Atna completes program on Caribou Dome

Atna Resources (ATN-T) is encouraged by results from its recently completed exploration program on the Caribou Dome copper property in central Alaska.

The junior perfomed geochemical, geological and geophysical surveys, as well as a 3-hole, 2,442-ft. diamond drill program designed to test the possibility of expanding the size of the existing deposit.

Hole 101 tested the downdip continuation of the No. 6 zone, where much of the previously defined resource is located. The hole intersected 3.3 ft.

averaging 1% copper starting 1,006 ft. down-hole, followed by 5 ft. of 5.9% copper starting at a depth of 1,059 ft. down-hole.

Hole 102 tested the westward strike extent of the No. 5 zone, and Atna reports that finely bedded pyrite and chalcopyrite mineralization was intersected higher in the hole than expected. The hole cut 5 ft. averaging 1.9% copper starting at a down-hole depth of 276 ft., followed by 1 ft. of 6.3% copper at a depth of 309 ft.

Hole 100 was supposed to test the down-dip projection of surface mineralization along the western margin of the No. 2 zone, though, owing to fault displacement, it failed to do so.

To earn a 100% interest in the property, Atna must spend US$1 million on exploration and pay US$115,000 in cash over four years in a deal that is subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty, which can be purchased at any time for US$2.5 million.

Caribou Dome hosts stratiform copper mineralization and is said to bear similarities to the Kupferschiefer copper-shale deposits of Europe and the copper belt deposits of Zambia. (These deposits are described as being syngenetic-chemical-sedimentary in origin within a reduction-oxidation basin.) The property was previously owned by a private company, which conducted exploration in the late 1960s; little work has been carried out since. Based on calculations by previous operators, Caribou Dome contains a preliminary resource of 550,400 tons averaging 5.8% copper.

Past work included surface trenching and percussion and diamond drilling, as well as 2,900 ft. of underground development. In total, 224 surface and underground holes were sunk over 34,074 ft. The deepest drill hole cut 50.6 ft. (a true thickness of 40 ft.) grading 7.01% copper at a depth of 800 ft.

from surface. Metallurgical tests in the 1970s indicated that recovery of high-grade concentrate would prove difficult. However, Atna says modern metallurgical processes could lead to a favourable recovery rate.

At last report, Atna had $13 million in its treasury and 23.6 million shares on a fully diluted basis.