The following is a transcript of Western Alaska's AMA session on April 22nd, 2024.
Could we start with a quick overview of the company?
WAM has an exceptionally high-grade silver-zinc-lead carbonate replacement deposit in western alaska
What sort of a field program will the company carry out this year?
Our goal is to prove our thesis that the Illinois Creek deposit hosts a world-class CRD deposit. Beginning this year, our focus is on expanding the inventory of high-grade, mineable ounces.
What targets are you focusing on this year?
We envision an 8 to 12 drill hole program totaling ~4,000 meters, primarily focusing on the LH and Warm Springs/IC East Manto target areas. Our program will be flexible; any successful intersection of sulfide mineralization with good thickness and inferred grade will be follow-up with step-out drilling. We will likely have a first round of drilling with 1-2 drill holes in our priority target areas and the next round will follow-up on the most promising geology/mineralization intersected.
You recently announced a $5M private placement - How much runway will a $5M raise provide?
The financing is expected to fund drilling, G&A through 2024, and all associated costs with parallel de-risking studies (met, enviro. baseline etc). The financing will finance metallurgy and Alaska Fish & Game continued habitat studies which are now in their 4th year. Numerous other environmental studies such as surface water quality have been completed since 2020.
Trilogy Metals recently learned the Dept of Interior plans to block their access to the Ambler Mining District. Although Western Alaska Minerials is on State owned lands, can the 29-mile road access route to the Yukon River be blocked by the Federal Government, since the road requires numerous water crossing approvals and environmental impact evaluations?
The proposed road will have two water crosses; one will be a bridge since it is a narrow crossing and the second will be a river ferry crossing which does not impact the river. WAM has completed environmental wetlands evaluations for the route. A Corps of Engineers permit will likely be required for the wetlands crossings. This is a Federal permit. No BLM permits are needed. Our consultants have evaluated the entire route. Our civil engineer, RECON Inc, has been involved in the design and construction of several remote roads such as WAM's proposed road.
There are wetlands located south of the identified 75M resource area. If a Water Pump Creek mine is built, will controlling surface water be an issue that could delay or prevent mine building?
A mine will be designed not to impact surface waters, so control of surface waters should not be an issue. The location of underground shafts and portals would not be located near wetlands. The LH South target area is located on the west slope of the Illinois Creek airstrip and is uplands with no associated wetlands. The Illinois Creek was fully permitted and operational without impacted any wetlands.
What gives WAM the confidence the 5 ohm-m, fluid pathways, identified in the Fly-Through 3D Model, are a significant target, could the volume identified be filled with voids?
The 5 ohm m resistivity anomaly gives a broad correlation with known mineralization, but it is not a direct targeting tool. It most likely correlates with alteration caused by pathways of the mineralizing fluids and clearly follows the Warm Springs Fault to the W of the Illinois Creek mine and then NNE along the Waterpump Creek Fault/Structure which is best delineated by the 2023 3D Induced Polarization geophysical study. I highly recommend the audience watch the 3D video. It is very difficult to portray a 3D model in 2D print. The rotation of geology-known mineralization-resource is best portrayed by the 3D video.
Western Alaska Minerals Fly-Through 3D Model & 2024 Targeting video: https://vimeo.com/922240263
Will WAM spinout a royalty company before a merger agreement, or no royalty spinout will occur because it’s an incentive to make an equitable merger arrangement?
Currently there are no plans for a royalty spin out company, but once a larger resource is identified this may be a viable option. A royalty spinout recently was recently announced by one of the silver explorers and we will analyze this option once we have expanded the resource. It is a good way to pass along the benefit of a royalty to existing shareholders.
How much does management own?
Management and insiders own approximately 32%. Co-founders Kit & Joan Marrs own just under 20%. Joe Piekenbrock owns considerable shares.
What is your objective in terms of tonnes?
Our near term objective is to double the resource. The long term objective is to reach 12-15 million tons which is reasonable for a CRD system with the scale of Illinois Creek/WAP in comparison other deposits. However the grade is just, if not more important, than tonnes. Our current 2.4 million tons contains 75 million Ag Eq ounces. This was discovered and delineated in just 2 years of drilling.
Closing Remarks
In summary: In summary: We released a MRE with an impressive 75Moz AgEq grading 980g/t AgEq in late February; extremely high-grade silver & zinc. The exciting part is that we identified this in only approximately 12,000 of drilling in two seasons and 22,000 meters total including the Anaconda and NovaGold historical drilling. The focus now is on expanding our inventory of ounces, by drill testing the LH zone, once again, LH South bears all of the same hallmarks as Waterpump Creek, including some historic drilling which does not have massive sulfides (paydirt) but similar oxidized silver-zinc-lead mineralization in a similar geologic setting as WPC. Very compelling, and its footprint is even bigger than WPC.
The company announced a $5 million shelf prospectus (free trading shares) on April 18 and a parallel Private Placement for $1.5 million. The offering is for a Unit that includes a full warrant. Please refer to the prospectus for details and any applicable restrictions. This financing will fund a 4,000 meter drill program. The offering is not to US residents except by applicable exemptions as described in the prospectus.