International Curator drawn to Jualin mine

International Curator Resources (VSE) wasn’t drawn to this state by the appeal of such base metal discoveries as Cominco’s Red Dog zinc deposit. What has drawn Curator to Alaska is the old Jualin mine, a modest gold producer that closed in 1920.

The Jualin mine is one of a series of highly mineralized gold properties in the Juneau gold belt which, not surprisingly, has attracted several other companies including Coeur d’Alene Mines and Edmonton-based Echo Bay Mines (TSE).

They are developing the Kensington property just north of International Curator and the Jualin shear zone extends onto their ground. Reserves at Kensington are thought to be about two million tons of 0.2 oz material in quartz stockwork, the same tenor as Jualin. Coeur d’Alene, which is rumored to have paid $20 million to Placid Oil for the property, later swapped half its interest to Echo Bay for some of that company’s South American holdings.

Incidentally, Vancouver-based Granges Exploration (TSE) has the right to earn a 50% interest in Jualin in return for a feasibility study by Dec 31, 1990. For this year anyway, International Curator will be operator; Granges concedes it’s quite bullish on the project and its production potential — as they well should be.

Mike McInnis, International Cu– rator’s president, confirmed that 1106 exploration work at Jualin might continue through the winter months depending on results and availability of funding. The company recently completed a private placement (1.2 million shares) of which Granges took down about 20%. This will add over $1 million to International Curator’s treasury and bring Granges interest to about 32%, according to Douglas McCrae, the latter’s chief financial officer.

Gold mineralization at Jualin is contained within a major shear zone ranging from 100-175 ft wide which has been traced for approximately 10,000 ft along strike. At least five large fissure veins have been identified so far over a strike length of 1,500 ft or more, says International Curator.

Just recently, reconnaissance prospecting located a new vein called the Big Lake, about one mile to the southeast. Twenty one grab samples collected along 1,200 ft of strike length returned an arithmetical average of 0.45 oz gold. “This vein appears to have significant promise and further work is planned to continue evaluating the vein,” McInnis said.

Historically, grades within these veins typically averaged 0.5 oz gold per ton but recent drilling indicates reserves of 1.2 million tons grading 0.23 oz gold. Of that total, 300,000 tons is classified as probable at a grade of 0.26 oz gold. A minimum mining width of four feet was used, a 0.1 oz cut off, and all values were cut to 1.0 oz.

Most of the gold encountered to date is free milling and preliminary metallurgical work indicates a 97% recovery rate with gravity concentration and flotation.

Located about 50 miles north of Juneau, the property is readily accessible by boat and a 5.5 mile road was being put in from tidewater to the exploration site when The Northern Miner visited the project. Alaska has a strong environmental lobby (the Sierra Club has a full-time lawyer on its payroll in Juneau) and most mining companies view it as simply another permitting agency. So the roadwork had to be well concealed and could hardly be seen from the shoreline.

A minimum expenditure of $1.5 million will be made this year and the work program will include about 22,000 ft of diamond drilling (designed to increase confidence in reserves) and a bulk sample test. The in-fill drilling program is scheduled for completion this September and, so far anyway, the veins are being intersected pretty well where they were interpreted to be. The grade tends to be fairly uniform and higher grade sections have yielded several oz per ton. Three drills were operating during our visit and the company said helicopter servicing of drill sites would be reduced when the road is completed.

Vein thicknesses vary from 2-40 ft but they generally don’t carry gold over their be reduced when the road is completed.

Vein thicknesses vary from 2-40 ft but they generally don’t carry gold over their entire width. Values occur in altered diorite adjacent to the vein and visible gold has been noted in highly silicified rock, The Northern Miner was told. If they find a good reserve block with a high confidence level, an underground program could be initiated this year or in early 1989. The property is on state land and 3-4 specific permits will be required for that program.

Previous operators of the Jualin mine developed three adit levels and, for the most part, past production came from the No 1 and No 2 veins. Several other levels exist in the mine and two internal shafts. Production ceased in 1920 when water problems precluded any more mining. A drainage tunnel was started at a lower elevation but it was never completed. However, it encountered a vein structure and drifting returned an average of 0.18 oz gold over 200 ft which could have significant tonnage implications for the property, assuming continuity from upper portions of the mine.

The Jualin shear zone is open to the north and at depth and there could be at least two parallel systems to the Jualin. The Echo Bay/Coeur d’Alene Kensington is also open to depth and along strike to the south where it crosses onto International Curator’s property. Production is possible at Kensington by 1990 which would obviously be a big boost for Jualin.