Special Report: $5.3m market cap Resolution Minerals now has a stake in 64 North, an underexplored project neighbouring the high-grade 10-million-ounce Pogo gold mine in Alaska. “You rarely get an opportunity like this in a junior exploration stock,” Resolution managing director Duncan Chessell says.

In October, Resolution (ASX:RML) – formerly Northern Cobalt – revealed plans to acquire up to 80 per cent of an Alaskan gold project called 64North (formerly Goodpaster).

That deal is now done. Resolution can earn an initial 60 per cent interest in the project by spending $US20m over four years on exploration, plus a $US50,000/year payment and a total of 38 million milestone shares in tranches.
For Resolution, the potential prize is huge.

The 660sqkm 64North Project literally surrounds Northern Star Resources’ (ASX:NST) high-grade Pogo mine, which has produced 4 million ounces of gold over the past 13 years and has another 6 million ounces in resource & reserves.

And there are more discoveries to be made.

In September, Northern Star uncovered something big and high grade at the Goodpaster prospect near Pogo; about 1km from – and along strike to — Resolution’s new project boundary.

Now considered a continuation of the main Pogo mineralised trend, Goodpaster currently extends over a strike distance of 2.3km, to a depth of 500m, and remains open in every direction.

A once in a lifetime opportunity

In the first quarter next year Resolution will be drilling relatively untouched ground at Echo and Aurora, a stone’s throw and along strike from Goodpaster and Pogo:

This is an opportunity created by a unique set of circumstances that not many juniors get the chance to grab, Resolution managing director Duncan Chessell says.

Firstly, joint venture partner and project generator Milrock Resources has been quietly acquiring prospective ground here for years, all while Canadian markets were focused on bitcoin and cannabis stocks.

Secondly — soon after Northern Star acquired Pogo in 2018, Milrock pegged all the way around the current Pogo gold mine lease.

“At the time Northern Star were still getting their head around production issues [at Pogo]; they weren’t really looking for opportunities outside their existing lease boundary,” Chessell says. “And the ground they were most likely to be interested in, Milrock had already tied up a couple of years previously.”

Importantly, exploration has been sparse, especially around high priority targets like Aurora and Echo, which Resolution will be drilling in Q1 next year.

That’s because the West Pogo target area – along strike from the Goodpaster discovery – was held by old prospectors for over 20 years before Millrock recently negotiated to purchase those tenements.

 

Resolution will be the first company to drill this area, ever, late in the first quarter next year. The explorer also has year-round project access via road – very rare in Alaska – which will massively reduce logistical costs.

“Come late February we can start to look at mobilising back to the field and drilling,” Chessell says. “Certainly, we don’t have to wait until May/June for helicopter access.”

The 64North Project represents huge near-term upside for investors, Chessell says.

“Ideally, we will get an economic intersection out of this maiden drilling program which would demonstrate that the Pogo-style gold mineralisation we are chasing is present,” he says. “That will really prove the potential of our project to the market.”

“In a good jurisdiction, underexplored, and next to an operating world class gold mine — you rarely get an opportunity like this in a low market cap junior.”

 

This story was developed in collaboration with Resolution Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This story does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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