Nevada Star kicks off geophysics at Man property

Vancouver —Nevada Star Resource (NEV-V) has started a ground geophysical survey on its 100% owned Dunite Hill project in Alaska.

The MAN project is situated in east-central Alaska, south of Fairbanks and northeast of Anchorage. It is accessible by two paved highways.

Dunite Hill represents one of six key target areas on the MAN nickel-copper-platinum group element (PGE) property. Nevada Star has designed the program with the hope of defining targets for drilling later this summer.

The current survey, which will cover 160 line km of grid, includes a ground loop electromagnetic survey (UTEM) to define conductive zones and a gravity survey to locate rock units of high density.

The target at the Dunite Hill prospect is nickel-copper-PGE-bearing massive sulphide mineralization. This type of mineralization is typically characterized by high conductivity, high density and high magnetic susceptibility. Dunite Hill was previously surveyed by airborne magnetic and electromagnetic surveys, as well as seeing an MMI soil geochemistry survey. This summer’s exploration program will also include additional MMI soil sampling.

The U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Land Management defined a highly conductive zone on the prospect through a magnetotelluric survey. This anomaly has coincident high gravity and magnetics and a potential strike length of over 16 km. The conductor appears to lie within 1,500 metres of the surface and Nevada Star hopes that it continues towards surface at the margins of the intrusion.

Preliminary modeling suggests a flat-lying, highly conductive, dense and magnetic body that could represent massive to disseminated sulphide mineralization. Gravity and magnetic data point to an intrusive feeder zone beneath the deeper western portion of the anomaly. The shallower, eastern portion of the anomaly has no root zone and a gentle dip, which is an ideal trap for magmatic sulphides to accumulate.

Nevada Star has also recently acquired a 100% interest in the Canwell project, part of its MAN property, from FNX Mining (FNX-T), formerly Fort Knox Gold Resources. The junior must issue 150,000 shares to FNX upon regulatory approval, plus an additional 150,000 shares in equal annual instalments over three years. Nevada Star will also issue 300,000 warrants with a 3-year term to FNX, exercisable at 32 in year one, 37 in year two and 42 in year three. There is an underlying 2% net smelter return on the Canwell property payable to American Copper Nickel Company, a subsidiary of Inco (N-T).

As part of the agreement, Nevada Star has acquired the results of prior exploration work on the project area. Nevada Star now owns a 100% interest in all of its MAN property holdings.

The exploration data purchased by the junior include results of geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys and of preliminary drilling that was performed by FNX and American Copper Nickel. The exploration work was conducted at Canwell and the adjacent Fish Lake and Rainy projects.

At the Canwell prospect, the junior discovered a new massive sulphide occurrence that returned values up to 13.6% nickel, 4.51% copper, 5.5 grams platinum per tonne, 15.5 grams palladium and 1.2 grams gold as well as 0.28 gram osmium, 0.29 gram iridium, 0.56 gram ruthenium and 0.21 gram rhodium.

The company also staked the Summit Hill property, contiguous with the MAN, which covers an 11-km-wide ringlike magnetic anomaly identified in a recent airborne survey by the state’s Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. The anomaly is along strike from the Fish Lake prospect and historical surface sampling in the area returned 1.58% nickel, 1.07% copper, and trace platinum, palladium and gold.

In all, the company plans US$1.25 million in exploration work during the 2003 field season, and expects to drill at both Rainy and Canwell.