Nixon Fork Gold Mine Hosts Turn Key Mine Operation
NI 43-101 indicated resource of 128,500 ounces and inferred 74,600 ounces of gold
Message: Fire River Gold Expands Management Team for the Nixon Fork Gold Mine, Alaska
| Fire River Gold Corp. (TSX.V: FAU; OTCQX: FVGCF; FSE: FWR) ("FAU" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has expanded its management team to advance the Nixon Fork Gold Mine. |
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Larry Hillesland has been hired as the Manager of Geology for the Project. Mr. Hillesland has over 30 years of mineral exploration experience throughout the Western Hemisphere, with a strong focus on gold. In addition, he has worked as Project Manager or Exploration Manager for several projects including Kinross' Kupol Project, the Century Mining's San Juan Mine, and American Bonanza's Copperstone Mine. Mr. Hillesland's most recent job was Project Manager for Kodiak Exploration's Hercules Project in Ontario, where he managed major drill programs. Mr. Hillesland also managed the exploration program at Goldfields Cerro Corona in Peru. Mr. Hillesland has applied his talents to project development, the assessment of district plays, and to mergers and acquisitions; all skills that Fire River Gold will use as the Company grows. Kristian Whitehead has been added to the team as Senior Geologist. Mr. Whitehead has focussed his seven years of exploration experience on gold exploration, primarily in the Tintina Gold Belt, where the Nixon Fork Mine is located. He has acted as Senior Project Geologist twice before; on the Dublin Gulch Project for StrataGold, and most recently on the Cassiar Gold Project for Hawthorne Gold Corporation. Other projects Mr. Whitehead has worked on include the Frasergold (BC), and the Clear Creek, Hyland, Aurex, Lynx, and Donjek (all in the Yukon). This project team will manage the geological re-assessment work that began in the summer of 2009. This involves the re-logging and re-assaying of several thousand feet of existing core obtained from prior drill campaigns at the mine. There are also 9381 meters of drilling that was done on the orebody in 2007 and 2008, the results of which have never been released. The work will result in a complete re-evaluation of the geological model that will be used to prepare a new resource statement, which will be declared in a NI 43-101 Report before year end. The Company will issue regular updates on the progress of this program, including the 2007 and 2008 drill results over the next few months. About Fire River Gold Corp. Fire River Gold Corp. is a junior exploration/development company focused on North American gold projects with a specific emphasis in Alaska. The company's management team has extensive experience in all aspects of project acquisition, exploration, and development and has over one hundred years of combined experience working in Alaska. Fire River Gold is publicly traded in Canada on the TSX Venture Exchange (FAU), in Germany on the Frankfurt Exchange (FWR) and on the United States' OTCQX Exchange (FVGCF). The recently acquired Nixon Fork Gold Mine in Alaska has the potential to be a near term gold producer. Management's objective is to make FAU a North American gold producer in the next 18 months. The Company is presently negotiating additional advanced stage gold projects in North America. Nixon Fork Mine The Company's main focus is the gold-copper-silver Nixon Fork Mine, Alaska, which was acquired in August of 2009. A former high-grade gold mine, it produced approximately 145,000 ounces of gold at a production average of 42 grams per ton (1.4 opt). This turn-key project is a fully operational mining-milling facility that includes a 200+ tpd flotation plant with a gravity gold separation circuit. In 2008, a complete CIL gold leaching circuit was designed and purchased and is approximately 60% installed. The mine also includes a fleet of mining vehicles, a self-contained diesel power plant, maintenance facilities, drilling equipment, an 85 person camp, office facilities and a 1.2 km long landing strip. Mining and processing operations at Nixon Fork are fully permitted and bonded. 2010 Re-evaluation Program in Progress In 2009 the company began a $1.25M evaluation of the project to confirm the status of the geological work, confirm both the gold grade from the tailings pond, and further metallurgical assessment through testwork. The evaluation program is continuing into 2010, with key milestones including a determination of a go, no-go decision for completing the CIL circuit to process tailings by Spring 2010; defining exploration targets for underground and surface drilling commencing in Spring; the preparation of a new resource estimate for the property by fall 2010, and the determination of a go, no-go decision for the resumption of underground mining by the end of the year. The Nixon Fork mine hosts a skarn deposit with complex geology. Understanding the rock types and structure is paramount to demonstrating the continuity of mineralization. Although management believes the information from the previous operators to be relevant, it is management's objective to re-establish a new geological model and mine plan by completing the following:
Upon completion of this work, a new resource estimate scheduled for completion late in 2010, will be prepared for the property, using Fire River's new data from the 2010 Exploration program. |
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