Drilling to Commence This Month at Teryl Resources’ Gold Hill
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When Teryl Resources (TSX.V: TRC) announced the initiation of drilling on its Gold Hill copper-gold-silver project located near Bisbee, Arizona, investors familiar with the area sat up in their chairs. Their interest was piqued, firstly, because Gold Hill is four miles from Phelps Dodge’s Copper Queen/Lavender Pit Mine, which produced in excess of 75 million tonnes of copper, silver and gold ore between 1954 and 1974. Secondly, because surrounding mines in the Bisbee area have collectively produced more than $6 billion in metals over the past 100 years.
Teryl Resources’ President, John Robertson, who acquired the property, expounds a strategy for finding minerals that is simple, effective wisdom in the mining exploration industry. In Robertson’s words, “the key to discovering a good property, any mining property, is to drill near existing gold and copper properties. Always. You want to be in any area where there is known gold or known copper production.”
Given the setting, optimism about the geology at Gold Hill seems fair. The geological conditions suggest a large, disseminated deposit of gold and copper amenable to low-cost open pit mining. In one report, John Shanahan of Resourcex Group cited a geological report on the prospect, commenting, “a report by Frederic Rothermel, PhD, outlined a pattern of mineralization that moved from copper-rich/gold-poorer at the centre of the system to gold richer/copper poorer at the fringes — this pattern is consistent with features of the Carlin Trend in Nevada, which contains over 100 million ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves.”
Hopeful that the Carlin trend comparison is apt, Teryl is moving ahead with exploration on the property. Teryl has employed Diversified Drilling LLC to drill at least three holes on identified, high-grade, surface copper targets. Exploration completed on the project so far has included aeromagnetic survey interpretation and field examinations. This work, and a sampling program that assayed up to 2.54% copper, were used to identify the proposed Gold Hill drill locations.
The advantageously located prospect consists of seven claim blocks including Old Gold Hill, Superior, and Bastion Mines in the Warren Mining District, Arizona. Teryl has the right to earn 100% interest in the property subject to 10% net profit interest.
At all Teryl’s properties, Robertson, who boasts twenty-five years’ experience raising money for companies in the natural resources sector, uses the same recipe for success. “First, find the money for the company; then find an excellent property. Next we start a junior exploration program that we finance ourselves. Once we come up with some excellent results, we will continue to drill, raise more money and bring in a partner and they can develop it further.”
If he makes it sound simple, it’s because Robertson has done it before in both oil & gas and mining. In Alaska, Teryl is one of the largest property owners in the mineral-rich Fairbanks Mining Division.
Teryl has collected properties adjacent or close to Kinross Gold’s True North Property and Kinross’ Fort Knox Mine, the largest producing gold mine in Alaska. Teryl’s Gil property, a joint venture with Kinross, hosts a resource of 400,000 ounces of gold. True to Robertson’s strategy, after doing grass roots exploration on the property, Teryl entered into a joint venture agreement with Kinross Gold to further develop the resource.
Another of Teryl’s Alaskan properties, the 100% owned Westridge property has seen initial exploration including sampling. A news release dated November 2004 reported results that favorably compared the Westridge geology to that of other gold properties in the Fairbanks area. The finding “suggests that gold mineralization within the sample grid may be intrusive related, a similarity shared by several other intrusive-related gold systems the Fairbanks District.”
Teryl’s Fish Creek gold property, a 50% option from Linux Gold Corp, comprises 30 mineral claims adjacent to the Gil property. Teryl and Linux Gold recently announced the discovery of six new geophysical targets on the property. The two companies, according to a recent press release, plan to begin an exploration program at Fish Creek this winter.
The remaining Alaskan claim is the Stepovich silver claim adjacent to Kinross Gold’s Fort Knox Mine where Teryl has 10% net profit interest and Kinross owns 100% of the claims subject to Teryl’s 10% interest.
Finally, oil and gas prospects in Texas and Kentucky provide a financial foundation for Teryl. Robertson commented, “One of the core things for a junior company is cash flow to pay for their administration costs. So having oil and gas properties is helping the company having revenue.”
With crucial cash flow, and excellent projects underway in Alaska, Teryl Resources has turned its attention to Gold Hill in Arizona. Robertson doesn’t mince words about his intentions. “We have claims in properties that could evolve into a major mine because we’re near a major gold and major copper mine. We’re looking to find a major discovery and then we will probably joint venture with a major company and they will put it into production.”
With properties collected in both Fairbanks Mining Division and Warren Mining District, major mining companies close by and money for exploration, Teryl Resources seems to be making all the right moves to follow through on Robertson’s plan.
This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.
