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Heatherdale Resources Ltd. ("Heatherdale" or the "Company") (TSXV:HTR) announces
that it has acquired a 60% interest, with the option to acquire 100%, in the
Delta volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) project,
located in east-central Alaska about 19 miles (30 km) from the Alaska
Highway.
Delta is an advanced-stage exploration project that provides Heatherdale with a longer-term development opportunity to
complement the Company's primary asset -- the Niblack
advanced-stage copper-gold-zinc-silver project on Prince of Wales Island. The
39,840-acre Delta property covers a largely under-explored VMS district with
strong potential for expansion of known resources and the discovery of new
deposits.
"Our exploration program at Niblack has
proceeded with efficiency and a great deal of success over the past 18
months, to the degree that we are rapidly moving toward a project development
phase," said Heatherdale
President & CEO Patrick Smith. "With the addition of another
Alaska VMS project at Delta, we can take advantage of the technical knowledge
and insights of our geological team, as well as our growing corporate
presence in Alaska, to move two similarly promising projects at different
points in the development curve forward in a timely and efficient way,
thereby securing both short-term and long-term value for shareholders."
Heatherdale is acquiring Hunter Dickinson
Acquisitions Inc. ("HDAI"), a non-arm's length private company that
holds a 60% interest, with the option to acquire 100%, in the Delta Project
under a Limited Liability Company Agreement ("Delta LLC agreement")
with Grayd Resource Corporation dated October 2010.
In terms of the HDAI purchase agreement and the underlying Delta LLC
agreement, in addition to assuming some acquisition costs, Heatherdale will be required to make the following
payments and incur exploration expenditure as below:
·
Issue 2,000,000 common shares to the
shareholders of HDAI on closing;
·
·
To retain its 60% interest, Heatherdale must expend at least US $1,000,000 on or
before January 1, 2012 ($400,000 spent to date) and an additional amount of at
least US $2,000,000 on or before January 1, 2013 (the "Initial
Contribution");
·
·
Issue 2,000,000 common shares to the
shareholders of HDAI on completion of its Initial Contribution;
·
·
If Heatherdale
does not complete its Initial Contribution, it shall be deemed to have
withdrawn from the joint venture, returning its 60% ownership interest; no
further payments will be due to the HDAI shareholders;
·
·
Upon completion of its Initial
Contribution, Heatherdale shall have an additional
earn-in option to increase its ownership interest in the Delta Project to 80%
by funding additional expenditures of US $4,000,000 on or before January 1,
2014 (the "First Option");
·
·
Issue $2,000,000 worth of common
shares based on the 10-day volume weighted average price before date of
issue, to the HDAI shareholders, upon exercise of the First Option;
·
·
Within 90 days of exercising the First
Option, Heatherdale shall have the option to
increase its ownership interest in the project to 100% by providing, at Heatherdale's election, either two million shares or
shares with a market value of US$ 4,000,000 (the "Second Option");
·
·
Issue $2,000,000 worth of common
shares based on the 10-day volume weighted average price before date of
issue, to the HDAI shareholders, upon exercise of the Second Option.
·
The Delta project acquisition is subject to regulatory approval,
including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Delta lies within a regionally extensive package of Devonian to
Mississippian age metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks referred to as the Yukon-Tanana Terrane, which occurs in east-central Alaska and extends
in an ESE trending arc across Yukon into northern British Columbia. Several
clusters of VMS mineral occurrences are known in the Alaska portion of the terrane. Massive sulphides
occur on the Delta property in three southeast to northwesterly trending
horizons: the Upper Lagoon Series with a strike length of approximately 9.5
miles (15 km); the Lower Lagoon Series with a similar extent; and more
localized occurrences in Drum Series rocks. A 12.5 mile (20 km) long,
thrust-fault repeated section of the Lagoon Series also hosts sulphide mineralization.
Since an initial discovery was made at Delta in 1976, exploration work
by a number of operators has investigated more than 40 occurrences of massive
sulphide mineralization. The Delta property is a
district-scale land position comprised of 249 Alaska State mining claims. To
2007, 141 widely spaced holes totaling some 75,000 feet (23,000 m) have been
drilled. Initial resource estimates have been prepared for seven of these
occurrences based on early-stage exploration drilling. Inferred mineral
resources for all zones are estimated to be 15.4 million tonnes
grading 0.60% Cu, 1.7% Pb, 3.8% Zn, 62 g/t Ag, and
1.7 g/t Au1 . Several of these zones
remain open to expansion both laterally and vertically. Numerous additional
exploration targets remain untested or only partially tested. Additionally,
there are several areas from which mineralized surface grab samples have
returned very high precious metal grades.
HDAI completed an airborne Versatile Time Domain Electro-Magnetics
(VTEM) geophysical survey over the entire Delta district in 2010. Several
exciting new targets were identified for follow-up. The Heatherdale
technical team is in the process of reviewing all available data with the
objective of identifying specific targets for drill testing in the near term.
As at Niblack, the VMS mineralization at
Delta is polymetallic in nature and enriched with
precious metals. Smith confirmed that the potential to add value by building
upon the known resources and by discovering new zones of mineralization in
the Delta district heightened Heatherdale's
interest in the property.
"Delta is an early-stage project, but it also represents an
emerging massive sulphide district with the
potential to be in the top tier of global districts of its type," Smith said. "As we continue to focus on our core asset at Niblack to unlock the value of that resource by
aggressively advancing the project into mine planning, exploration at Delta
presents an opportunity to provide future growth for the company and to
leverage the skills and expertise of our team, our knowledge and experience
in Alaska, and the depth and resourcefulness of Hunter Dickinson Inc."
The Delta property covers an area of moderate to steep relief in
east-central Alaska. The wide valley of the Robertson River parallels the
north end of the claim block, where there is an airstrip suitable for
aircraft up to Skyvan class (3,000 lb capacity). Commercial lodging with
helicopter landing space is available 11 miles (18 km) away at Cathedral
Rapids and 36 miles (58 km) east, in the community of Tok, at the confluence
of the Alaska Highway and Glenn Highway, both of which are paved and
maintained year round. The City of Fairbanks is located approximately 205
miles (330 km) to the northwest of Tok along the Alaska Highway. The City of
Anchorage is located 323 miles (520 km) to the southwest along the Glenn
Highway. Both cities are significant commercial and mining service centers.
Operating mines in the vicinity of the Delta Project include the Pogo gold
mine (Sumitomo) and the Fort Knox gold mine (Kinross), about 85 miles (135
km) and 160 miles (255 km) northwest, respectively.
Samuel S. Dashevsky, CPG, and Carl F. Schaefer, CPG, of Northern
Associates, Inc., who are qualified persons independent of Heatherdale,
estimated the mineral resources for the Delta Project and reviewed the
technical information on the Delta project in this release.
1 Based on the estimate of the mineral
resource in 2006 using a polygonal method,which applied an $80/ton over a
minimum true width of 8 feet (2.4 m)cut-off, using metal prices ($US) of
$2.00/lb for Cu, $0.50/lb for Pb, $1.00/lb for Zn, $10.00/oz for Ag and
$550/oz for Au, for seven sulphide lenses, including the DDN, DDS, DW, Mid,
LP, LPH and PP2 deposits. Operators of drilling programs at Delta from
1994-2007 used ALS Chemex in North Vancouver, BC, and predecessor Chemex
Laboratories, for assay & analysis of drill core samples. The estimate is
documented in a current technical report in preparation for Heatherdale,
which will be filed on www.sedar.com within 45 days.
Niblack Project
Since October 2009, Heatherdale has
completed more than 90,000 feet (27,400 m) of underground drilling at its
flagship Niblack VMS Project in southeast Alaska. Deposit modeling is
currently being finalized based upon this recent drilling and an updated
mineral resource estimate will be completed soon. A substantial drilling
program is currently underway at Niblack with two core rigs operating
underground, focused on continued expansion of the high-grade Lookout zone as
well as initial testing of other compelling targets. The 2011 program is
designed to establish the mineral resources necessary to advance the project
to a prefeasibility stage.
Niblack's location at tidewater on Prince of
Wales Island in southeast Alaska presents a number of project benefits,
including year-round marine access, a well-trained labour force, a mature
supply and service sector, proximity to Asian markets, and the support of
community and Alaska Native corporation partners. The project is located 27
miles (44 km) from Ketchikan, a community of 8,000 people with important
services to support project development, including a deep water port and
international airport. The State's burgeoning minerals industry also enjoys a
competitive tax regime and stable, predictable permitting and regulatory
oversight coordinated by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources', Large
Mine Permitting Team. For reference, Hecla's Greens Creek, a 2,100-ton per
day underground massive sulphide mine, operates 225 miles (370 km) to the
northwest of Niblack on Admiralty Island.
About Heatherdale Resources Ltd.
Heatherdale Resources Ltd. is a growth company
focused on the exploration and development of precious and base metal
properties with a focus on Alaska. The Company holds a 51% interest in the
Niblack Project, with an option to acquire up to a 70% interest from Niblack
Mineral Development Inc. by investing an additional US$10 million and
completing a bankable feasibility study. Heatherdale has also acquired the
right to earn a 100% interest in the Delta Project to supplement its
exploration and development pipeline.
About HDI
Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI) is a diversified, global mining company
with a 25-year history of mineral development success. From its head office
in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to
acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral properties that provide
consistently superior returns to shareholders.
For further details on Heatherdale Resources Ltd., please visit
www.heatherdaleresources.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365
or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Patrick Smith
President & CEO
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