.1
4 484 22.85 110.5 1.070 517.8
5 602 29.60 178.2 1.120 674.2
6 508 23.09 116.8 0.056 28.4
7 390 50.89 198.4 1.109 432.2
8 379 31.40 119.0 1.115 422.6
9 305 28.03 85.4 0.987 301.0
10 195 13.47 26.2 0.146 28.5
11 950 22.36 212.4 0.193 183.4
12 175 27.94 48.9 1.097 191.9
13 125 10.66 13.3 0.970 121.3
14 105 16.17 33.9 0.102 10.7
15 535 19.73 105.5 0.300 160.6
16 335 31.68 106.1 0.307 102.8
17 452 34.24 154.7 0.334 150.9
18 152 24.68 37.5 0.486 73.8
19 109 21.43 23.3 0.240 26.1
20 485 24.40 118.3 0.323 156.6
21 855 24.73 211.4 0.196 167.5
22 245 19.90 48.7 0.256 62.7
23 140 17.48 24.4 0.250 35.0
24 65 16.50 10.7 0.160 10.4
25 85 18.86 16.0 0.166 14.1
26 101 18.19 18.4 0.150 15.1
27 100 15.77 15.8 0.143 14.3
28 146 14.18 20.7 0.170 24.8
29 389 36.55 141.9 0.322 125.2
30 716 35.86 256.7 0.340 243.4
31 384 23.49 90.2 0.141 54.1
32 345 23.10 79.7 0.181 62.4
33 107 24.18 25.8 0.217 23.2
34 330 32.04 106.0 0.267 88.0
35 780 39.10 304.9 0.681 531.2
36 840 36.57 307.1 0.492 413.2
37 2,050 48.74 999.0 0.416 853.0
38 2,490 48.68 1,212.0 0.453 1,128.0
39 2,300 54.59 1,255.0 0.725 1,667.0
40 459.0 21.00 96.3 0.459 210.6
41 1,180 39.43 465.0 0.201 237.0
42 550 30.66 165.0 0.130 72.0
43 185 20.50 37.9 0.106 19.6
44 820 28.02 229.6 0.114 93.4
45 353 18.14 64.0 0.107 37.8
46 697 7.93 55.2 0.123 85.7
47 998 17.53 174.9 0.101 100.7
48 157 20.93 32.8 0.106 16.6
49 140 14.49 20.3 0.056 7.8
50 450 10.80 48.6 0.098 44.1
51 135 28.76 38.8 0.140 18.9
52 100 29.58 29.6 0.130 13.0
53 85 29.60 25.1 0.120 10.2
54 454 23.74 107.8 0.171 77.6
55 423 24.02 101.6 0.516 218.2
56 228 23.02 52.5 0.463 105.6
57 235 20.02 47.0 0.413 33.6
58 338 26.46 89.4 0.463 156.4
59 564 21.44 120.9 0.526 296.6
TOTAL/AVERAGE 28,452 31.52 8,967.9 0.405 11,516.7

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Figure 17.3 Probable reserve polygons for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area

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Table 17.6 Polygonal block summary for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s Bench Table 2 Polygonal Probable reserves Calculations for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area, Alaska

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony (tons) Gold (oz/ton) Gold (ounces)
1 185 34.32 64.0 0.298 55.0
2 237 40.13 95.0 0.618 146.0
3 175 39.36 69.0 0.507 89.0
4 475 47.50 226.0 1.105 524.0
5 590 41.42 244.0 0.652 384.0
6 574 45.32 260.0 1.060 608.0
7 195 31.32 61.0 0.425 83.0
8 289 17.59 50.8 0.154 44.5
9 830 37.15 308.0 0.802 666.0
10 675 34.97 236.0 0.724 489.0
11 116 21.73 25.2 0.123 14.3
12 79 19.76 15.6 0.130 10.3
13 160 10.10 16.2 0.313 50.1
14 186 21.60 40.2 0.451 83.9
15 487 15.25 74.2 0.430 209.4
16 875 25.54 223.4 0.317 277.3
17 95 16.51 15.7 0.241 22.9
18 331 16.06 53.1 0.244 80.8
19 209 4.59 9.6 0.067 14.0
20 107 5.16 5.5 0.070 7.5
21 145 13.82 20.0 0.063 9.1
22 155 13.58 21.1 0.050 7.8
23 365 7.98 29.1 0.160 58.4
24 385 5.65 21.7 0.083 31.9
25 567 8.30 47.0 0.310 175.8
26 269 4.77 12.8 0.256 68.8
TOTAL/AVERAGE 8,756 25.63 2,244.2 0.480 4,210.8

Table 17.7 Polygonal probable reserve Calculation for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s Bench, Nolan Creek area, Alaska

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony (tons) Gold (oz/ton) Gold (ounces)
1 565 2.86 16.1 0.908 513.0
2 446 2.39 10.6 0.108 48.2
3 450 3.12 14.0 0.921 414.5
4 359 2.64 9.5 0.121 43.4
5 131 3.36 4.4 0.140 18.3
6 73 9.30 6.8 0.143 10.2
7 210 9.81 20.6 0.124 26.0
8 297 18.09 53.7 0.105 31.2
9 110 19.06 20.9 0.261 28.7
10 95 12.10 11.5 0.225 21.3
11 109 14.53 15.8 0.215 23.4
12 166 13.13 21.8 0.229 38.0
13 286 18.35 52.4 0.293 83.8
14 397 11.75 46.6 0.098 38.9
15 175 21.56 37.7 0.146 25.6
16 537 19.82 106.4 0.140 75.2
17 160 23.59 37.7 0.143 22.8
18 192 35.32 67.8 0.230 44.2
19 75 31.78 23.8 0.196 14.7
20 115 21.74 25.0 0.113 13.0
21 256 25.28 64.7 0.147 37.6
TOTAL/AVERAGE 5,204 12.80 667.8 0.302 1,572

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Figure 17.4 Probable reserve polygons for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area


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Table 17.8 Summary data for probable reserves in ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘West’ Zones, Workman’s Bench, Nolan Creek area, Alaska

Physical Parameters ‘A’ Zone ‘B’ Zone ‘West’ Zone Total or
For Resource       Average
Calculations        
Total Strike Length of 980 525 900 980
Vein Used in Resource        
Calculation        
Maximum Depth 355 355 225 355
(Vertical) of Vein Used        
in Resource Calculation        
Average Sample Interval 0.95 0.65 0.60 0.73
Width        
Number of Drill Hole 48 22 19 89
Intercepts and Channel        
Sample Locations Used        
Number of polygons Used 59 26 21 106
in Indicated Resource        
Calculation        
Calculated Tons of 28,452 8,756 5,204 42,412
Mineralization        
Calculated Average 31.52 25.63 12.80 28.00
Grade Sb (%)        
Total Tons, 8,967.9 2,244.2 667.8 11,875
Contained        
Antimony        
Calculated Average 0.405 0.480 0.302 0.408
Grade Gold (oz/ton)        
Contained Gold 11,516.7 4,210.8 1,572.0 17,300
(oz)        

(total or average figures are rounded)

Inferred resource estimates were also calculated for the Workman’s Bench mineralized zones. An “Inferred mineral resource” is that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified, geological and grade continuity (CIM, 2005), mainly in this case to the lengthened and uneven drill spacing. The inferred resource estimates are those that extend the mineralized laterally and vertically the ‘A’, ‘B’, and West Zones. One additional zone was identified—the ‘C’ Zone, the eastern-most, northeast-striking, vertically dipping mineralized vein. This zone was intersected by eleven (11) holes, which are spaced in such a manor to consider them as an indicated resource. However, the average antimony content is quite low--just making the minimum 4% cut-off--and the zone is quite thin, averaging only 0.45 feet. Because of this, the QP regards this zone contains only an inferred resource of antimony and gold. Figures 17.5 -to-17.8 summarize inferred resources on Workman’s Bench. Tables 17.8 to 17.11 show the calculations of the resource polygons depicted for the inferred resource estimates on Workman’s Bench. Table 17.12 summarizes inferred resource estimates on Workman’s Bench.

89


Figure 17.5 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area

90


Figure 17.6 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area

91


Figure 17.7 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘C’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area

92


Figure 17.8 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s bench, Nolan Creek Area

93


Table 17. 9 Polygonal Block Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘C’ Zone, Workman’s Bench, Nolan Creek

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony (tons) Gold (oz/ton) Gold (ounces)
1 98 0.05 0.5 0.055 5.4
2 84 2.96 2.5 0.103 8.7
3 234 3.83 9.0 0.054 12.6
4 325 6.74 21.9 0.103 33.4
5 201 6.72 13.5 0.080 16.1
6 98 6.50 6.4 0.085 8.3
7 314 3.26 10.2 0.049 15.4
8 216 3.49 7.5 0.079 17.1
9 351 0.03 1.0 0.160 56.2
10 538 3.79 20.4 0.157 84.5
11 146 0.29 0.5 0.070 10.2
12 85 6.22 5.3 0.123 10.5
13 173 5.98 10.3 0.210 36.3
14 74 0.05 0.5 0.157 11.6
15 140 6.54 9.2 0.213 29.8
16 313 0.59 1.8 0.183 52.3
17 787 3.79 29.8 0.184 144.8
18 55 6.77 3.7 0.127 7.0
Total/Average 4,232 3.64 154.0 0.132 560.2

Table 17.10 Polygonal Block, Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘A’ Zone, Workman’s Bench, Nolan Creek

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony (tons) Gold (oz/ton) Gold (ounces)
1 1,404 12.77 179.3 0.297 416.9
2 826 11.87 98.0 0.260 214.7
3 1,524 9.36 142.6 0.213 324.6
4 2,737 19.13 523.5 0.266 728.0
Total/Average 6,491 14.53 943.4 0.259 1,684.2

Table 17.11 Polygonal Block, Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘West’ Zone, Workman’s Bench, Nolan Creek

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony (tons) Gold (oz/ton) Gold (ounces)
1 164 14.03 23.0 0.069 11.3
2 152 7.44 11.3 0.068 10.3
3 774 12.38 95.8 0.075 58.1
4 643 19.49 125.3 0.067 43.1
5 595 14.86 88.4 0.055 32.7
6 2,536 10.94 277.4 0.928 2,353.4
7 470 3.64 17.1 0.107 50.3
Total/Average 5,334 11.96 638.3 0.507 2,704.4

Table 17.12 Polygonal Block, Inferred Resource Estimate for ‘B’ Zone, Workman’s Bench, Nolan Creek

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony (tons) Gold (oz/ton) Gold (ounces)
1 1,331 24.95 332.1 0.103 137.1
2 1,168 13.66 159.5 0.122 142.5
3 135 15.37 20.7 0.137 18.5
4 965 8.28 79.2 0.347 334.9
5 1,733 15.20 263.4 0.147 254.8
Total/Average 5,332 16.03 854.9 0.167 887.8

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Table 17.13 Summary of Inferred Antimony and Gold Resources From ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and West Zones, Workman’s Bench Lode, Nolan Creek Area.

Category

Cut-Off
Grade (% Sb
Equivalent)
Quantity of
Mineralization
Grade
(% Sb)
Metal (ton
Sb)
Grade
(oz/ton Au)
Metal (oz
gold)
‘A’ Vein 4.0 6,491 14.53 943.4 0.259 1,684.2
Inferred            
‘B’ Vein 4.0 5,332 16.03 854.9 0.167 867.8
Inferred            
‘C’ Vein 4.0 4,232 3.64 154.0 0.132 560.2
Inferred            
‘West Vein 4.0 5,334 11.96 638.3 0.507 2,704.4
Inferred            
Totals 4.0 21,389 12.11 2,590.6 0.272 5,816.6

17.7      Pringle Bench inferred resource estimates

The QP examined trench and drill data from the Pringle Bench mineralized system that was explored in 2007. It became apparent during the 2008 exploration program that some of the same mineralized zones that occur on Workman’s Bench line up with and are believed to be equivalent to those exposed on Pringle Bench. The QP recognized the ‘A’ and ‘West’ Zones on Pringle Bench. Mineralized interval data is confined to intervals from eight (8) shallow diamond core drill holes, four (4) trenches, and one RC hole. In 2007, the exploration program was just getting started on Smith Creek, and as such, sampling procedures were just being defined. Only one drill hole, a RC hole completed in 2006, reaches to depths sufficient for estimating vertical extent. Most other drill holes intersect the zone at less than 75 feet vertically from the surface. Figures 17.13 is a surface plan of the Pringle mineralized system. Figures 17.14 and 17.15 are resource polygons constructed for the ‘A’ and West’ Zones. Other mineralized zones identified in drill core and trenches could not be identified. Table 17.13 summarizes the inferred resource estimates from the ‘A’ and ‘West’ Zones on Pringle Bench. Tables 17.14 and 17.15 show details of the calculated polygonal resource blocks from Pringle Bench. The average thickness of the Pringle bench ‘A’ zone (0.55 feet) is thinner on average than the average ‘A’ zone thickness (0.95 ft) identified on Workman’s Bench. Also of note is the lower values of both antimony and gold in the sample intervals and calculated resource polygons at Pringle Bench as compared to values encountered on Workman’s Bench (table 17.13) . There is insufficient data to conclude reasons for these lower metal values. More drilling is needed to confirm or refute these speculations.

Table 17.14 Summary of Inferred Antimony and Gold resources from ‘A’ and ‘West’ Zones, Pringle Bench

Category Cut-Off Quantity Grade Metal (ton Grade Metal
  Grade (% Sb) (tons) (% Sb) Sb) (oz/ton Au) (oz gold)
‘A’ Vein 4.0 4,357 14.08 613.7 0.106 460.4
Inferred            
‘West’ Vein 4.0 1,951 9.86 192.3 0.049 94.7
Inferred            
TOTALS 4.0 6,308 12.78 806.0 0.088 555.1

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Figure 17.9 Surface view of Pringle Bench mineralized zones, showing locations of drill hole and trench control, and interpreted extensions of A and West Zones.


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Figure 17.10 Inferred Resource polygons for ‘A’ Zone, Pringle Bench, Nolan Creek Area

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Figure 17.11 Inferred Resource Polygons for ‘West’ Zone, Pringle Bench, Nolan Creek Area

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Table 17.15 Polygonal block inferred resource calculation for ‘A’ Zone, Pringle Bench

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony Gold Gold (ounces)
      (tons) (oz/ton)  
1 1,149 8.63 99.2 0.041 47.1
2 63 12.78 8.1 0.037 2.3
3 134 26.27 35.2 0.019 2.5
4 205 31.49 64.6 0.119 24.4
5 138 36.67 50.6 0.112 15.5
6 82 26.67 21.9 0.127 10.4
7 115 29.80 34.3 0.246 28.3
8 2,372 12.31 292.0 0.136 322.6
9 99 7.92 7.8 0.074 7.3
TOTAL/AVERAGE 4,357 14.08 613.7 0.106 460.4

Table 17.16 Polygonal block inferred resource calculation for ‘West’ Zone, Pringle Bench

Polygon Tons Antimony (%) Antimony Gold Gold
      (tons) (oz/ton) (ounces)
1 80 14.11 11.3 0.061 4.9
2 160 11.37 18.2 0.036 5.8
3 206 12.12 25.0 0.044 9.1
4 99 18.68 18.5 0.051 5.0
5 615 3.91 24.0 0.021 12.9
6 290 9.46 27.4 0.028 8.1
7 182 15.47 28.2 0.095 17.3
8 319 12.43 39.7 0.099 31.6
TOTAL/AVERAGE 1,951 9.86 192.3 0.049 94.7

17.8 Mineral Reserve Statement

On the basis of the information presented in Section 18 of this report, the economic viability of the proposed extraction and treatment of the probable reserve defined in the Workman’s Bench lode system has been demonstrated. Modeling of the Workman’s Bench lode system has been undertaken in such a manner such that the resource tonnage and grade estimates already provide sufficient allowance for grade dilution and losses in mine recovery; hence, no further modifying factors are required before reporting these as a mineral reserve. The QP therefore considers a portion of the Workman’s Bench lode system to be a probable mineral reserve in terms of the CIM definition.

Table 17.16 sets out the mineral reserves in the Workman’s Bench lode deposit. These reserves are valid as of January 1, 2009.

Table 17.17 Mineral reserve estimate, Workman’s Bench lode

Zone
Reserve
Class
Cut-off grade
(% equivalent Sb)
Quantity
(tons)
Grade
(% Sb)
Metal
(ton Sb)
Grade
(oz/t Au)
Metal
(oz Au)
A Zone Probable 4.0 28,452 31.52 8,950 0.405 11,520
B Zone Probable 4.0 8,756 25.63 2,240 0.480 4,210
West Zone Probable 4.0 5,204 12.80 665 0.302 1,570
Average/Total Probable 4.0 42,412 28.00 11,875 0.408 17,300
(total values are rounded)            

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18.0      Other Relevant Data and Information

18.1      Prefeasibility study, Workman’s Bench antimony and gold resources-introduction

Silverado asked the QP to complete a prefeasibility study in order to evaluate the merits of extracting antimony and gold from Workman’s Bench, frequently referred to in this chapter as the ‘Nolan lode development’, using the probable reserve base demonstrated in Chapter 17 of this report. The conceptual work plan would involve the selective underground extraction of high quality vein mineralization, processing of ore with a nearby surface plant using gravity (and possibly flotation) technologies, recovering most of the gold value on site at Nolan Creek, and shipping a metallurgical grade stibnite concentrate to overseas buyers; either Asian (China) or European (Rotterdam, Netherlands) markets. Figure 18.1 provides a simplified location map showing current and planned basic facilities described in this report that will be referenced throughout this chapter.

Figure 18.1 Simplified outline illustrating mine infrastructure for proposed Nolan lode mine development.

Mining 18.2

18.2.1 Underground mine design

Mining methods in the Workman’s Bench deposit selected by the QP in discussions with Silverado will deploy a modified cut-and-fill stoping method. Figure 18.2 provides a plan view that would initially access ‘A’ Zone mineralization from the existing underground drifts and crosscuts completed in 2008.

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Figure 18.2 Simplified surface plan view, proposed Workman’s Bench underground development, with an initial focus on ‘A’ Zone mineralization (in red).

The vein structures will be accessed through a 12-15 degree spiral decline that will provide subsurface access to the ‘A’, ‘B’, and West vein structures, but beginning with the main ‘A’ Zone, where nearly 70 percent of the indicated resources reside. Figure 18.3 provides a plan for the spiral decline and a diagram showing how the mineralized ‘A’ Zone vein material would be extracted. The first level would parallel ‘A’ Zone through waste rock at a minimal width in the range of 6.5 feet to 7 feet in width and 10 feet high. Stopes will be driven at a 17% decline paralleling the vein to a depth of 150 vertical feet, then level off and driven to a lateral length of approximately 400 feet or less, with the first level 10 feet below the level on which the first ore extraction would take place. Once the stope is driven, the vein structure will be shot off the rib at an expected width of 2 feet and mucked out for processing. Figure 18.3 illustrates the back-in concept for extraction at the mineralized face. Waste would be breasted down and placed in the level below the working face. Ore would then be shot and transported to the surface and stored for processing. Extraction would take place from the hanging wall side of the vein structure, or from the eastern edge of the vein. The spiral decline depicted figure 18.3 is focused on extraction of ‘A’ Zone; however, it would also contain draw-off points to access ‘B’ and West Zones as well, which also contain indicated resources.

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When extraction from the entire level has been completed, than mine crews will back up to the decline and breast down the back using the waste rock as fill, gaining 10 feet in elevation and preparing the next section of the ‘A’ Zone vein to be shot off and retrieved (Figure 18.4) . This process will continue until mine crews get to the same elevation of both C and D access levels. The upward vertical limit of the extraction process will likely depend on ground conditions, especially the presence or absence of live water (figure 18.5) . In either case, if water is encountered or ground conditions falter, then the upward limit of mining will have been reached. The mine method as designed will allow Silverado Mine crews to leave waste rock in the mine and only dealing with the initial waste rock and swell factor removed and stored on the surface.

Stope access driven at 6.5 feet wide by 100 feet long by 10 feet high will result in 6,500 cubic feet (600-650 tons) of rock in place per single working level. At a 27 percent swell factor, which is what has been experienced during the past 2 years at Nolan Creek, the in-place extracted material equals 8,500 cubic feet (of loose broken rock. Removal of the ore at 2 feet wide by 10 feet high by 100 feet long will provide approximately 2,000 cubic feet of additional area to accommodate the material swell factor.

Figure 18.3 Spiral decline into Workman’s Bench deposit; B-simplified diagram showing relationship of working face in drift to mineralized vein.

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Figure 18.4 Simplified concept of the working face, Workman’s Bench deposit.

Ground control will consist of split sets, wire mesh, and timber as needed. All of the underground workings to date have encountered permafrost, which has resulted in exceptionally stable ground conditions. Water has frozen into cracks, which has kept roofs, sidewalls, and working faces completely competent. Ground temperature control will be crucial to maintaining stable underground conditions. Underground equipment will consist of MSHA approved loaders (RDH) and haul trucks. Jack legs and pneumatic rock penetration units will constitute the principle drill hardware used on the project.

Mine ventilation will be accomplished by deployment of a 40 hp fan placed 100 or more feet from the portal, forcing fresh air into a 24 inch vent line run into the stoped areas. Exhaust air will return out through the drift and out the portal, resulting in positive ventilation. This ventilation design has been successfully deployed by Silverado during underground drift mining activities on the left limit placer benches of Nolan Creek since 1994. It has been inspected and approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) since the time it was first deployed. Figure 18.6 illustrates the ventilation design for Workman’s Bench.

Power supply will be located in the existing location of the mine. Mine supply facilities will be located on Workman’s Bench. Tailings storage will be properly permitted and secured on a level, cleared-off area at several locations of the Nolan Creek left limit bench. Transportation of the ore from the mine site to the processing site will be by a 20 ton capacity haul trucks.

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Figure 18.5 Side panel of proposed Workman’s Bench mine plan showing method in which previously mined levels would be back-filled


Figure 18.6 Side panel of proposed Workman’s bench mine showing sequential upward cut and fill method deployed in C and D zones

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Figure 18.7 Ventilation design, proposed Nolan lode development.


18.2.2 Geotechnical Studies

Geotechnical studies of the Workman’s and Pringle Bench have been mainly confined to core logging by Silverado geological contractors completed during the definition of ore zones. The QP has examined the underground workings on Workman’s bench during April 7-10, 2008, and measured joint sets, foliation and compositional banding, and inspected fault zones. Foliation and compositional banding strikes northeast (025-045o) and generally dips shallow to the southeast ranging from 05-to-015o. At some stations, compositional banding and foliation is horizontal. Figure 18.6 illustrates the near-horizontal nature of compositional banding in phyllitc schist in the ‘A’ Crosscut. Northwest striking high angle faults offset the northeast veins in small amounts.

All mineralized zones at Workman’s Bench are near-vertical ‘vein-faults’ that strike in a northeasterly direction. Most of the northeast-striking joint sets have some silica vein selvage infilling. The northwest striking joints and fractures have both vein filling but are also frequently barren. The main ‘A’ zone shows slickensides in a horizontal configuration, indicating mostly lateral low angle slip planes. The ‘B’ and ‘West’ Zones also occur along fault planes, but do not show obvious evidence of lateral movement. Mine planning takes into account the fault structure of ‘A’ Zone and has avoided driving along it’s projected surface to prevent wall rock instability. Silverado geological contractor Karl Sharp is conducting a joint set survey using underground data, which should soon be available.

Wall rocks enclosing the stibnite-quartz lodes contain significant pyrite and pyrrhotite. PRGCI geological contractor R.C. Swainbank estimated sulfide content in 18 drill holes from Pringle and Workman’s bench that were completed in 2007 (Figure 18.7) . Phyllitic schist contains the highest sulfide content. The QP has recommended to Silverado that a plan of action for lode mineral development incorporates the characterization of the material, a definition of waste rock, geochemical testing, review of geochemical parameters present in drill core, and an implementation plan.

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Figure 18.8 ‘A’ Crosscut looking southeast. Note near-horizontal phyllitic schist bands in base and roof.

18.2.3 Hydrological considerations

The Workman’s Bench deposit occupies a near-horizontal terrace level at an elevation of 1,800 feet near the confluence of Smith Creek, a third order tributary, with Nolan Creek, a second order trunk stream. The Workman’s Bench mineralized system trends in a northeast direction toward Smith Creek Valley. The underground workings driven into the Workman’s Bench lode are dry. Nearly all drill holes on Workman’s Bench also drilled dry. However, two drill holes collared near Smith Creek intersected live water. This portion of the Workman’s bench mineralized system will have to be avoided during initial mine development to prevent the need for expensive pumping and environmental treatment of water, which would be required by regulation. Left limit benches on Nolan Creek were all found to be dry during underground drift mining of frozen placer gold deposits (see Bundtzen, 2008c).

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Figure 18.9 Core logging summary from 2007 core drilling, illustrating rock types and sulfide-bearing zones

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Drifting under Nolan Creek above Silverado’s camp interested live water. During construction of the camp well, it was found that the water table occurs below a permafrost substrate. If a thawed well water source is not found, then Silverado will have to obtain permits to use stream waters from either Nolan Creek or Smith Creek for mill processing needs. Silverado is currently permitted to use waters from recycling ponds during placer mining activities. Silverado plans to use these water sources during milling of hard rock ores.

18.2.4 Waste rock management

Waste rock will be temporarily stored on lined pads on the left limit bench of Nolan Creek Valley. Final encapsulation of these materials will take place in two possible scenarios: 1) moving them back underground in Workman’s Bench upon completion of the planned stope panels; or 2) permanent storage in the abandoned underground drifts of Swede Channel, Mary’s and Mary’s East placer gold deposits on the left limit bench level of Nolan Creek (Figure 4.3) . During 1994, 1999, and 2005-2007 underground drifting removed 46,050 bank cubic yards of gravel for surface processing (table 6.1, this report; Figures 10.2 and 10.3; Bundtzen, 2008c). Inspection by the QP of Swede and Mary’s East underground workings in 2006-2007 indicated that these workings are relatively intact although slumping have removed an estimated 10 percent of open spaces, locally. Assuming that one cubic yard equals about 2.3 tons, and assuming a 90 percent space availability, and a swell factor of about 20 percent, then the underground workings on the left limit bench would be capable of storing approximately 85,000 tons of loose waste rock material. This would accommodate the projected encapsulation of about 50,000 tons of waste.

18.2.5 Mine production schedule A mine schedule envisions the extraction and processing of approximately 42,500 tons of indicted mineral resources that contain on average 28.0 % antimony and 0.408 oz/ton gold in the Workman’s Bench mineralized zones over a period of four (4) years. Table 18.1 summarizes the production schedule.

Table 18.1 Five year mine plan, Workman’s Bench/Nolan lode project

Year Mining Rate Mining Duration Total Tons Comments
2009 30 65 2,000 Collection of bulk
        sample for
        metallurgical testing
2010 65 125 8,000 Initial commercial
        production from
        gravity plant
2011 200 125 25,000 Full scale
        production
2012 200 125 25,000 Full scale
        production
2013 200 125 25,000 Full scale
        production
Total/Average 200 125 85,000 Complete indicated
        resource extraction

(1)

Sorting of mineralization prior to mill feed is anticipated; actual tonnage of ore in probable reserve (average width=0.90 feet) is 42,500 tons.

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The mine is designed to take out a cut 2.0 feet which compares with the overall average thickness of all three indicated mineralized zones, ‘A’, ‘B’, and West Zones of about 0.90 feet true thickness. Hence the amount of material actually extracted from the mineralized zone is approximately twice that of the indicated resource tonnage or about 85,000 tons. Sorting will take place underground so that the waste hanging and footwalls materials, which amounts to roughly 50% of the shot rock, are not stored for mill processing.

18.2.6 Mine Operations

Silverado possesses a permit to collect up to 1,000 cubic yards of mineralized material for testing purposes from Workman’s bench from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. This work is a follow-up of the metallurgical work completed by Hazen. The first year (2009) will be devoted to the collection of the bulk sample for metallurgical testing. This sample will either be shipped out to an outside facility or be processed on the mine site after the initial gravity plant has been built. Permitting requirements limit activities in 2009 to this activity. However, permits to operate the lode mine and mill facility still must be obtained (see permitting section).

Year two (2010) is the beginning of commercial operations. Final stope configurations are completed underground, which allows for full access to all three mineralized vein faults containing indicated resources-the ‘A’, ‘B’ and West Zones. However, all ore to be developed for the mill during year 2 will be derived from ‘A’ Zone. During 2011-2013, all three zones containing indicated resources will be accessed and developed. The mine ventilation system will be completed to comply with MSHA safety requirements.

The QP takes into account important climactic considerations during design of the mining operation. The key to stable underground mine conditions is to keep the subsurface in a frozen condition. Systematic placement of thermometers will be a required element of the underground mine activities. The company will monitor drift temperatures and will curtail mining if temperatures rise above 20o F. That will reduce but not necessarily eliminate the need for underground control reinforcement. Silverado’s expertise during the mining of frozen placer gold deposits on the left limit of Nolan Creek will provide important guidance for the Nolan lode development. Table 18.2 summarizes the annual mine activity cycle.

Mining will begin shortly after freeze-up and continue until April 1st, the time where thawing of drifts in past years has become a stability problem in the underground drift mines. During April and May, the Silverado crew will ready Nolan camp for milling and exploration activities. Other seasonal summer activities will include drilling for more resources and converting inferred resource estimates into indicated categories for mine feasibility.

One day and one night shift of 2 miners each can successfully produce 125 tons per day of ore during 2011-2013. Because the mine design features the ability to work from two faces simultaneously (see figure 18.6), ore can be drawn from different areas for mixing opportunities to improve grade control during milling. A single crew of two can handle extraction of the metallurgical testing in 2009.

Silverado contract miners will use drill technologies and haulage scheduling developed during drift mining of left limit bench placers as well as those deployed in construction of the 2008 development drifts. The firm

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Table 18.2 Annual schedule for Nolan Creek lode development when in full production

Activity Time Interval Comments
Underground mining November 10th-April 1 Underground Mining during winter to
    reduce thermal disturbance
    underground
Mill processing June 1-September 1 Taking advantage of warm summer
    conditions during operations of mill
Drilling July1-September 30 Expand resource base; convert
    inferred into indicated resources
Concentrate haulage July 1 to October 31 Back hauls of stibnite in tractor
    trailers from North Slope oil fields

will use vehicles that will include a DuxTM DT20 Haul trucks to haul ore to the surface; a Young BuggyTM to access the narrowed vein zones; and an EimcoTM utilty vehicle. The scenario of alternating between mining and processing tasks allows Silverado to utilize the same personnel on a number of projects nearly continuously throughout the year.

18.3      Processing

18.3.1 Laboratory

Mine assay requirements will be handled through commercial labs in Fairbanks. Each face shot will require assay control, but given the relatively small size of the operation, it is more efficient to use existing facilities in Alaska. ALS Chemex and Alaska Assay Labs offer timely services in Fairbanks. The latter can provide 2 day turn-around service for fire assay gold. The former can provide fire assay gold on a one week turn-around. One lab can be used as a check lab, as has been done during exploration work on Nolan Creek (see chapters 12-13 of this report). Sample batches can either be trucked to Fairbanks (six hour drive) or flown in on Wright’s Air Service from Coldfoot, which has serviced Silverado’s needs for many years. Silverado is considering the establishment of a simple check lab at the mine site.

18.3.2 Crushing and Conveying

Ore will be crushed and conveyed from stockpiles. Mechanical sorting will occur through removal of wall rock from mineralized material prior to feeding material into the concentrating plant. Silverado possesses a heavy-grade TechronTM Model #5500 conveyor belt used during processing of transporting oversize gravels and boulders from reject sites of a placer gold washing plant facility. The conveyor operated at a rate of about 30 cubic yards/hr or roughly equivalent to about 55 tons/hr. Ore will be crushed to 35 mesh with a 25 t/hr primary crushing unit. Later circuits, including a rod mill, will crush to -150 mesh.

18.3.3 Process Plant Layout

The processing facility will consist of a primary crusher followed by a three step milling and recovery process. The bulk sample test completed by Hazen identified a need to reduce the sliming tendencies of stibnite. The mill will deploy a rod mill instead of a ball mill to keep the initial grind to a relatively coarse mesh (-35). The

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rod mill product will report to a scalping jig—producing a 1 inch product, which in turn feeds a Denver DuplexTM jig system, producing a ¼ inch (sand-sized) product. This material is then fed to a bank of four (4) Holman-WiffleyTM tables that will serve as the principle method to recover the mineral product (by gravity means). The Wiffley tables units should provide for a feed of about 25 tons/hr, which is more than needed for the projected maximum 200 tons per day facility. By keeping the sizing relatively coarse-grained but at the same time uniform, a >90 percent recovery of stibnite should be attainable.

Based on knowledge gained from the Hazen bulk sample test, the gold will likely report to an arsenopyrite concentrate and removed on site. Coarse stibnite at -35 mesh and larger will report to a specific stream on the Wiffley tables, and be pulled off and bagged for shipment. For finer grinds, the stibnite might slime, thus reducing the percent recovery. Hazen test results show good stibnite recoveries with conventional gravity methods, but if the grind is too fine losses through sliming may result; hence grind control will be key to the process. The QP has informed Silverado that a flotation unit could significantly improve recovery if sliming occurs. Results of processing the bulk sample by Hazen showed that 98 percent of the gold and 99 percent of the stibnite could be recovered with addition of a flotation circuit. Permitting issues might affect timely flotation technology deployment.

18.3.4 Process Design Criteria

The principle design criteria for the processing plant will include: 1) how gangue materials (hanging and footwall zones; quartz vein gangue) will affect stibnite and gold recovery; 2) the relationship of arsenopyrite to stibnite and gold mineralization; and 3) how grinding size will specifically affect stibnite recovery; 4) production of a high quality stibnite concentrate that averages 60% or better antimony, with low trace metal content; and 5) comparison of the gravity only plant versus a combined gravity and flotation unit. The stibnite market requires a high purity product with low impurities, especially arsenic and lead. Assay data from the Workman’s Bench stibnite mineralization show low contents of both lead and arsenic. But mineralogical work by Bart Cannon of Cannon Microprobe Inc. and through inspection of assay data indicate that arsenic exists in the form of locally conspicuous arsenopyrite in the vein system. Arsenopyrite should report to a separate table line with gold. An important objective of the milling process will be to limit the potential contamination of arsenic (and lead) in stibnite concentrates being prepared for market. Metallurgical tests conducted by Hazen show good recoveries by gravity concentration but some improvement with flotation, especially for fine grained stibnite.

18.3.5 Manpower

The mill will require four individuals: 1) one contractor that works at the primary feed conveyor belt and primary crusher units; 2) an individual that manages and monitors the operations of the wifely tables; 3) an individual that bags the stibnite product for shipment; and 4) an individual in charge of gold recovery.

18.3.6 Consumables and Maintenance

Maintenance requirements will include motor malfunctions, shaker malfunctions, replacement of polyurethane linings on wifely tables that wear out with use, water pipe repairs, and lubrication of movable parts. Manufacturers of Wifely tables; i.e., Holman-Wifley, will issue warranties for maintenance repairs.

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Figure 18.10 Mill flow sheet, Nolan lode project. Use of diagram with permission from Sepro Systems TM , 12/31/08


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.18.3.7 Process production schedule.

Table 18.3 provides a production schedule for deployment of the plant facility. The first year is devoted to testing, followed by mill refinement the second year and final full scale production for three years.

Table 18.3 Planned mill production schedule

Year
Mill Rate
(tpd)
Mill Duration
(days)
Mill Tonnage
Comments
2009 25 40 1,000 Test of large permitted bulk sample
2010 50 80 4,000 Initial commercial rate of mill
        facility; refinement of mill flow
2011 125 100 12,500 Full production achieved
2013 125 100 12,500 Full production achieved
2014 125 100 12,500 Full production achieved
TOTAL/ 125 100 42,500 Completion of processing of
AVERAGE (1)       indicated resource, Workman’s
        Bench

(1)    When in full production

18.3.8 Processing Summary

Table 18.2 already introduced provides a flow sheet that combines both mining and milling operational schedules. Calendar years 2009 will be devoted to processing of the permitted bulk sample. The QP is unsure whether or not there will be enough of the mill facility completed to process the bulk sample on site. If not the sample would be transported offsite to an appropriate mill facility or organization. If there is not mill facility on site at all, then a smaller sample would be transported offsite.

Mill processing will commence upon the beginning of summer when water becomes easily available, which is usually mid-May. Processing will be ended by September. Early frosts and freezing activities will commence by late September. The seasonal operation of the facility (June 1-September 1) will insure that an adequate water supply is maintained and 2) summer conditions will eliminate the need to build expensive facilities to combat the cold temperatures typical of this region.

In the second year (2010), initial commercial production is anticipated with gold recovered on site in the mill and stibnite shipped to off shore buyers. The first year of production will be accomplished only with gravity circuits in the mill, due to permitting considerations (see permitting section). It is expected that permits to operate flotation units could be obtained by 2011.

The refinement of the mill flow sheet should be completed by the end of year 2. Full scale production will take place during three years—2011, 2012, and 2013. By this time the gravity (and possibly flotation) mill circuits are deployed for maximum stibnite and gold recovery. During the final three years of production, the mill will process 88 percent of the total indicated resources available.

Top challenges during mill operations will include establishing reliable maintenance schedules and perfecting the flow sheet so that maximum product values are realized. Establishing a flotation circuit to the gravity mill will depend on permitting availability and relative results of the gravity-only mill.

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18.4      Administration, Engineering, and Infrastructure 18.4.1 Manpower Structure

Besides several discussions with contractors Ray Medina and Gil Dobbs, and Roger Burggraf and Garry Anselmo, the QP has examined employment records and planning efforts of past Silverado test-mining programs to assist in making employment estimates as described below (Table 18.4) . The Nolan Creek lode mine development will be managed by Mr. Raymond Medina, an experienced mine contractor active with Silverado for more than 25 years. Mine engineering consultant Gilbert Dobbs will contribute to engineering and project management. Dobbs will also assist Medina with mill management during summer months. Permitting and property management will be under the direction of Silverado director Roger Burggraf, from his office in Fairbanks, Alaska. Payroll and all required employment paperwork will be handled out of the Fairbanks office by Bonnie Gunn. Karl Sharp is the chief geologist for the Nolan Creek development. Five (5) experienced underground miners who have worked on underground projects in past years, which includes one alternate, will make up the underground mining team. At least 3 of the 5 miners will also work in the mill during the summer season. More than 20 miners have worked for Silverado in past years. A number of these past contractors are available for work. Silverado Chief Operating Officer Garry Anselmo will provide over site and quality control of the project.

In addition to the core staff, the operation will need: 1) a utility man to maintain mine ventilation, haul supplies to miners on shift, and supplies to miners coming on for a shift; 2) a laborer-equipment operator, who will work mainly on the surface maintaining roads hauling ore to stockpiles lubing and fueling equipment, and assisting in camp maintenance; and 3) a qualified mechanic that will service both surface and underground mining equipment and make sure that all equipment is kept in a safe manner. The camp will have a full time kitchen chef plus one assistant who will make sure all staff is well fed and maintain camp living quarters.

There will also be a need for outside contractors to assist in exploration core logging, environmental permitting, claim maintenance and other projects as needed.

Table 18.4 Summary of core employment requirements for the Nolan lode project.

Position Name of Individual Number of Employees
Camp Mine Management Ray Medina 1
Engineering Management Gilbert Dobbs 1
Permitting, Land Ownership Roger Burggraf 1
Geology Karl Sharp 1
Miners NA 5
Mill Operators NA 4 (1)
Utility Man NA 1
Laborer-Equipment Operator NA 1
Mechanic NA 1
Kitchen (Chef) NA 1
Camp Assistant NA 1
Payroll (Fairbanks) Bonnie Gunn 1
TOTAL NA 19

(1)    three of five miners will work in mill during summer months

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18. 4.2 Office, Workshops, and Stores

The existing Nolan Camp will serve as the primary infrastructure base for the Nolan lode development project. Nolan Camp is located in the valley of Nolan Creek about 2.0 miles above the confluence with Wiseman Creek. The original Nolan operations, including camp, buildings, machinery shops, and related equipment, were constructed in the late 1980s. Power is produced by a diesel power plant at the camp site. The Nolan camp was upgraded in 2002 and again in 2007 in order that underground and open-cut mining operations could be effectively carried out. The upgrading and efforts included: 1) the purchase and installation of a ten room housing unit; 2) the construction of engineering and geology offices; 3) the upgrading of laboratory and sample preparation facilities; 4) the installation of a new sewage treatment facility; 5) the construction of a new kitchen; and 6) the installation of new communications equipment, including computer hardware. Figure 18.11 shows an aerial shot of Nolan Camp. Figure 18.1 introduced earlier in this chapter shows the general spatial layout of camp infrastructure. The camp is capable of housing 30 workers on a full time basis.

A geological laboratory has been seasonally operated in camp. The geology lab contains sample preparation apparatus, as well as layout space for core logging needs. A core saw is available in camp. During placer gold mining activities, the camp maintained tight security, which contains many of the apparatus used in collection of placer gold; i.e. several electronic MetlerTM balances, grading screens and sorting wheels. Much of this equipment is expected to be applicable to the Nolan lode project.

A heavy equipment shop has been maintained by the company for many years in order to service both surface and underground mining equipment during test-mining in past years (figure 18.12) . The shop also house the camp’s current electric power plant. The camp facility has a separate area for storage of mine lights, underground mining gear, and underground safety equipment; all will be used at Nolan camp.

Tailings have been stored on BLM approved pads at several sites in Nolan Creek valley. Silverado also has an MSHA-approved site for storage of explosives, mainly ANFOTM, on the south edge of Ogden-Eureka bench, on the north side of Smith Creek and about 950 feet from the current Workman’s Bench portal. There are no explosives on site at this time.

Silverado has fuel containment facilities associated with their two 15,000 gallon capacity diesel tanks. All gasoline is purchased in 55 gallon barrels. Both gas and diesel tanks, which are stored on liners in accordance with ADEC specifications, are located about 100 yards west of the cafeteria and bunkhouse complex. According to Silverado staff, the fuel storage capabilities will probably meet the needs for the planned Nolan lode development. Shopping for camp needs usually is accomplished in Fairbanks, Alaska, about 170 miles south and accessible by the Dalton Highway.

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Figure 18.11 Overview of Nolan Camp

Figure 18.12. Shop facility at Nolan Camp showing mechanic working on mining equipment

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18.4.3 Electric Power Supply

Nolan Camp currently has three small generators: 1) a 20Kw WacklerTM, and two 40 Kw Atlas CopcoTM units. The planned mill and mine infrastructure will need additional power, about twice that currently available at Nolan Camp. Silverado has several generating units at their moth-balled mill facility on Ester Dome. They include a Westinghouse 7160 generator that can generate 400 Kw of power, 500 KVA Transformer, and a three synchronized system generator panels (type GCS), which may be sufficient for deployment needs at Nolan Camp.

18.4.4 Water Supply

Drinking quality (potable) water is obtained from a well near Wiseman, about 5.0 miles from Nolan Camp, and transported to camp with a water truck. Water is then pumped into three, 2,500 gallon capacity, plastic holding tanks that are housed in the main utility room. A conventional well drilled near the camp is no longer used, because of problems encountered with permafrost, which freezes the well casing.

Tailings ponds have been constructed during seasonal mining activities, and operate under a zero discharge, 100 percent recycle technology. Because the mill will operate only during the summer, these ADEC approved, artificial water bodies will be used to supply water to the mill facility. Water needs for winter drilling and blasting, wherever needed, can be supplied by the existing system of storage tanks in camp.

18.5      Environmental and Social Considerations

18. 5.1 Federal and State Regulatory Requirements

The primary focus of the mine permitting process in Alaska is to protect the land, water, and surface resources of the United States, the State of Alaska, and private sector land owners from adverse affects that might be caused from mineral extraction. The listing below is that developed for the State of Alaska’s ‘Hard Rock Mine Permit Model’ as found in Alaska Statute AS 27.05.010(b):

  1)

Air Quality (dust and particulate matter)

  2)

Biological Resources

  3)

Cultural Resources

  4)

Geologic Hazards

  5)

Land Use

  6)

Noise

  7)

Public health

  8)

Socio-Economic Resources

  9)

Traffic and Transportation

  10)

Visual Resources

  11)

Waste Management

  12)

Water Quality

  13)

Energy Use Impacts

An estimated ten (10) state and federal agencies will be involved in the permitting of the Nolan lode antimony-gold project. Each agency covers a sector of activity that deals with surface and subsurface use,

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Table 18.5 State agencies involved in permitting Nolan lode project

Agency Permitted/Regulated Activity
Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR)




1) Design and Operating Plan
2) Drilling permit for holes or drifts>300 ft in depth
3) Miscellaneous land use permit
4) Alaska Placer Mining Application (APMA)
5) Cultural survey permit
6) Water use permit
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
(ADEC)


1) Air quality permit
2) Water discharge permit
3) Waste rock disposal permit
4) Storm water certificate
Alaska Department of Public Safety Fire Marshall’s Office
1) Design/Operating Plan Review Process
2) Operational Fire Safety Certificate
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
1) Title 05 and 16 Authorities of the Alaska Constitution
(fish and game habitat protection)

Table 18.6 Federal agencies involved in permitting Nolan lode project

Agency Permitted/Regulated Activity
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (USBLM)


1) Surface lease
2) Design/operating plan
3) Plan of Operations approval
4) National Historic Preservation Act
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps)
1) Wetlands Determination
2) 404 Permit
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)



1) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit
2) Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS)
3) Hazardous Materials Handling Plan
4) Storm water permit
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Endangered Species Act
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
1) Design/Operation Plan review
2) FERC Certification
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) All regulatory actions related to safe activities in mines

safety, and environmental responsibility. Tables 18.5 and 18.6 provide a summary listing of State and Federal agencies that will be involved in permitting the Nolan lode project. Silverado already possesses a number of permits that allow them to operate on their mineral claims. They would include an NPDES permit from the USEPA for their placer operations, the annual Alaska Placer Mine Application (APMA), a hard rock exploration permit from ADNR, and an exploration plan of operations for previous exploration work also from ADNR. Water use permitting and permits related to potential acid generating condition may take some time to get approved and permitted. For example, deployment of flotation technologies will require a strict permitting process by ADEC. If water is encountered in underground workings, then stringent water

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discharge permits will be required. The QP has advised Silverado to avoid underground water at Workman’s Bench if at all possible.

Under Alaska Statute, Section 16.05.020, the ADF&G “manages, protects, maintains, and extends the fish and game and aquatic plant resources of the State in the interest of the well being of the state”. As such ADF&G will be reviewing mining plans along with agencies of ADNR. Silverado does carry an advantage in that Nolan Creek is classified as an industrial stream by federal agencies, recognizing that past mining activities have modified local streams and waters. Also Silverado has been in compliance with regulations in past years, and have a good record with agencies (see chapter 4.5 discussion in this report). Table 18. 7 suggests the permits that Silverado must first secure in order to initiate development of Nolan lode mining, that are in addition to those that the company currently possesses.

Table 18.7 Initial permit goals for Silverado’s Nolan lode development. for 2009 and 2010

Agency Permit or Certificate
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation 1) Waste water discharge permit
(ADEC) 2) Storm water discharge certificate
  3) Air quality certificate
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1) Storm water discharge permit
Alaska Department of Public Safety Fire Marshall’s Office 1) Operational certificate

Silverado needs to develop an aggressive permitting process now so that they can carry out the project on a predictable time line. In the QP’s opinion, all of the permit requirements as listed in Tables 18.5 and 18.6 can probably be obtained in 18-30 months if they are applied for in the first quarter of 2009. Some water quality sampling was complete d in the summer of 2008. Because of the potential issue of acid mine generation, the QP suggests that two activities be initiated: 1) conduct Acid-Base Accounting (ABA) studies of wall rocks and drill core in order to assess the potential acidity and possible natural buffering agents that could occur in the mine; and 2) continue the water monitoring program early in 2009 to acquire base line data for permitting needs.

This year, it was announced that the ADEC will be assuming state primacy of many regulatory functions over the USEPA; i.e., the issuance of the important NPDES permit. This will result in some significant changes in how mine permits will be acquired in Alaska. The change-over from federal to state control is expected to be gradual. Silverado must research and stay in touch with these changes and decide how they will affect their existing and future permit needs for the Nolan lode development.

18. 5.2 Environmental and Social Costs

Nolan Creek valley has been a historic gold mining area since 1894, the discovery of which predates the historic Klondike, Nome, and Fairbanks gold rushes. As such, mining activities has long been judged to be a part of the local cultural heritage. Silverado has done a competent job reclaiming mined lands on their Nolan claims, and have received recognition from regulators (Figure 18.13) . The lode development being analyzed in this study is a relatively small scale mineral extraction activity as compared with most other lode mines. Nolan Camp is within a 10 mile wide corridor that contains the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, which transports crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope oil fields to a tanker terminal at Valdez to the south.

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Figure 18.13 Reclaimed mined lands, valley of Nolan Creek, near left limit bench, 2008

Transportation and resource development projects within the pipeline corridor have received generally positive management decisions by the principle land manager, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Assuming that Silverado continues to maintain competent environmental stewardship on their mining claims, the QP judges that the environmental and social impacts on a small part of the historic Koyukuk Mining district should be minimal and not result in significantly negative social costs.

18. 6      Project Implementation Schedule

A project time line is suggested by the QP in table 18. 8. It takes into account several elements of this chapter previously described, including process production schedules, mine production schedules, regulatory requirements, and needs to gather additional technical information. Assuming that adequate funding is received for each component of the project in a timely manner, the QP will start the schedule in 2009, designated Year 1. If Silverado does not supply adequate funding beginning this year, then the project can be delayed or reformatted to begin at a later time—perhaps jumping one year forward.

The key elements in adhering to the schedule outlined in table 18.8 are: 1) acquisition of environmental permits; and 2) acquisition of appropriate funding requirements as each level of the development is approached. Market condition as will be described in the next chapters of this report could also play a significant role in how the project proceeds forward.

A key element in project implementation is the shipment of stibnite concentrates to market. The QP has utilized data acquired by Silverado, and researched freight rates and availability from trucking, railroad, and shipping firms. Twenty ton capacity six wheelers from Lynden Transport can back haul concentrates from Nolan to Fairbanks. From there they can either be shipped to the seaport of Seward VIA the Alaska Railroad or shipped by truck from Fairbanks to Seattle. In either case the concentrates would be shipped via PanamexTM freighters to either Asian or European markets.

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Table 18. 8 Project implementation schedule

Year
Description of Activity
Year 1 (2009)






1) Aggressively design permitting time line for acquisition of needed regulatory permits and certificates to operate lode mine (underway);
2) Implement baseline water quality study in Nolan Creek valley to assist in obtaining water quality permits (underway);
3) Initiate an acid-base-accounting (ABA) study of underground workings and core from 2007- 2008 exploration program;
3) Collect all or part of a permitted 1,000 cubic yard bulk sample for metallurgical testing;
4) Drive decline and begin design of underground development panels; initate production in early winter 2009;
5) Begin construction of pilot mill facility to be directly incorporated into complete mill;
6) Send test shipment of stibnite concentrates to agreed buyers in China or Europe to assist in marketing agreements, ectc.;
7) Continue exploration with objective of converting inferred resources to indicated resources on Workman’s bench and Pringle bench.

Year 2 (2010)





1) Infrastructure development including hauling mill components, mine equipment, and camp upgrades to Nolan Creek;
1) During winter of 2009-2010, mine 8,000 tons (65 tpd for 125 days) and stockpile ore for processing with a focus on drawing ore from ‘A’ Zone;
2) Construction of mill facility and process 4,500 tons of ore to design/refine milling;
3) Production of byproduct gold from Wiffley tables is first commercial production of gold;
4) Beginning in July ship and deliver stibnite concentrates to offshore market; first commercial stibnite production from mine;
5) Continue to work on environmental permitting and environmental monitoring;
6) Continue exploration with objective of converting inferred resources to indicated resources on Workman’s bench and Pringle bench.

Year 3 (2011)


1) Winter of 2010-2011 (November 10-April 1) full scale production underground mining 25,000 tons of mineralized materials; stockpiling of ore on surface; develop ‘B’ and ‘West’ Zones and put into production schedule;
2) milling of 12,500 tons of mineralized vein rock (June 1-toSepotember 1); recover gold as byproduct at mine site;
3) Beginning in July, ship stibnite concentrates to overseas markets;
4) If permit granted, consider addition of flotation technology.

Year 4 (2012)


1) Winter of 2011-2012 (November 10-April 1) full scale production underground mining 25,000 tons of mineralized materials; stockpiling of ore on surface; develop ‘B’ and ‘West’ Zones now in full production with ‘A’ Zone;
2) Milling of 12,500 tons of mineralized vein rock (June 1-toSepotember 1); recover gold as byproduct at mine site;
3) Beginning in July, ship stibnite concentrates to overseas markets;
4) If permit granted, consider addition of flotation technology; if not then discontinue option

Year 5 (2013)


1) Winter of 2012-2013 (November 10-April 1) full scale production underground mining 25,000 tons of mineralized materials; stockpiling of ore on surface; develop ‘B’ and ‘West’ Zones now in full production with ‘A’ Zone. Exhaustion of indicated resources determined this study occurs at end of cycle;
2) Milling of 12,500 tons of mineralized vein rock (June 1-toSepotember 1); recover gold as byproduct at mine site;
3) Beginning in July, ship stibnite concentrates to overseas markets;
PROBABLE RESERVE BASE ESTABLISHED 01/01/09 EXHAUSTED

Year 6 (2014)

1) If new reserves were not found during 2009-2010 exploration cycle, decommission mine operation in compliance with ADEC and ADNR, and USEPA guidelines;
2) If new reserves were found through exploration, then mine continues under scenarios as outlined above or with modification based on new resource information and conditions.

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18.7      Capital Costs

18.7.1 Basis of estimate

The QP has acquired capital cost estimates from Silverado staff and contractors, examined Silverado financial records, and made inquires to private manufacturers of mine equipment and other service sector supply outlets. Specific sources are listed in table 18. 9; most were accessed on websites. The QP exchanged emails for representatives of companies and experienced Silverado mine contractors, who did provide capital costs estimates for this investigation. In the selection of costs estimates (see table 18.10), the QP also considered the serviceability of machinery as well as initial costs. Some equipment manufacturers do not provide service warranties in Alaska.

Table 18.9 Capital cost categories and sources for estimates

Budget Divisions Information Source
Mill Facility 1) Holman-Wifley Ltd.
(Crushing, Grinding, Flotation, Gravity Circuits) 2) Sepro SystemsTM
  3) Infomine Website
  4) Larox TM
  5) Allmineral TM
  6) FLSmidth
Underground and Surface Mining Equipment 1) Atlas Copco
  2) Sandvik
  3) N.C. CaterpillarTM
  4) RockwellTM
  5) DuxTM
  6) AramineTM
  7) EimcoTM
Drills 1) RockwellTM
  2) Boart Longyear
Generators 1) N.C. Caterpillar
  2) Westinghouse
Shop Infrastructure Improvements 1) R. Medina and G. Dobbs
  2) N.C. Machinery
Pumps 1) Garmon
Fuel Truck and Water (Improvements) Raplh Seekins Ford (Fairbanks)
Camp Infrastructure Improvements 1) R.Medina and G. Dobbs
  2) Whitewater Inc.
Miscellaneous Transportation (Stibnite Transport) Dalco Corporation

18.7.2 Total project capital costs estimate for Nolan Lode Project

Capital costs estimates by category are presented in table 18.10. This total was derived from discussions with equipment suppliers and knowledgeable past mine contractors that have worked for Silverado; i.e. Ray Medina and Gilbert Dobbs.

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Table 18.10 Itemized capital cost estimates, Nolan lode project, 2008

Category Item Cost (USD)
Process Operation 200 TPD rated, gravity circuit mill facility $4,500,000
  (total Sepro SystemsTM bid estimate)     
Mining Underground low profile Atlas Copco $250,000
 Loader     
Mining U’G underground Sandvik haul truck $250,000
Mining 3 ton capacity industrial surface mine haul $150,000
  truck     
Mining Surface Loader; Caterpillar (new) $180,000
Infrastructure Boom Truck (used) $40,000
Infrastructure D8N Caterpillar (used) $60,000
Infrastructure Water truck replacement $75,000
Infrastructure Fuel truck modification $20,000
 (MSHA requirement)     
Infrastructure 1.4 Mw Generator (Westingshouse) $400,000
Mining 1 Jack leg and 1 jumbo drill combination $25,000
  (Rockwell)   
Mining New Ventilation Fan $20,000
  (Addition to Existing Fan)   
Mining New water pump (Garmon) $20,000
Infrastructure Camp Infrastructure Improvements $40,000
Infrastructure Concentrate containers for stibnite $310,000
 shipments     
Infrastructure New Tires 980F Loader $25,000
TOTAL NA $6,365,000

18.7.3 Mining Capital Costs

Acquisition of a new fleet of both surface and underground mining equipment, and new drills total $895,000 or about 14.0 percent of the total. Although there is some mining equipment left from previous test-mining; i.e., a jumbo drill and compressor unit (see cover of this report), and a ventilation fan system, which will be deployed, most of the mining equipment has been replaced.

18.7.4 Process Plant Capital Costs

Process plant costs total $4,500,000 or 71 percent of total capital costs. This is a packaged bid estimate submitted for purchase and construction of the gravity mill facility.

18.7.5 Infrastructure capital costs

Infrastructure capital costs total $970,000 or 15 percent of the total capital costs. Most of this is in the acquisition of a new power plant capable of operating the mill facility. There is a generator on site and backup units at the company facility on Ester Dome in Fairbanks. Rather than speculating whether these units can power the mill, the QP has recommended that Silverado buys a new unit. Another significant cost is the ‘fish tote’ concentrate containers. Each container can carry 4 tons of stibnite. A full year’s production is about 1,500 containers; each cost $210 USD. It is assumed that they will be reused again. The project capital cost estimate is significantly reduced by the existence of Nolan Camp infrastructure. Silverado possesses a well maintained camp facility and associated infrastructure, which was rebuilt in 2002 and again in 2007 to

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accommodate test-mining activities. Included in the camp renovation was the construction of a modern water storage and sewage treatment system at camp, as well as 2007 computer system and updated computer programs used by both engineering and geological staff at the mine site. The company also possesses a road grader that is used to maintain the secondary road from Nolan Camp to the Dalton Highway and a D-5 bulldozer used for road repair and construction. MSHA requires that the company fuel truck be modified. The water truck passes MSHA standards. The QP obtained a cost estimate of $2.0 million for construction of a new camp facility (which is not needed) and estimates that existing equipment to be used on the Nolan development would cost an estimated $470,000 to replace. Hence Silverado, by possessing the existing infrastructure at Nolan Camp, have reduced capital costs by an estimated 35 percent +/-.

18.7.6 Indirect capital costs

The QP has not factored in any indirect capital costs.

18.8 Operating Costs 18.8.1 Basis of Estimate

The QP has acquired cost capital estimates from Silverado staff and contractors, from private vendors, and from government statistics. Table 18. 11 summarizes sources of information for operating costs.

Table 18.11 Operating cost categories and sources for estimates

Budget Division Information Source
Mine Project-Related Wages   1) Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities; Medina estimates
    2) Alaska Department of Labor Statistics
    3) Alaska Mineral Industry Report Series—2003-2008 (last 5 years)
Petroleum products (all)   1) Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
    2) North Pole Refinery (bulk sales)
Surface Vehicle Repair   1) Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
    2) Ralph Seekins (Ford dealer, Fairbanks)
Heavy Equipment Parts and Repair   1) Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
    2) N.C. Equipment (Fairbanks)
Safety equipment and repair   Arctic Fire and Repair (Fairbanks)
Ground support supplies   1) Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
    2) Samson Hardware (Fairbanks)
Miscellaneous camp supplies   Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
Groceries and camp condiments   Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
Explosives   1) Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
    2) Nalco (Fairbanks)
Lubricants (Heavy Equipment   N.C. Equipment (Fairbanks
Mill supplies and repair   1) Sepro Systems
    2) Wiffley-Holman Company
Concentrate Truck Haulage   1) Company Records from 2005-2007 test-mining activities
    2) Lynden Transport
    3) Alaska Railroad Corporation; 4) Far East Shipping Company (FESCO)

18.8.2 Monthly Project Operating Costs

Operating costs are subject to the times in which they operate. Silverado records that the QP have reviewed are often monthly cost estimates. Table 18.9 summarizes total project monthly operating costs.

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Table 18.12 Project monthly and annual operating costs when in commercial production

Category



Time Duration
(months)


Item (number)



Unit Cost
(USD)/Month


Total
Annual
Operating
Cost from
2010-2013
Mining 4.5 Wages (5 ) $81,850 $368,325
Mining 4.5 Wages; mechanic; $12,730 $57,285
    surface/underground (1)    
Mining 4.5 Wages utility man (1) $10,914 $49,113
Mining 4.5 Wages laborer,/lube man (1) $10,914 $49,113
Infrastructure 10.0 Wages cook (1) $7,000 $70,000
Infrastructure 10.0 Wages supervisor (1) $8,730 $87,300
Process Operations 4.0 Wages, mill operator (4) $50,920 $203,680
Infrastructure 3.5 Wages, stibnite shipments (1) $10,914 $55,699
Administration 10.0 Wages, Admin, Fairbanks $6,500 $65,000
Administration 12.0 Vancouver Corporate Overhead $133,333 $1,600,000
Administration 12.0 Corporate Insurance $16,666 $200,000
Mining 4.5 Petroleum Products $62,900 $283,050
Mining 4.5 Explosives $16,000 $72,000
Processing 4.0 Petroleum/Camp $4,500 $18,000
Mining 4.5 Drilling maintenance (1) $6,375 $28,690
Mining 6.0 Wages Geologist $8,730 $52,380
Environmental 10.0 Wages, Mine Permitting $8,730 $87,300
Management        
Environmental NA Analyses and Permitting Costs $100,000 $100,000
Management        
Infrastructure 8.5 Ground support $6,000 $51,000
Mining and 8.5 Safety Equipment $500 $4,250
Processing        
Infrastructure 8.5 Vehicle Maintenance $1,500 $12,750
Infrastructure 8.5 Shop supplies $1,500 $12.750
Infrastructure 8.5 On site consumables $3,000 $25,500
Infrastructure 10.0 Groceries $10,000 $100,000
Infrastructure 3.5 Stibnite shipment to market $290,000 $1,015,000
TOTAL NA NA $870,206 $4,668,185

Because of overlapping time intervals connected with the mining and process operations, the estimates are monthly with time durations for each part included.

18.8.3 Mining Operating Costs

Mine operating costs will take place during 4.5 months when in full production, which begins in 2010. They will amount to $960,300 or 20.5 percent of total costs. More than 2/3 of the total costs are in the form of wages for miners and their direct support. When in full production, this amounts to $77/ton of ore.

18.8.4 Process Operating Costs

Processing also begins in 2010 following the first commercial mine cycle. Annual operating costs will be $207,930 or just 4.4 percent of the total. Most of the costs associated with processing are up-front plant construction costs.

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18.8.5 Administration Costs

Administrative costs in table 18.9 cover wages and basic overhead, mainly management direction from the head office. The total yearly budget of $1,865,000 amounts to about 39.9 percent of the total operating costs. This includes corporate insurance as well as overhead generated in the Vancouver office. This estimate uses a small mining company model discussed in Vogley (1976) that suggests that ‘Corporate Overhead’ should not exceed 40 percent of total costs for a small producing mining company.

18.8.6 Infrastructure Costs

Infrastructure costs include camp maintenance and importantly costs to ship stibnite concentrates to market. Infrastructure costs amount to $1,379,199 or 29.5 percent of all costs related to the Nolan lode development as summarized in table 18.9. A large part of this is the estimated $1,018,000 (30% of total operating costs) for the costs of shipping the stibnite concentrate to market.

The QP has completed an analysis of how the stibnite would be shipped to market. The stibnite would be placed in sealed plastic containers, known in the trade as ‘fish totes’ at the mine site. Each ‘tote’ is capable of holding approximately 4.0 tons. Tungsten concentrates from Canada are shipped in similar containers. The totes, which are manufactured and sold by Daco-CorpTM, can be lifted with a forklift and are water proof.

Backhauls down the Dalton Highway from the North Slope would transport the stibnite laden totes to Fairbanks. From there, they would either be shipped by truck directly to Seattle or be placed on the Alaska railroad for shipment to Seward. From either Seattle or Seward, the totes would be loaded onto a Panamex or a similar vessel to be shipped to Asian or Europe markets. Shipments from Nolan Camp to Seattle would cost $170 USD/ton. Shipment from Seattle to Dalian, China, would cost $70 USD/ton, and from Dalian to the antimony smelter in China is $20/ton for a total of $260 USD/ton. If the concentrates left Seward via the Alaska Railroad, about $25/ton would be added, so that the cost per ton would be $285/ton. The Russian freighting company Far East Shipping Company (FESCO) would take the concentrates to China in either scenario. The QP used a shipping price from mine to smelter of $275 USD/ton for this analysis.

The cheapest way to ship the stibnite would be by truck through Canada as outlined above. However, it might be easier to have an ‘All Alaska’ route that avoids potential restrictions that might occur with shipping mineral concentrates (which are classified as hazardous materials) through Canada. For example, from the QP’s personnel experience, there have recently been border restrictions implemented for transporting exploration samples from Yukon to preparation labs in Fairbanks. The QP has not pursued this issue.

18.8.7 Environmental management costs

Mine permitting will be an important component of the Nolan lode project. Environmental management will cost $187,300 per year of about 6 percent of the total operating costs. Unlike other activities, these environmental costs will begin immediately in order to get the project permitted. Also included at the end of the mine cycle would be mine closure costs, which the QP estimates at $800,000.

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18.8.8 Schedule of operating costs

Monthly and yearly estimates have been summarized in table 18.12. Yearly cost estimates from 2009-2014 are presented in table 18.13. Hence the total operational costs to operate the Nolan lode project is $18,422,740 USD. Not included in this analysis are two years of exploration (2009-2010) which would amount to a total of $750,000 each year or $1,500,000. The QP believed that it was important to isolate the lode project itself from these projects that are ancillary to the actual development of Workman’s Bench lode. A mine closure estimate is included below, based on discussions with the Division of Mining, Land and Water.

Table 18.13 Year-by-year summary of operating costs, Nolan lode project.

Year Cost (USD)
2009 $2,750,000
2010 $4,668,185
2011 $4,668,185
2012 $4,668,185
2013 $4,668,185
Post 2013 Mine Closure $800,000
TOTAL $22,222,740

18.9      Economic Analysis

18.9.1 Macro-Economic assumptions

Macro-economic assumptions are presented in table 18.14. Using established grades, the table shows annual recover of metals from: 1) the antimony content that will be recovered from stibnite concentrates by the buyer, and 2) the amount of gold that will actually be recovered mostly at the Nolan mine site. Based on the results of the Hazen metallurgical tests, the QP chose recovery factors of 0.85 for stibnite and 0.90 for gold. These are lower than the recoveries from the flotation tests, which were approximately 100 percent for stibnite and 98 percent for gold, but about the same for the results from gravity testing. The QP assumes that the stibnite concentrate will average 60 percent or more antimony, an industry standard. It is anticipated that gold bars will be poured at camp.

Table 18.14 Macro assumptions, output of gold and stibnite (antimony), Nolan lode project.

Year


Tons of
Ore
Processed
Antimony
Grade (%
Sb)
Stibnite
Recovery
factor
Shipping
grade stibnite
recovered
(tons)
Antimony
recovered
(tons)
Gold
Grade

Gold
Recovery
Factor
Gold
recovered
(oz)
2009 500 28.00 0.85 198 119 0.408 0.90 184
2010 4,500 28.00 0.85 1,785 1,071 0.408 0.90 1,652
2011 12,500 28.00 0.85 4,960 2,975 0.408 0.90 4,590
2012 12,500 28.00 0.85 4,960 2,975 0.408 0.90 4,590
2013 12,500 28.00 0.85 4,960 2,975 0.408 0.90 4,590
TOTAL 42,500 28.00 0.85 16,863 10,115 0.408 0.90 15,606

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18.9.2 Metal Price Forecasts

Figures 18. 14 and 18.15 show the five year averages for the price of gold and four years for antimony, the mineral products that will be recovered from the Nolan lode development. Unlike most other metals that have declined in price dramatically during the last six months, both gold and antimony prices have remained stable. The average price of antimony during 2008 was $2.85 USD (Metalprice.com). The average price of gold during 2008 was $865/ounce. The antimony product is in the form of stibnite, and actual price realized will be less than spot for antimony metal. By convention, a high quality stibnite concentrate will receive an estimated 85 percent of the value of the metal. Concentrate quality control is very important in the antimony market.

Figure 18.14 Four year antimony price in USD/lb Source: www. Metalprices.com

Figure 18.15 Five year gold price in USD/ounce ; source: www.Goldprice.com


In selecting metal prices for this analysis, the QP decided to assume that $2.25/lb was a reasonable price for antimony in the stibnite shipped by Silverado (the four year average price is $2.45) and about 80 percent of the average 2008 price. The QP selected a price of $700/ounce to reflect some of the lower values that might occur during the year. This is also roughly 80 percent of the average realized value of $865/ounce for 2008. At these combined prices, Nolan ore after processing is worth, as received, about $1,350/ton. Antimony prices have been unstable in past years and given it’s link to industry, it might be subject to price declines. However, antimony prices reached a plateau in late 2005 and has since remained stable at a range of $2.75 -$3.15/lb. It has sold for about $2.85 for the last six months even as other metals declined. China, formerly the world’s largest producer and exporter of antimony, is now a net importer of the minor metal. The QP cannot predict future antimony prices, but assumes that the current price plateau will continue.

18. 9.3 Royalties and taxes

The Nolan lode project occurs on federal lands. Currently, there are no royalties due from this land base, except for annual assessment fees, and federal income tax on net profits. The Alaska State government requires a mining license tax from all mineral production net income regardless of land ownership, and it is strictly enforced. For a mining operation, it is computed at $4,000 plus 7.0% of the excess over $100,000 of net income. There is however, a 3.5 year state holiday after production has started. The Alaska State Corporate income tax is 9.4 percent if net profit is more than the set threshold. Hence, Silverado may enjoy the tax exemption from the Mining License Tax for the first three years of production, but must pay the Alaska Corporate income tax if the operation is profitable.

18.9.4 Base Cash Flow Study

Table 18.12 shows gross values of minerals produced each year from the Nolan lode development, as compared to operating costs. We assume that realized prices are $2.25/lb for antimony and $700/oz for gold as discussed previously. In total, the five year mining development at Nolan creek will produce $43.4 million in antimony and $10.9 million in gold or a total of $56.8 million. About 77 percent of the value is antimony and 23 percent is gold. Operating costs are $21.42 million, and capital costs were estimated at $6.35 million (see table 18.9) . The first year is one of testing and research and the operation will have an operating loss of $1.73 million. By year 2, the first year of commercial operations, the project will have an operating profit of $1.31 million. In the third, fourth and fifth years, operating profits will be $11.93 million each year. Capital costs should be completely paid off by the fourth quarter of 2011. When costs are taken into account,

Table 18.15 Base cash flow analysis Nolan lode project.

Year

Antimony
produced (lbs)
Value
antimony
(USD)
Gold
produced (oz)
Value gold
(USD)
Total product
Value
Mine
Operating
Costs
2009 396,000 $889,000 184 $128,800 $1,017,800 $2,750,000
2010 2,142,000 $4,819,500 1,652 $1,156,400 $5,975,900 $4,668,185
2011 5,950,000 $13,387,500 4,590 $3,213,000 $16,600,500 $4,668,185
2012 5,950,000 $13,387,500 4,590 $3,213,000 $16,600,500 $4,668,185
2013 5,950,000 $13,387,500 4,590 $3,213,000 $16,600,500 $4,668,185
TOTAL 20,031,600 $45,371,000 15,606 $10,924,200 $56,795, 200 $21,422,740

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bank loan earning $1.6 million, then the total payout for the Nolan lode development is $29.37 million. State and federal income taxes will amount to approximately $2.4 million and $2.8 million. No Alaska Mining license tax will be due until the 4th and 5th years of operation, which will amount to about $1.2 million for each of those years. Hence net profit after all taxes are paid will be $19.82 million or a Rate of Investment return of >50.0 %, and equal to 33 percent of the total economic activity generated by the project. One added benefit of the project is the ability to generate cash flow with the sale of gold. At $700/oz, gold sales do not completely cover mine costs but will pay for 50 percent of operating expenses.

18. 9.5 Sensitivity and Price Study

Because antimony accounts for >75 percent of the value of the mine product, the price stability of this minor metal will be key to the success of the Nolan lode project. Figure 18.16 graphs price variance for antimony and gold for the Nolan lode project. The graphs illustrate price changes with each commodity, keeping the other commodity price static. The graph shows how antimony price changes will affect the economics of the project. The average price of antimony has been about $2.20/lb over the last four years, but was as low as $1.09 in the first quarter of 2003. At a price of $1.00/lb for Silverado’s antimony product, and at a price of $700/oz for gold (unchanged), the gross value of the Nolan lode development is $30.95 million. With operating expenses and capital expenses totaling $28.59 million, then the overall profit over the mine’s life would be $2.36 million. Conversely, if antimony prices gain, the economics will also change in a positive direction. For the Nolan lode project, a change in antimony price by each $1.00/pound will incrementally add or subtract about $20 million +/- in profitability to the project.

Gold price variance has a lesser effect on profitability than changes in antimony prices. Every one hundred dollar (USD) change in gold price will add or subtract $2.2 million to profitability for the Nolan gold project. In order for the value of gold production at the Nolan lode project to cover operating expenses and total capital costs, the gold price would have to reach $1,830 USD/ounce.

Other factors that will affect the economics of the Nolan lode project include:

1)

Unanticipated penalties at the antimony smelter in China (or Europe) caused by low concentrate quality; i.e., excessive arsenic, lead or other impurities;

   
2)

Unexpected problems associated with transport of stibnite to market from Nolan Camp;

   
3)

Less than anticipated recovery of gold and stibnite from the mill facility;

   
4)

Unanticipated problems encountered during underground mining activities such as wall rock stability, water underground and uncontrolled temperature issues;

   
5)

Regulatory issues, including environmental compliance, permit delays or significant safety violations.

   
6)

Inflationary operating or capital costs not anticipated during the modeling of the Nolan lode project.

The QP looked at the effects of changing fuel prices. However, even if fuel doubled in price from current 12/20/08 levels, it would add only 2-3 percent to the overall cost of the operating expenses.

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Figure 18.16 Price sensitivity diagrams for value of antimony (as received) and gold, Nolan lode project

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19      Interpretations and conclusions

19.1      Lode antimony-gold mineralization

Since World War II, prospectors, gold miners, and government geologists recognized antimony (gold) deposits in Smith Creek valley. Although small scale production of stibnite occurred during the war due to the strategic nature of antimony, very little exploration was done until the early 1990s, when Silverado conducted shallow drilling tests of Workman’s Bench.

In 1999, the USBLM began a soil sampling program on the left limit hill slope of Nolan Creek Valley, with the obvious focus on searching for the lode source of the coarse placer gold nuggets recovered by Silverado and others during test mining of placer gold deposits. Elevated gold, arsenic, and other anomalies were found in soils above the placer workings, which led Silverado to initiate a more focused lode exploration program during 2002 to 2003.

The airborne geophysical data acquired by USBLM led to the recognition of a series of resistivity lows trending in a northeast direction for approximately 4,500 ft and over a width of about 600 ft. This became known as the ‘Solomon Shear Zone’, a term adopted by Silverado to describe the northeast-striking zone interpreted to be a series of high angle fault structures and possibly a lode source for placer gold. The resistivity lows are coincident with a series of arsenic, antimony, and gold in soil anomalies along the same trend, and including both Pringle Bench and Workman’s Bench.

Significant new lode exploration has taken place in the last two years. In 2006, Silverado began a trenching program on Pringle Bench north of Smith Creek, where a wide zone of stibnite-quartz-gold veins was encountered. In 2007 and 2008, Silverado:

  • Expanded the soil and resistivity grid along the Solomon Shear Zone (a combination of Workman’s and Pringle Benches and Hillside target areas);

  • Initiated a soil and geophysical survey in the Fortress Trend about 2 mi northeast of the mouth of Smith Creek; and

  • Began a diamond core drilling program on Workman’s Bench with about 15,597 ft completed (in 41 drill holes) by the end of 2008.

Silverado believes that there are two distinct auriferous structural trends, the gold-bearing, antimony-quartz veins that are fairly well documented in the general Smith Creek area and gold-quartz-arsenopyrite Fortress-type veins exposed on the ridge between Hammond River and Nolan Creek, with up to 0.24 oz/ton Au, and 29.09 percent antimony in the nearby Saddle area. Northeast structures of the first type in the Fay Creek area contain antimony, arsenic, and sparse gold anomalies, however, the latter type appear to reflect weak arsenic and gold concentrations in isolated sampling lines. The QP concurs with the structural interpretation presented by Silverado, but believes that more soil samples should be collected to the north and east of the limits of the 2007 program before drill-testing as there is not enough data to determine the significance of these anomalies.

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The 2007 and early 2008 drilling program has demonstrated that the vein and stockwork veins at both Workman’s Bench and Pringle Bench are persistent along strike, occur within a 120 ft to 350 ft wide zone of structurally controlled veins and vein-faults with antimony, gold and arsenic, and can be found to a minimum vertical extent of about 350 ft and a strike length of up to 3,000 ft. Lode exploration by Silverado at Nolan Creek must still be regarded as a first phase program that needs to be built upon with tighter drill hole collar spacing, deeper drill holes, and exploration along the strike of the known antimony-gold structures. At this stage, resources can only be inferred for these deposits. Key issues that can only be resolved by more exploration is how extensive is the system in terms of depth, width, metal zonation, metallurgy, and wall rock studies.

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released NI 43-101 Report: ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which presents inferred antimony and gold resource estimates in the Workman’s Bench lode deposit in the Nolan Creek area. A significant diamond drill program has taken place on Workman’s Bench since those resource estimates were made, which changes what is now known about resources there. Hence, resource estimates in Table 17.2 of this report supersede the inferred resource estimates filed on SEDAR (www.SEDAR.com); and are also accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

Silverado has defined the Pringle Bench and Workman’s Bench areas with eleven (11) diamond drill holes (2,715 ft) and forty-one (41) diamond drill holes (11,597 ft), respectively. During analysis of the drilling data and subsequent underground exploration, Silverado noted that stibnite bearing zones on the Workman’s Bench property contained zones of massive stibnite locally up to 15 in thick and contained consistently high gold grades (up to 2.86 oz/ton Au) in drilling core intercepts of stibnite veins. Silverado subsequently focused exploration definition on the Workman’s Bench deposit. The QP provided resource estimates from Workman’s and Pringle Bench.

Silverado asked the QP to complete a prefeasibility study in order to evaluate the merits of extracting antimony and gold from Workman’s Bench, referred to in this chapter as the ‘Nolan lode development’, using the probable reserve base demonstrated in Chapter 17 of this report. The conceptual work plan would involve the selective underground extraction of high quality vein mineralization, processing of ore with a nearby surface plant using gravity (and possibly flotation) technologies, recovering most of the gold value on site at Nolan Creek, and shipping a metallurgical grade stibnite concentrate to overseas buyers; either Asian (China) or European (Rotterdam, Netherlands) markets.

The QP examined all aspects of the project including mining, processing, logistical, and other factors and designed a five year development model, all of which is described in detail in chapter (section) 18 of this report. Using prices of $2.25/lb for antimony and $700/ounce for gold, the QP judges that the ‘Nolan lode project’ will generate $56.8 million in revenues and repay capital costs by the third year of operation. It will make a profit of about $27 million USD (before taxes) and return an investment equal to 35 percent of total costs of the project. Antimony will drive the project and price that Silverado receives for it’s mine product will determine profitability. Maintaining stibnite concentrate quality will be a very important priority for the project.

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On the basis of the information presented in Section 18 of this report, the economic viability of the proposed extraction and treatment of the indicated mineral resource defined in the Workman’s Bench lode system has been demonstrated. Modeling of the Workman’s Bench lode system has been undertaken in such a manner such that the resource tonnage and grade estimates already provide sufficient allowance for grade dilution and losses in mine recovery; hence, no further modifying factors are required before reporting these as a mineral reserve. The QP therefore considers the indicated mineral resource estimates in the Workman’s Bench lode system to be a probable mineral reserve in terms of the CIM definition.

19.2      Placer gold mineralization

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes inferred gold resources in placer deposits held by Silverado in the Nolan Creek area. No new interpretations or conclusions concerning placer gold resources have been generated for Nolan Creek project since the release of those estimates in July, 2008, which are filed on SEDAR (www.SEDAR.com); also accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

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20      Recommendations

20.1      Lode exploration and development

Exploration programs for development of lode-style gold-antimony deposits have been initiated by Silverado. The QP recommends that these programs should remain in place for development of the Workman’s Bench area. The QP also recommends the following (some of which have been initiated by Silverado):

  • Continue or expand the current lode exploration program to extend the Workman’s Bench resource along strike to the southwest and to upgrade inferred resources to the indicated category. For 2009, Silverado should focus on: 1) a program designed to upgrade inferred resources at both Workman’s and Pringle Benches into indicated resource categories; and 2) drill a few holes in the Hillside area to confirm or refute potential extensions of mineralization from lower Smith Creek to that location. An estimated 10,000 feet of drilling would help shore up resources on the Workman’s and Pringle benches. A small 3,000 foot program would suffice for the Hillside area.

  • In 2009, initiate lode development of the Nolan Creek lode development. This will involve: 1) continued aggressive permitting; 2) geotechnical work (ABA accounting); and 3) underground development and collection and processing of a bulk sample.

20.2      Placer exploration and development

On July 29th, 2008, the QP released the NI 43-101 Report ‘Estimation of Lode and Placer Mineral Resources, Nolan Creek, Wiseman B-1 Quadrangle, Koyukuk District, Northern Alaska’, which describes inferred gold resources in placer deposits held by Silverado in the Nolan Creek area. Recommendations were made concerning exploration and development of Silverado’s placer gold resources. No new information concerning placer gold resources or recommendations have been generated for Nolan Creek project since the release of those estimates in July, 2008, which are filed on SEDAR (www.SEDAR.com); also accessed @ http://www.silverado.com/.

20.3      Budget requirements

Table 20.1 details a budget estimate for exploration and development work with a focus on the Nolan lode development if Silverado makes the decision to move forward on that project. The budget estimate for 2009 and 2010 follow the estimates presented in the pre-feasibility study completed in chapter 18 of this report.

Table 20.1 Budget estimate, Nolan Creek lode project

Year
Capital Costs (USD)
Operating Costs
(USD)
Total (USD)
2009 $1,850,000 $2,750,000 $4,600,000
2010 $4,500,000 $4,700,000 $9,200,000
2011 None $1,500,000 $1,500,000
TOTALS $6,350,000 $8,950,000 $15,300,000

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For 2009, the initial capital costs that include upgrading the camp infrastructure will be completed. In 2010, the mill facility will be purchased and constructed. There are no other capital costs needed beyond 2010 in this scenario. Operating costs in 2009-2011 are these estimated in the pre-feasibility analysis, which include preparation for the first commercial production in the summer and fall of 2010. The QP believes that capital and operating costs will be rapidly paid off during 2011. The $1,500,000 operating costs should be sufficient to begin production in 2011 until cash flow is established through gold sales and stibnite receipts. All this relies on metal price assumptions described in chapter (section) 18 of this report.

Cash flow through recovery and sale of gold and antimony should reduce the budgetary requirements presented in table 20.1 . The budget estimate presented ensure that there are no financial shortfalls, which could critically delay the production schedule.

Lode exploration of Workman’s and Pringle Bench as mentioned in section 20.1 are included in this budget. Not included is exploration funding to upgrade placer gold resources as recommended in the July, 2008 NI 43-101 report issued by the QP.

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137


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Proffett, J.M., 1982, Preliminary report on the geology of the Hammond River-Vermont Creek gold placer area, Wiseman district, Alaska: Unpublished Confidential report by J.M Proffett and Associates, Inc., Eagle River, Alaska, 15 pages.

Reger, R.D., and Bundtzen, T.K., 1990, Multiple glaciation and gold placer formation, Valdez Creek valley, western Clearwater Mountains, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys Professional Report 107, 29 pages.

Schultz, C.P., 2008a, Report #1: Flotation and gravity results, Workman’s Bench Stibnite-Gold Bulk Sample, Wiseman District, Alaska: Unpublished report by Hazen Research, Inc., for Pacific Rim Geological Consulting, Inc. 10 pages.

Schultz, C.P., 2008b, Report #2: Mineralogical examination Workman’s Bench Stibnite-Gold Bulk Sample, Wiseman District, Alaska: Unpublished report by Hazen Research, Inc., for Pacific Rim Geological Consulting, Inc. 18 pages.

Shafer, W., Roberts, M., and Beistline, E, 1996, Placer Mine tour—Little Eldorado Group and Polar Mining Inc., Fairbanks Mine Tour: 15th Biennial Conference on Alaskan Mining, 5 pages.

Staff, 2003a, Standards and Guidelines for Valuation of Mineral properties: Special Committee of the CIM Metallurgy and Petroleum Valuation of Mineral properties: 33 pages.

Staff, 2004, Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves: CIM Council, 35 pages.

Staff, 2005a, National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral projects, Form 43-101 and Companion Policy 43-101 CP: 29 pages.

Staff, 2005b, Form 43-101F1-Contents of the Technical report: 9 pages.

142


Storrar, C.D., 1981, South African Mine Valuation: Chamber of Mines of South Africa: Johannesburg, SA, 470 pages

Tchapko, Vitali, 1995, Placer and hardrock gold deposits in the Central Kolyma area, Magadan region, Northeast Russia, in, Bundtzen, T.K., Fonseca, A.L., and Mann, Roberta, eds., Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Russian Far east: Alaska Miners Association Special Symposium Volume 1, p. 29-35.

Turner, D.L., Forbes, R.B., and Dillon, J.T., 1979, K-Ar geochronology of the southern Brooks Range, Alaska: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, vol. 16, no. 9, p. 1789-1804.

Vogley, W.A., 1976, Economics of the Mineral Industries: American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, New York, 862 pages.

143




APPENDIX I Summary of Relevant Sample Data Used in Calculation of Measured Sb and Au Resources, Workman’s Bench

Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb (%)


Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


1
08SH02
(08SS47)

West of
‘A’ Zone
160.0
160.6
0.6
23.30
0.031
Quartz-Stibnite vein about 2.0
inches wide (visual by QP)
2

08SH02
(08SS51)


‘A’ Zone

186.5

187.5

1.0

37.92

0.091

5.5 inch (true thickness) quartz-
stibnite vein with semi-massive
stibnite in medial portion
3
08SH02
(08SS52)

‘B’ Zone
193.0
193.8
0.8
7.11
0.190
2 parallel quartz-stibnite veins
about 4.5 inches true width
4


08SH03
(08SS67-
68)



West of
‘A’ Zone

41.4


42.5


1.1


37.91


0.301


Sheared stibnite-quartz zone;
about 1.0 foot true thickness;
textures strongly resemble ‘A’
zone
5


Including
(08SS67)




West of
‘A’ Zone

41.4


42.0


0.6


42.05


0.420


Sheared nearly massive
stibnite; about 0.45 foot true
thickness; textures strongly
resemble ‘A’ zone
6

08SH03
(08SS80)


‘A’ Zone

115.9

117.0

1.1

26.73

0.410

Several closely spaced, quartz-
stibnite veins at vertical
orientations.
7

08SH03
(08SS81)


Hanging
wall ‘A’
zone
117.0

117.5

0.5

0.07

0.360

Hanging wall with 0.86 % As;
trace stibnite in quartz
8
08SH03
(08SS82)

‘B’ Zone
130.3
130.9
0.6
13.65
0.130
Stibnite-quartz vein zone with
visible siderite
9
08SH03
(08SS88)

Zone not
designated
161.5
162.0
0.5
0.01
0.140
Arsenopyrite-rich quartz vein
with trace of stibnite
10
08SH03
(08SS93)

‘C’ Zone
195.5
196.1
0.6
0.70
0.130
Quartz-stibnite zone; 10 %
Sb2S3 (QP inspection);

145



                  probably ‘C’ zone
11

08SH01B
(08SS13)


‘West’
Zone
33.8

35.2

1.4

53.44

0.280

Massive stibnite with only minor
quartz; QP estimate is 11.0
inches true width of vein
12

08SH01B
(08SS14)


‘A’ Zone’
Footwall
95.7

96.4

0.7

28.69

0.230

5 inch thick, vertical quartz-
stibnite with 3 inches of
massive stibnite
13

08SH01B
(08SS15)


Main ‘A’
Zone
98.2

101.3

3.0

18.43

0.130

Several quartz-stibnite veins;
with locally massive stibnite
over 3.0 feet
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


14

08SH01B
(08SS18)


Hanging
Wall ‘A’
Zone
108.0

108.5

0.5

26.05

0.020

2.0 inch massive stibnite with
quartz
15


08SH01B
(08SS23,
08SR52,
08SS24)



‘B’ Zone


139.0


142.2


3.2


12.22


0.015


3.4 and 2.5 inch thick massive
stibnite veins with quartz;
impressive Sb grade over 3.2
feet
16
Including
(08SS24)

‘B’ zone
141.6
142.2
0.6
19.87
0.010
Thickest stibnite-quartz vein (4
inches)
17
08SH01B
(08SS33)

‘C’ Zone
198.7
199.2
0.5
17.86
0.210
2.0 inch semi-massive stibnite
vein in quartz gangue.
18

08SH14
(08SS211)


‘West’
Zone
56.5

57.0

0.5

4.02

0.008

1.0 inch quartz-stibnite-
carbonate vein;
50%=deformed stibnite
19

08SH14
(08SS212)


Zone not
Designate
d
88.3

92.0

3.7

0.27

0.180

Arsenopyrite-rich quartz vein
zone with true thickness=1.6
feet
20


08SH14
(08SS216)




‘A’ Zone


108.5


109.2


0.7


0.06


0.010


Notes from 09/27/08 visual by
QP indicate 40% stibnite in a
zone 0.7 feet wide true
thickness; not indicated in

146



                  assay results
21

08SH14
(08SS218)


‘B’ Zone

121.0

122.0

1.0

0.25

0.260

Disseminated stibnite ion
quartz vein vertical orientation
(QP estimate)
22
08SH14
(08SS226)

‘C’ Zone
179.2
179.9
0.7
1.75
0.040
Vuggy Quartz vein with stibnite
(30%) of total.
23

08SH14
(08SS227)


Possible
‘C’ Zone
Extension
183.8

184.3

0.6

0.02

0.190

Arsenopyite rich quartz vein
about 3 inches thick; trace
stibnite grains (QP estimate)
24

08SH17
(08SS240-
241)


‘A’ Zone

285.0

288.3

3.3

0.00

0.160

Wide zone of stibnite=bearing
quartz veins (3); stockwork
type zone
25

Including
(08SS241)


‘A’ Zone

287.6

288.3

0.9

4.63

0.230

4 inch zone of stibnite-quartz
vein; 25 percent Sb2S3 (QP
estimate)
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


26
08SH17
(08SS242)

‘B’ Zone
299.3
299.9
0.6
13.63
0.200
0.75 inch of massive stibnite on
quartz vein
27
08SH17
(08SS243)

‘C’ Zone
311.8
312.9
1.1
0.01
0.120
Visual by QP: contains 10%
Sb2S3—not in assay results
28
08SH16
(08SS228)

West of
‘A’ Zone
156.0
157.0
1.0
0.93
0.092
Quartz-stibnite vein about 4
inches thick
29
08SH16
(08SS229)

‘A’ Zone
197.0
198.0
1.0
1.11
0.020
Quartz-stibnite vein 4 inches
thick
30

08SH16
(08SS231)


‘B’ Zone

233.7

234.7

1.0

1.64

0.053

Quartz vein with 5-8% stibnite
as disseminations; vein is 6
inches thick
31
08SH16
(08SS235)

‘C’ Zone?
309.5
310.5
1.0
0.00
0.390
Quartz vein with abundant
arsenopyrite in vein selvages
32
07SH01
07SS06)

‘A’ Zone
Main Vein
201.00
202.0
0
1.0
9.37
0.211
Semi-Massive stibnite with
quartz stockwork

147



33

07SH01
(07SS08-
12)


‘B’ Zone

223.50

242.50

19.00

3.24

0.091

Quartz –stibnite vein stockwork
zone in four distinct zones.
34

Including
(07SS10)


‘B’ Zone

237.40

242.5
0
6.00

8.81

0.191

Two main stibnite-quartz
stockwork; each 18 inches
thick
35
Including
(267392)

‘B’ Zone
238.40
238.9
0
0.50
28.69
0.023
Massive stibnite in core
36

Trench
(W399)


‘A’ Zone
Main Vein
NA

NA

1.20

50.63

0.240

Furthest trench sample on
surface
37


07SH18
(07SS194-
97; SR378-
79)



‘West’
Zone

46.5


53.5


7.0


1.24


0.029


Stibnite bearing stockwork
zone; core contains stibnite
lenses
38
Including
(07SR379)

‘West’
Zone
52.7
53.5
0.8
7.94
0.058
Stibnite bearing stockwork
zone; core
39
08SH16
(08SS228)

‘West’
Zone
156.0
157.0
1.0
0.93
0.090
Quartz carbonate vein with
stibnite grains and arsenopyrite
40
08SH16
(08SS229)

‘A’ Zone
197.0
198.0
1.0
1.11
0.020
Disseminated stibnite in 6 inch
quartz vein
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


41

08SH32
(08SS375-
379)


‘West’
Zone
171.5

177.5

6.0

6.23

0.085

Wide zone (true width=3.2
feet) of quartz-stibnite-
carbonate veinlet zone.
42

Including
(08SS375-
376)


‘A’ Zone

171.5

172.8

1.6

14.63

0.110

Wide zone of quartz-stibnite
veins
43
Including
(08SS375)

‘A’ Zone
171.5
172.0
0.5
21.24
0.180
Semi-massive stibnite vein zone
about 3 inches thick.
44
Including
(08SS379)

‘A’ Zone
hanging
176.0
177.5
1.5
12.62
0.060
Three flecks of gold noted
during logging not reflected in

148



      wall           assay results
45


08SH32
(08SS380)




‘A’ Zone
hanging
wall
177.5


179.5


2.0


0.04


0.010


Visual by QP: 20% stibnite and
80% quartz; true thickness=0.95
feet; Sb2S3 not reflected in
assays
46

08SH32
(08SS385)


‘A’ Zone
Hanging
Wall
186.5

188.0

1.5

1.22

0.275

Quartz carbonate vein with
stibnite grains and trace
arsenopyrite
47

08SH32
(08SS292-
394


‘B’ Zone

203.7

209.5

5.8

8.20

0.180

Wide zone (true thickness=2.9
feet) of stibnite-bearing quartz
vein mineralization
48

Including
(08SS393)


‘B’ Zone

205.7

206.6

0.9

38.74

1.130

Strong zone of stibnite-quartz
mineralization; possibly offset
‘A’ zone
49
08SH32
(08SS396)

‘C’ Zone
212.0
213.5
1.5
0.09
0.030
5% percent Sb2S3 in large
quartz stock work vein zone
50
08SH33
(08SS411)

‘West ’
Zone?
162.0
167.0
5.0
2.70
0.040
Wide stockwork vein zone
contains disseminated Sb2S3
51

08SH33
(08SS426-
427)


‘A’ Zone

242.0

243.2

1.2

14.74

0.030

Wide zone (true thickness=1.2
feet) of stibnite-quartz
mineralization
52

Including
(08SS426)


‘A’ Zone

242.0

242.6

0.6

19.68

0.040

Disseminated to locally
massive stibnite in quartz vein
zone
53   203789 ‘A’ Zone 166.20 167.70 1.50 22.49 0.556 Semi-massive stibnite
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


54
08SH13
(08SS177)

Zone not
designated
17.8
18.3
0.5
13.16
0.025
Quartz-stibnite zone with
locally 50% Sb2S3
55
08SH13
(08SS179)

‘West’
Zone?
121.3
126.7
5.4
1.99
0.138
Significant wide zone (true
thickness=3.4 feet) with Sb+Au

149



56

08SH13
(08SS182)
‘A’ Zone

187.5

188.8

1.3

22.15

0.061

Thick quartz-stibnite zone with
massive stibnite lense 5 inches
thick.
57

08SH13
(08SS184-
85)
‘B’ Zone

208.4

212.2

3.8

6.21

0.061

Wide zone of stockwork
stibnite-quartz vein true
thickness=1.2 feet
58
Including
(08SS184)
‘B’ Zone
208.4
209.9
1.5
6.97
0.26
Stibnite lobes in wider zone
59
08SH13
(08SS188)
‘C’ Zone
250.6
252.6
2.0
0.07
0.050
Quartz carbonate veins (3)
with isolated stibnite grains
60
203405
‘West’
Zone
138.0
139.5
1.5
41.20
0.110
Semi-massive stibnite in quartz
gangue
61
203789
‘West’
Zone
40.5
42.0
1.5
22.48
0.556
In wall of connecting drift; true
thickness
62
203808
A Zone
172.0
173.50
1.50
43.64
1.19
Nearly massive stibnite with
quartz
63 WBUG3 S1 ‘A’ Zone 172.9 173.32 0.42 52.10 0.676 Massive stibnite core
64 WBUG3 S2 ‘A’ Zone 172.9 173.32 0.42 58.89 0.329 Massive stibnite core
65 WBUGG3 S3 ‘A’ Zone 172.9 173.32 0.42 60.90 0.031 Massive stibnite core
66 WBUGG3 S4 ‘A’ Zone 172.9 173.32 0.42 55.71 0.451 Massive stibnite core
67 WBUGG3 S5 ‘A’ Zone 172.9 173.32 0.42 11.10 0.444 Massive stibnite core
68 WBUG8- S2 ‘A’ Zone 182.9 183.32 0.42 58.76 0.145 Massive stibnite core
69 203802 ‘A’ Zone 114.0 116.50 2.50 37.78 0.076 ‘A’ Zone in south drift
70
203810
‘B’ Zone
183.0
183.5
0.5
41.0
0.696
Nearly massive stibnite with
quartz gangue; south drift
71
203791
‘B’ Zone
199.1
200.35
0.50
39.73
0.362
Nearly massive stibnite with
hanging wall; north drift
72 WBUGG8 S1 ‘A’ Zone NA NA 0.42 57.52 0.359 Massive stibnite

150



73 WBUG5 S2 ‘B’ Zone 199.8 200.22 0.42 50.04 1.040 Massive stibnite in vein core
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


74   WBUG8 S3 ‘B’ Zone NA NA 0.42 58.02 0.696 Massive stibnite core
75

203795
‘A’ Zone
40.00
41.50
1.50
40.35
0.357
Semi-Massive stibnite-quartz
vein
76

203488
‘B’ Zone
122.00
123.2.
0
0.65
18.05
0.039
Semi-Massive stibnite-quartz
vein
77

WBUG9 S1
‘B’ Zone
124.00
124.4
2
0.42
33.92
0.084
Semi-Massive stibnite-quartz
vein
78   WBUGG9 S2 ‘B’ Zone NA NA 0.42 17.34 0.130 Semi-Massive stibnite
79   WBUGG5 S3 ‘C’ Zone? NA NA 0.42 13.38 0.031 Semi-Massive stibnite
80   WBUGG9 S4 ‘B’ Zone NA NA 0.50 7.34 0.513 Semi-massive stibnite
81

203804
B Zone
Vein
218.0
218.4
5
0.45
56.88
0.033
Massive stibnite vein
82   203450 A Zone 68.00 69.50 1.50 57.02 0.012 Massive Stibnite vein
83



203409

B Zone
Vein
172.00

172.4
5
0.45

51.41

0.372

Massive Stibnite

84





Trench J


A Zone
Main Vein
on
Surface
151.0


159.2


8.2


30.30


0.14


Semi-massive stibnite


85





Trench J


A Zone
Main Vein
on
Surface
159.2


167.4


8.2


1.72


0.22


Disseminated stibnite


86

Trench J
Surface B
Zone
167.4
175.6
8.2
11.70
0.037
Semi-massive stibnite
87

267397
Main Vein;
surface
171.4
172.2
5
0.85
36.51
0.793
Massive Stibnite
88   Trench J  Surface B 175.6 183.8 8.2 29.30 0.120 Semi-massive stibnite

151



      Zone            
89





Trench J


Zone
between
A and B
Veins
183.80


192.00


8.2


2.56


0.016


Disseminated stibnite


90   Trench J ‘B’ Zone 192.00 201.80 9.8 14.05 0.016 Semi-massive stibnite
91



Trench J

West Vein
on
Surface
35.0

43.2

8.2

1.70

0.04

West Vein as seen in 2008 drill
hole;
Mainly quartz with stibnite clots
92

08SH18
(08SS250)


Interpreted
‘West’
Vein
276.0

277.0

1.0

0.01

0.037

Arsenopyrite-rich quartz vein
about 1.3 feet thick; half
assayed
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


93

08SH18
(08SS255


‘A’ Zone

315.0

316.8

1.8

27.65

2.88

High grade quartz-stibnite vein
with visible Au; highest Au
assay
94



WBUG1-S2

‘A’ Zone

138.80

139.22

0.42

64.34

0.030

Massive stibnite near hanging
wall
South drift
95
07SH15
(07SS170)

‘West’
Zone
24.0
24.5
0.5
5.46
0.003
Disseminated stibnite in quartz
96

07SH15
(07SS175)


‘A’ Zone

197.3

197.7

0.5

11.30

0.043

Disseminated stibnite; contains
about 5 inches of massive
stibnite
97

07SH15
(07SR217-
220)


‘B’ Zone

242.00

247.80

5.80

3.45

0.060

Quartz stibnite stockwork vein
zone; three individual veins;
98
Including
(07SS179)

‘B’ Zone
245.3
245.8
0.60
34.51
0.554
Semi-Massive stibnite with
quartz gangue
99
07SH15
(07SS180)

‘C’ Zone
253.3
253.8
0.5
9.69
0.056
Disseminated stibnite in quartz

152



100
08SH12B
(08SS166)

‘West’
Zone
180.4
180.9
0.5
6.94
0.050
Quartz vein 8 inches thick with
stibnite grains and masses
101
08SH12B
(08SS168)

‘A’ Zone
204.1
205.0
0.9
7.05
0.050
Stibnite-bearing quartz vein
about 8 inches thick
102

08SH12B
(08SS170)


‘A’ Zone
hanging
wall
208.1

209.0

0.9

20.97

0.220

Semi-massive stibnite vein with
euhedral quartz gangue
103
08SH12B
(08SS173)

‘B’ Zone
236.3
236.8
0.5
0.40
0.030
Thin, 3 inch thick quartz vein
with stibnite grains
104

08SH12B
(08SS175)


‘C’ Zone

250.0

251.7

1.7

0.01

0.040

Quartz veon zone (true
thickness=1.2 feet) trace
stibnite.
105



08SH12
(08SS170)






‘A’ Zone



208.1



209.0



0.9



20.97



0.220



Massive stibnite 6 inches thick
with quartz selvage; 80% Sb2S3
and 20% quartz with abundant
carbonate (visual estimate by
QP)
106

07SH14
(07SS157-
159;SR117)


‘West’
Zone
161.6

172.0

10.4

4.99

0.056

Stibnite stockwork vein zone

Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


107
Including
(07SS159)

‘West’
Zone
166.2
167.6
1.4
29.23
0.224
Semi-Massive stibnite lense
108
07SH14
(07SS166)

‘A’ Zone
208.6
209.6
1.0
6.42
0.242
Stibnite stockwork vein zone
109
Including
(267394)

‘A’ Zone
209.0
209.1
5
0.15
51.42
1.61
Thin massive stibnite lense
110
07SH14
(07SS168)

‘B’ Zone
240.0
240.5
0.5
8.81
0.16
Thin stibnite stockwork vein
zone
111
08SH11
(08SS155)

‘West’
Zone
184.7
185.4
0.9
3.55
0.073
Stibnite bearing quartz vein
about 5 inches thick
112 08SH11   ‘A’ Zone 193.0 197.0 4.0 8.12 0.184 Stibnite bearing quartz vein

153




(08SS156-
158)







about 1.7ifeet thick
113



Including
(08SS157)






Footwall
of ‘A’
Zone

193.6



194.5



0.9



10.02



0.120



Footwall zone of ‘A’ Vein is
part of system below,
separated by 1.0 feet of wall
rock. Abundant AsPy in
selvages
114


Including
(08SS158)




‘A’ Zone


196.2


197.0


0.8


10.36


0.330


Main ‘A’ zone characterized
by sheared fine-grained
stibnite (QP observation) ;
abundant AsPy in
115

08SH11
(08SS159)


‘B’ Zone

225.3

226.1

0.8

11.20

0.700

Quartz-stibnite zone with 2.0
inch massive stibnite vein; As
sulfides abundant in margins
116
08SH11
(08SS160)

‘C’ Zone?
275.8
276.8
1.0
11.36
0.040
Quartz-stibnite vein with 25%
stibnite.
117
07SH13
(07SS140)

‘West’
Vein
38.5
39.3
0.8
2.34
0.074
Thin quartz stibnite vein 3
inches thick
118
07SH13
(07SS144)

‘A’ Zone
133.0
134.5
1.5
0.054
0.230
True thickness of quartz vein is
0.9 feet with stibnite veins
119

07SH13
(07SS146-
48)


‘B’ Zone

196.0

200.0

4.0

3.37

0.04

Stibnite bearing stockwork
zone; core contains stibnite
zones
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


120

Including
(07SS146)


‘B’ Zone

196.0

196.5

0.5

7.79

0.031

Stibnite bearing stockwork
zone; core contains stibnite
zones
121
Including
(07SS148)

‘B’ Zone
199.5
200.0
0.5
19.09
0.100
Stibnite bearing stockwork
122
08SH22
(08SS308)

‘West’
Zone
204.5
205.5
1.0
0.72
0.016
Stockwork vein with stibnite
xtals

154



123
08SH22
(08SS309)

‘West’
Zone
215.0
222.0
7.0
0.46
0.017
Thick zone of quartz vein
stockwork with six vein zones
124

08SH22
(08SS312-
313)


‘A’ Zone

226.0

227.5

1.5

13.10

0.080

Quartz-stibnite mineralization
true thickness=1.2 feet
125
Including
(08SS313)

‘A’ Zone
227.0
227.5
0.5
18.97
0.120
Semi-massive stibnite core of
vein
126
08SH22
(08SS318)

‘B’ Zone
252.8
253.3
0.5
0.02
0.140
Quartz-carbonate vein zone
with AsPy; trace stibnite.
127
08SH24
(08SS333)

‘West’
Zone
99.0
100.0
1.0
19.58
0.090
Quartz stibnite zone; 75
degrees steep SE
128

08SH24
(08SS335)


‘A’ Zone

118.7

119.4

0.7

11.05

0.060

Quartz-stibnite zone with
massive stibnite lenses 2.5
inches thick
129

08SH24
(08SS341-
342)


‘B’ Zone

204.1

205.5

1.4

15.13

0.250

Thick zone of quartz-stibnite
mineralization; vertical true
thickness=1.0 feet
130
Including
(08SS342)

‘B’ Zone
204.9
205.5
0.6
28.72
0.340
Semi-massive stibnite vein
about 4 inches thick
131

08SH24
(08SS343)


‘C’ Zone

265.0

267.0

2.0

0.064

0.110

Thick quartz vein zone (true
thickness=1.1 feet) with stibnite
grains.
132
08SH07
(08SS100)

‘West’
Zone
171.5
172.0
0.5
3.95
0.060
Quartz-stibnite mineralized vein
(3 inches)
133

08SH07
(08SS101)


Zone not
designated
175.0

175.5

0.5

3.43

0.011

Thin quartz vein with stibnite

Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


134

08SH07
(08SS102)


Zone not
designated
181.5

182.0

0.5

17.54

0.020

2.0 inch massive stibnite in two
veins;
135 08SH07   ‘A’ Zone 185.2 185.7 0.5 11.28 0.020 2.0 inch massive stibnite in two

155



  (08SS104)               veins;
136

08SH07
(08SS106)


‘A’ Zone
Hanging
Wall
201.0

202.0

1.0

0.03

0.300

Steep quartz-carbonate veins
with minor stibnite and
arsenopyrite
137


08SH07
(08SS111)




‘B’ Zone


221.0


222.0


0.8


21.10


0.149


Contains 4.0 inch thick massive
stibnite in quartz-stibnite zone
1.0 feet thick (visual estimate
by QP)
138
08SH07
(08SS115)

‘C’ Zone?
250.0
250.5
0.5
0.01
0.040
Vug-rich quartz vein with AsPy
in selvage zones
139
08SH10
(08SS147)

‘West’
Zone
90.2
91.6
1.4
4.39
0.280
Thick gold-bearing vein with
isolated lenses of stibnite
140

08SH10
(08SS148)


Footwall
‘A’ Zone
104.4

105.1

0.7

4.41

0.050

Quartz-carbonate vein with
minor stibnite in footwall
position of ‘A’ Zone
141
08SH10
(08SS149)

‘A’ Zone
106.3
107.0
0.7
20.36
0.100
8 inch thick stibnite quartz vein
(visual estimate by QP)
142

08SH10
(08SS150)


‘B’ or ‘C’
Zone
188.4

189.2

0.8

25.00

0.120

8 inch thick stibnite-quartz vein
with 55% Sb2S3 (visual estimate
by QP)
143
08SH10
(08SS151)

‘C’ Zone?
290.8
291.5
0.7
0.08
0.014
Quartz vein 3 inches thick with
stibnite grains
144

08SH23
(08SS326)


‘A’ Zone

194.5

195.5

1.0

18.24

0.52

Quartz-stibnite vein with 8
inches of true vein thickness;
50% Sb2S3
145

07SH16
(07SS183-
186)


‘A’ Zone

238.1

243.1

5.0

1.79

0.045

Stibnite bearing stockwork
zone; core of massive stibnite
zones
146
Including
(267396)

A Zone
Vein Wall
242.8
243.3
0.5
42.72
0.170
Massive stibnite in core
(QP check sample)
147

07SH16

(07SS186)


‘ B’
Zone
245.3

245.8

0.5

23.24

0.030

Semi-massive stibnite zone in
larger
Sample
Control
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Underground
or Surface
Stibnite
Target
From
(feet)
To
(feet)
Width
(feet)
Sb
(%)
Au
(oz/t)
Brief Description

156



#
Intervals)
Channels
Vein
Zone






148
07SH16
(07SS192)

‘C’ Zone?
366.0
366.5
0.5
0.12
0.035
Thin quartz vein with stibnite
grains
149
08SH20
(08SS285

West of ‘A’
Vein
212.0
217.0
5.0
0.10
0.00
Zone of quartz veinlets with
trace stibnite
150
08SH20
(08SS287)

‘A’ Vein?
242.6
243.3
0.7
3.32
0.030
Quartz=stibnite vein with 10%
Sb2S3
151
08SH20
(08SS291)

‘B’ Vein?
278.8
279.8
1.0
0.01
0.044
Quartz-aspy vein zone; no
stibnite recognized
152
08SH20
(08SS294)

‘C’ Vein?
329.5
330.0
0.5
0.02
0.062
Quartz aspy vein zone; no
stibnite recognized
153


08SH08
(08SS119)




‘West’
Zone

347.9


348.6


0.7


5.77


2.68


4.0 inch wide massive stibnite
in phyllitic schist with only minor
quartz gangue (visual estimate
by QP)
156


08SH08
(08SS122)




Footwall
of ‘A’
Zone
375.0


375.5


0.5


34.77


0.610


Massive stibnite lense 7 inches
wide (true thickness=5 inches);
with 50% quartz (visual
estimate by QP)
157

08SH08
(08SS123)


‘A’ Zone

378.4

379.2

0.8

46.02

0.050

Massive stibnite lense 6 inches
thick with 50% quartz gangue
(visual estimate by QP)
158

08SH08
(08SS124)


Hanging
Wall ‘A’
Zone
380.0

381.2

1.2

8.89

0.500

Hanging Wall of ‘A’ Zone
contains quartz-stibnite
stockwork
159
08SH08
(08SS126)

‘B’ Zone
405.2
405.7
0.5
0.03
0.014
Weal quartz vein mineralization
160
08SH19
(08SS275)

‘West’
Zone?
148.5
149.0
0.5
1.76
0.005
Weak quartz stibnite vertical
vein
161

08SH19
(08SS281-
283)


‘A’ Zone

217.0

219.5

2.5

19.13

0.138

Wide zone of stibnite-Quartz
stockwork mineralization
162
Including
(08SS281)

‘A’ Zone
Footwall
217.0
217.5
0.5
22.75
0.030
Two 1.0 inch thick massive
stibnite-quartz veins

157



Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


163

Including
(08SS283)


Main ‘A’
Zone
218.5

219.5

1.0

34.61

0.350

Two stibnite + quartz veins with
3 flecks of visible gold (visual
estimate by QP)
164

08SH29
(08SS355)


‘A’ Zone

347.0

348.0

1.0

0.02

0.00

Quartz-carbonate vein with
trace stibnite—Sb not reflected
in assay results
165

08SH21
(08SS301)


Footwall
to ‘A’
Zone
305.0

305.5

0.5

16.96

0.040

Stibnite plus quartz euhedral
vein; cuts schist vertically
166

08SH21
(08SS302)


Main ’A’
Zone
305.5

307.0

1.5

63.47

0.080

Massive stibnite 13 inches true
thickness—no gangue; most
impressive zone observed
167

08SH21
(08SS305)


Hanging
Wall to ‘A’
Zone
312.7

313.5

0.7

30.20

0.410

Quartz-stibnite vein; same
pattern as 08SH08
168
08SH21
(08SS306)

‘B’ Zone?
317.0
317.7
0.7
27.10
0.190
Vertical quartz-stibnite vein
169
08SH21
(08SS307)

‘B’ Zone?
317.7
318.7
1.0
4.85
0.020
Disseminated zone in hanging
wall.
170
08SH25
(08SS346)

‘West’
Zone?
40.8
41.3
0.5
1.07
0.040
Quartz vein with disseminated
stibnite and >3% arsenopyrite
171




08SH25
(08SS351)








‘A’ Zone




374.8




376.5




1.7




43.20




2.86




11 inch true thickness of
massive stibnite with quartz in
selvages; sharp boundaries
with wall rock; 70 % Sb2S3 and
the rest quartz (visual estimate
by QP)
172

08SH25
(08SS352-
353)


Hanging
Wall of ‘A’
Zone
376.5

378.5

2.0

4.46

0.140

A total of four (4) stibnite-
quartz veins each about 1.5
inches thick; with arsenopyrite

158



173

Including
(08SS352)


Hanging
Wall of ‘A’
Zone
376.5

377.0

0.5

4.45

0.214

Gold enriched portion of wider
intersection
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole
# (Assay
Intervals)
Underground
or Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb
(%)

Au
(oz/t)

Brief Description


174

08SH31
(08SS369)


‘West’
Zone
272.0

273.5

1.5

0.010

0.090

Weak quartz vein
mineralization with trace
stibnite.
175

08SH26
(08SS398)


Footwall
of ‘A’
Zone
334.5

335.0

0.5

1.04

0.260

Several quartz-sulfide veins
with stibnite veins
176
08SH26
(08SS399)

Interpreted
‘A’ Zone
337.0
337.5
0.5
3.59
0.070
Quartz-stibnite vein with about
10% stibnite
177

08SH26
(08SS400)


Hanging
Wall ‘A’
Zone
340.5

341.0

0.5

4.91

0.030

Quartz-stibnite vein zone with
12-14% Sb2S3
178
08SH26
(08SS403)

‘B’ Zone?
352.0
359.0
7.0
0.01
Trace
Swarm of quartz veins with
isolated grains of stibnite.
179

08SH09
(08SS138)


‘A’ Zone

346.4

347.4

1.0

5.85

0.090

Quartz-stibnite vein with about
12% Sb2S3; (visual estimate by
QP)
180

08SH09
(08SS139)


‘A’ Zone
Hanging
Wall
350.5

351.2

0.7

0.01

0.084

Quartz vein with trace stibnite

181
08SH09
(08SS140)

‘B’ Zone
366.2
366.7
0.5
0.08
0.031
Quartz vein with disseminated
stibnite (visual estimate by QP)
182
08SH27
(08SS407)

‘A’ Zone ?
346.0
347.0
1.0
0.01
0.010
Quartz vein with isolated grains
of stibnite and 0.35% arsenic

159


APPENDIX II Summary of Relevant Sample Data Used in Calculation of Measured Sb and Au Resources, Pringle Bench

Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole #
(Assay
Intervals)
Underground or
Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb (%)


Au
(oz/ton)

Brief Description


1



Trench I
(07112-07113)
West of
‘West’
Zone
90.2

95.1

4.9

14.64

0.030

Multiple thin stibnite
quartz veins vertical
2



Trench I
(0715)
‘West’
Zone
100.6

102.7

2.1

26.23

0.230

Semi-massive stibnite-
quartz vein; vertical; true
width is 1.8 feet
3

Trench I
(07120)
‘A’ Zone
132.2
133.4
1.2
30.03
0.044
Trench exposure shows
vertical vein
4



Trench I
(0714)
‘B’ Zone

157.4

163.3

5.9

30.35

0.035

Semi-massive stibnite in
quartz vein about 1.5
feet thick.
5



Trench I
(07129)
‘C’
Zone?
189.6

190.2

0.6

22.92

0.040

Thin, semi-massive
stibnite quartz vein
steeply dipping
6



Trench I
(07159)
East of
‘C’ Zone
428.0

428.2

0.2

48.07

0.020

Massive stibnite near
vertical gash vein with
<5.0% quartz
7

Trench I
(07166)
East of
‘C’ Zone
472.3
472.6
0.3
59.52
0.010
Massive stibnite near
vertical gash vein with

160



                  <5.0% quartz
8



Trench I
(07176)
East of
‘C’ Zone
540.2

540.4

0.2

64.76

0.010

Massive stibnite near
vertical gash vein with
<5.0% quartz
9
07SH08
(07SS71-73)

‘B’ Zone
45.0
46.5
1.5
5.62
0.069
Vertical stibnite-quartz
vein
10
Including
(07SS71)

‘B’ Zone
45.0
45.5
0.5
12.60
0.140
Vertical stibnite-quartz
vein
11
07SH08

West
Zone?
147.0
148.0
1.0
0.31
0.052
Disseminated stibnite
with arsenopyrite
12

07SH08
(07SS75)


‘A’ Zone

78.25

79.25

1.0

40.80

0.212

Nearly massive stibnite in
quartz gangue true
thickness =0.8 feet
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole #
(Assay
Intervals)
Underground or
Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb (%)


Au
(oz/ton)

Brief Description


13

07SH09
(07SS90)


‘B’ Zone

46.75

47.75

1.0

8.78

0.020

Vertical stibnite-quartz
vein; twinned from
07SH08
14



07SH09
(07SS93)






‘A’ Zone



80.0



80.5



0.5



33.51



0.391



Nearly massive stibnite in
quartz gangue true
thickness =0.5 feet;
twinned interval in
07SH08
15
07SH09
(07SS95)

‘West’
Zone ?
86.0
86.5
0.5
10.78
0.044
Disseminated stibnite in
quartz
16





Trench M
(07M08-07M10)

‘West’
Zone

114.8


116.9


2.1


19.90


0.035


‘West’ Zone of semi-
massive stibnite plus
quartz; true
thickness=0.7 feet
17   Trench M ‘A’ Zone 121.4 127.9 6.5 35.11 0.000 Semi-massive stibnite in

161



    (07M13)             phyllite gangue zone
18

Trench M
(07M17)
‘B’ Zone
127.9
141.0
13.1
1.45
0.020
Continuous chip through
Sb-bearing veinlet zone.
19
07SH07
(07SS49)

‘B’ Zone
30.0
31.0
1.0
7.11
0.023
About 12% stibnite in
euhedral quartz gangue
20



07SH07
(07SS52)






‘A’ Zone?



65.0



66.0



1.0



14.88



0.338



Interpreted ‘A’ Zone of
semi-massive stibnite
plus quartz
mineralization; true
thickness=0.7 feet
21
07SH07
(07SS61)

‘West’
Zone
132.5
133.0
0.5
0.29
0.022
Stibnite in quartz vein
22
07SH06

‘A’ Zone
18.3
19.3
1.0
60.03
<0.005
Massive stibnite lense 6
inches thick
23
07SH06
(07SS44)

‘West
Zone’
36.8
37.3
0.5
8.28
0.028
Disseminated stibnite in
quartz carbonate vein
24
07SH06
(07SS46)

‘West
Zone”
42.0
42.5
0.5
6.88
<0.005
Disseminated stibnite in
quartz carbonate vein
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole #
(Assay
Intervals)
Underground or
Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb (%)


Au
(oz/ton)

Brief Description


25


07SH02
(07SS15)




‘A’ Zone


39.5


40.5


1.0


19.56


0.020


Quartz-stibnite vein with
thermal metamorphic
textures (6 inches thick;
QP examination)
26

07SH02
(07SS18)


‘West’
Zone
51.5

52.5

1.0

0.21

0.015

Disseminated stibnite in
quartz vein; with
arsenopyrite
27



Trench ‘D’
(06ST001-002)
‘West’
Zone
67.0

67.5

0.5

27.86

0.090

High angle, semi-
massive stibnite veins (3)
in schist

162



28



Trench ‘D’
(06ST030-032)
‘A’ Zone

85.0

86.5

1.5

14.95

0.037

Disseminated stibnite in
quartz vein; with
arsenopyrite
29


07SH02
(07SS24-25)




Western-
most Sb-
Au vein
183.5


187.5


4.0


1.05


0.019


Wide zone with vein
zone about 2.5 feet in
true thickness; stibnite
disseminations in quartz
30

Including
(07SS24)


Western-
most Sb-
Au vein
183.5

186.5

3.0

1.70

0.017

Vein zone about 2.0 feet
in true thickness; stibnite
disseminations in quartz
31
07SH04
(07SS30)

West
Zone
108.5
109.0
0.5
6.05
0.004
Disseminated stibnite in
thin quartz zone quartz
32


07SH03
(07SS219)




‘A’ Zone?


17.5


18.4


0.9


3.83


0.054


Quartz-stibnite vein with
thermal metamorphic
textures (6 inches thick;
QP examination)
33
07SH03
(07SS220)

West
Zone?
34.6
35.1
0.5
0.84
0.005
Disseminated stibnite in
thin quartz zone quartz
34



Trench F
(06ST061)
West of
‘West’
Zone
200.0

200.3

0.3

20.18

0.748

Steep, stibnite-quartz
vein
35

Trench F
(06ST063)
‘West’
Zone
315.0
315.3
0.3
8.43
0.090
Steep, stibnite-quartz
vein
Sample
Control
#
Drill Hole #
(Assay
Intervals)
Underground or
Surface
Channels
Stibnite
Target
Vein
Zone
From
(feet)

To
(feet)

Width
(feet)

Sb (%)


Au
(oz/ton)

Brief Description


36





Trench F
(06ST066)

‘A’ Zone


350.0


350.3


0.3


17.42


0.120


Quartz-stibnite vein with
thermal metamorphic
textures (6 inches thick;
QP examination)
37

Trench F
(06ST071)
East of
‘C’ Zone
435.0
435.3
0.3
46.33
0.040
Thin stibnite vein in schist
38

06SH01
(06SH153)


‘A’ Zone

275.0

280.0

5.0

2.50

0.050

RC Program with
stibnite-quartz zone
identified.

163



39
06SH01
(06SH150)
‘B’ Zone
250.0
255.0
5.0
0.93
0.030
Disseminated stibnite in
thin quartz zone quartz

164


165