Full Metal stakes massive claims in Eastern Alaska near Yukon border

Underworld Resources‘ (UW-V) White Gold discovery in the Tintina Gold Belt, about 95 km south of Dawson City, and the company’s subsequent takeover by Kinross Gold (K-T, KGC-N) earlier this year, have sparked a massive staking rush in the area. Recent bonanza assay results from Kaminak Gold‘s (KAM-V) Coffee project, 20 km to the south of White Gold, have added fuel to the fire.

Now Full Metal Minerals (FMM-V) has staked a huge land package in Eastern Alaska near the Yukon border in the hopes of finding something similar to Kinross Gold’s White Gold project.

The Vancouver-based junior has staked nine claims over an area of 34,000 hectares spanning a trend of more than 100 km and is calling its new exploration program Rolling Thunder.

The Tintina Gold Belt is a 200-km-wide, 1,200-km-long arc, bounded by the Tintina-Kaltag fault systems on the north and the Denali-Fairwell fault systems on the south. The region extends from northern British Columbia westward through east-central Alaska to southwest Alaska.

The mineralized belt strikes to the northeast from the Yukon into Alaska, and includes Full Metal’s Rolling Thunder claims, the Fortymile placer district, and Full Metal’s high-grade zinc-silver-lead-copper carbonate replacement deposits.

There are more than 30 companies currently exploring this trend in the Yukon, with an ongoing staking rush up the Yukon-Alaska border. According to Full Metal Minerals, it is the only company so far that is active in the Alaska section of the belt.

The Fortymile district lies within a mineral belt of Cretaceous-age deposits, prospects, and placer gold mines, trending from the Minto mine at the southeast end, and includes porphyry copper and epigenetic gold deposits and prospects such as Kinross Gold’s White Gold project, which includes the Golden Saddle deposit, Kaminak’s Coffee project, Northern Freegold‘s (NFR-V) Freegold Mountain, and Western Copper‘s (WRN-T) Casino project.

The Fortymile district is underlain by the same host rocks, a similar tectonic history and intrusive rocks as the White Gold District. Placer gold mining has been taking place in the Fortymile district since 1886 with more than 535,000 oz. placer gold produce, Full Metal notes.

Full Metal’s exploration crews are completing reconnaissance soil sampling and mapping on the properties, and have already identified multiple areas of
strong alteration and quartz veining.

At its 20X prospect, grab samples from oxidized quartz veins returned 5.5 grams gold and 4 grams gold, with anomalous molybdenum and other pathfinder elements similar to the White Gold property. Nine samples were collected at 20X, ranging from 0.014 gram gold per tonne to 5.5 grams gold per tonne, and averaging 1.53 grams gold.

At its Tweeden prospect, a grab sample from a one metre-wide quartz vein trending onto Full Metal’s claims returned 52.2 grams gold per tonne. Secondary structures splaying off the main structure assayed 1 to 2 grams gold within sheeted quartz veins.

Full Metal and BHP Billiton (BHP-N) completed an extensive reconnaissance program in the southern portion of the target area exploring four porphyry targets during 2008. In 2009, Full Metal regained 100% ownership of the claim groups, after BHP completed extensive geochemical surveys and a large airborne magnetic survey.

Full Metal Minerals closed up half a penny or 2.7% at 19¢per share. The junior explorer has a 52-week trading range of 17¢-29.5¢ per share and has 84.3 million shares outstanding.