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About Niblack

The Niblack property has a long history of mineral exploration and development. From 1905 to 1908, the historic Niblack mining operation produced 20,000 tons of ore with average grades of 4.9% copper, 2.2 g/t gold and 30 g/t silver.

The Niblack site has been the focus of active mineral exploration for many years. From 1975-2008, previous operators expended US$41 million to complete 195,000 feet of surface drilling in 246 holes.

In 2008, following construction of a 2,800 foot underground development drive and 500 feet of cross cuts at a cost of $10 million, 28 underground holes totalling 19,765 feet were completed. These holes led to the discovery of a significant new area of high-grade mineralization at Niblack.

Niblack location


Niblack infrastructure

Niblack is an advanced mineral exploration project located 27 miles southwest of Ketchikan on Prince of Wales Island. Niblack's location in SE Alaska is important, as the region possesses a skilled workforce, excellent power and transportation infrastructure and a long history of public and official support for responsible mineral development and mining. Current operations in the region include the Greens Creek underground mine, located on SE Alaska's Admiralty Island, and the Kensington mine, an underground gold producer on the east side of Lynn Canal near Juneau.

The Niblack property consists of 6,200 acres of federal and state mineral claims, 250 acres of patented (private) lands and related mineral exploration permits, equipment and infrastructure. On-site infrastructure includes 3,300 feet of underground development, a water treatment plant and discharge system, a dock and barge camp as well as 1.5 miles of road.

Niblack deposits
Heatherdale has the advantage of building upon the excellent work of several previous exploration companies. More than $50 million had been spent at Niblack prior to Heatherdale's involvement.

Since 2009, Heatherdale has spent approximately $37 million drilling over 200,000 feet of core. This work has substantially increased the mineral resources of this copper-gold-zinc-silver project.

The Niblack Project hosts precious metals-enriched volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits within volcanic rocks that extend some six miles across the property. To date, six VMS target zones have been identified: Lookout, Trio, Dama, Lindsy, Mammoth and the historic Niblack mine. Collectively, the Lookout and Trio zones are estimated to have 5.6 million tonnes of Indicated and 3.4 million tonnes of Inferred mineral resources*. In 2012, the surface drilling program was successful in substantially extending the Trio zone.

The mineral resources delineated to date provide a solid basis for the initiation of engineering, environmental baseline and other technical studies necessary for project planning and permitting. Heatherdale is focused on expanding the mineral resources and making new discoveries at Niblack.

*Indicated grades 0.95% copper, 1.75 g/t gold, 1.73% zinc, 29.52 g/t silver and inferred grades 0.81% copper, 1.32 g/t gold, 1.29% zinc, 20.10 g/t silver at US$50 net smelter return cutoff, as estimated in November 2011 by D. van der Heever, Pr.Sci.Nat. Niblack is an initiative of Heatherdale Resources Ltd. to explore and develop an underground copper-gold-zinc-silver mine on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska.

Heatherdale is associated with Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), a diversified, global mining group with more than 25 years of mineral development success. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI provides associated companies with access to a shared multidisciplinary team of mining professionals with management and leadership experience; geological, engineering and environmental expertise; financial acumen; and extensive administrative and support services.

For more information on Heatherdale Resources Ltd., visit www.heatherdaleresources.com.

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This page was created on Sat Oct 30, 2021 at 7:34:41 AM Pacific Time.