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RAINBOW -- TALNAKH CLAIMS

Deposit Type:

Ni, Pt, Pd, Cu, Au, Ag

Grades as high as Cu-8.5 %, Ni-9.5 %, Ag-10 oz/t, Au-0.84 oz/t, Pd-4 g/t, Pt-1.6 g/t

Location:

The Talnakh claims are located in the east central Alaska Range just north of Isabel Pass and east of the Delta River.

Mt. Hayes Quad: Township 18 S., Range 11 E.

Access:

The main access road is the Richardson Highway, the claims are 50 miles south of Delta Junction. The claims are ½ mile off the highway on a gravel road.

Forbes and Emerick July 2000 Assays

Cu to 8.532 %     Au to .86 oz/ton     Pt to 1.5 g/ton    

Pd to 4.5 g/ton    Ag to 7.28oz/ton    Ni to 9.477 %      Ru to 7 g/ton

Above the Forbs

Forbes Outcrop          

PROSPECT SUBMITTAL SUMMARY

PROPERTY NAME: Forbes - Emerick Past Name(s): Rainbow Mt., Emerich, Glacier Lake, Miller Creek

Property Size: 117 State claims (4,680 acres) and 6 State prospecting sites (960 acres)

LOCATION:

State/Prov: Alaska Mining District: Chitina District

LatLong:/UTM: T18S, R11E, Fairbanks Meridian, Isabel Pass area, 1 to 3 miles east of Richardson Highway (Figure 1) Local river, mountain range: Rainbow Ridge, East of Delta River, south of Canwell Glacier

CURRENT OWNER(S):

Primary Owner & Percentage: Northridge Exploration, Fairbanks, AK Secondary Owner(s) & Percentage: Unknown Government Ownership & Percentage: N/A

 

CURRENT LEASE HOLDER(S):

Lessee Name & Percentage: N/A Lease terms:

Term:  Adv. Roy.: NSR: Buyout: Work. Com.: Transfer Rights:

LAND STATUS:

Alluvial Rights: Northridge Exploration

Lode Rights: Northridge Exploration

Surface Rights: State of Alaska

TITLE VALIDITY:

Title Recorded/Registered: N/A

ENCUMBRANCES: Government Production Royalty: 3% NPI to State of Alaska

Secondary owner/leaseholder payment: N/A

Underlying Production Royalty: N/A

Work Commitments: $100 per 40 acres per year plus $25 per 40

acre annual rent

Liens on property or equipment: N/A

Debt encumbrances: N/A

ENVIRONMENTAL/SOCIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Proximity to Mineral Closures: None within 50 miles Proximity to population centers: Fifty miles south of Delta Junction, 18 miles north of Paxson

Access: Gravel road from paved Richardson Highway and Trans- Alaska Oil Pipeline

Past environmental problems: None known

GEOLOGIC SUMMARY:

Past Lode Exploration: Copper and nickel mineralization was first discovered in the Rainbow Mt. area by R. Emerick in the early 1950’s. Intermittent exploration for Cu-Pb-Zn and Cu-Ni-PGE massive sulfides continued to as recently as 1997. Extensive gossans drew exploration interest but the source of sulfide boulders in glacial moraines proved difficult to locate until recently. Newmont Exploration explored for Cu-Ni on the Emerick prospect in 1962.

Falconbridge conducted geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys in 1997 and completed a single geophysically targeted drill hole (350’) at the Emerick prospect. The property was returned to the current owner who has continued prospecting which resulted in a series of discoveries in 2001. In some references the Emerick prospect is referred to as the Miller Creek prospect while the Forbes prospect is sometimes referred to as the Glacier Lake prospect.

Past Production: None

District Geology: The Forbes Emerick prospect is situated in metamorphic rocks of the McClaren Metamorphic belt and Paleozoic Slana River Subterrane which have been intruded by west-northwest trending gabbro, diorite and ultramafic rocks of the Wrangellia Terrane (Figure 2). The property is situated immediately south of the continental scale Denali fault which has been demonstrated to have at least 350 to 400 km of right lateral offset since the mid-Tertiary. Pervasive but variable serpentinization affects the ultramafic rocks on the prospect, particularly those of the Emerick prospect. Cretaceous(?) to Tertiary)?) intermediate composition plutonic rocks have intruded the older units and are associated with copper – gold mineralization elsewhere in the region.

District Structures: Rock units within the Forbes Emerick prospect are truncated to the northeast by the Denali fault. Northwest trending mafic and ultramafic rocks are in turn cut by a series of northeast-trending structures with limited offset. Thrust faulting on the Broxson Gulch fault appears to be controlled by transpressional motion on the Denali fault system.

Mineralization: The Forbes Emerick prospect is one of over a dozen Cu-Ni-PGE prospects situated south of the regional scale Broxson Gulch thrust fault in the Central Alaska Range (Figure 3).

Other significant occurrences are controlled by FNX Mining (formerly Fort Knox Gold) and by Nevada Star Resources (formerly MAN Resources). These occurrences are hosted in mafic and ultramafic rocks over a 50 mile east-west trend. Similar mineralization has been described from the Kluane mafic – ultramafic belt in the Western Yukon (Hulbert, 1995).

Several distinctly different styles of mineralization have been discovered on the Forbes Emerick prospect. Their relationship to each other, if any, is uncertain. Cu-Ni-PGE massive sulfide mineralization has been discovered at the Forbes and at the Emerick showings (Figure 4). At the Emerick prospect, Barker (1988) reported significant (10%) pyrrhotite, pyrite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite and trace bornite from channel samples taken from a 4-meter wide dike along an exposure measuring 7 meter along strike. The average of nine samples from this dike was 11,455 ppm Ni, 8,289 ppm Cu, 189 ppm Co, 989 ppb Pt, 977 ppb Pd, 17 ppb Rh, 4 ppb Os, 16 ppb Ir and 193 ppb Au. Mineralization is hosted in a gabbronorite dike which Hulbert (1995) speculated was similar to mineralized marginal gabbro bodies in the adjacent Kluane mafic – ultramafic belt in the Yukon.

This dike contained merenskyite (Pd,Pt)(Te,Bi)2 and altaite (PbTe) and PGM ranged in size 0.5 to several microns. PGM were found to occur along silicate grain boundaries as opposed to within the sulfide grains. Sulfur isotope values range from –2.7 to -3.0 per mill and are suggestive of magmatic derivation.

Hulbert reported Pt + Pd values in excess of 3,000 ppb associated with exceptionally high levels of Ir (to 3,090 ppb), Rh (620 ppb) and Ru (2,180 ppb) from ultramafic rocks of the Emerick and nearby Ann Creek prospects. These high PGE values are not necessarily associated with high Cu or Ni values.

Disseminated to massive Cu±Pb-Zn-Ag-Au sulfide mineralization has been discovered at the Red Knob showing on the Emerick prospect. Massive Pb-Zn-Ag sulfide mineralization has been discovered in float in several areas as has Cu-barite-quartz vein mineralization.

Although the levels of Ni, Pb, Zn, Ag Au, Pt and Pd vary widely, copper is present in significant amounts in all types of mineralization discovered to date. It is possible that massive sulfide veins and pods were remobilized from their original locations by younger granitic intrusives which are common in this part of the Alaska Range. Mineralization of this type is well exposed at the Emerick prospect where granodiorite dikes cut serpentinite.

Mineralization of this style is more copper-enriched relative to Ni than magmatic-related Cu-Ni-PGE mineralization. Alternatively, copper and base metal mineralization may be related to Tertiary to Cretaceous intrusives similar to those hosting copper-gold mineralization elsewhere in the central and eastern Alaska Range.

Mineralization discovered by the current owner takes the form of semi-massive to massive Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization, net-textured and massive Cu-Ni-Fe-PGE mineralization and Cu-barite and Cu-quartz veins. Table 1 is a summary of significant mineralization discovered on the Forbes Emerick prospect within the last 2 years.

Table 1: Geochemical results from the Forbes Emerick prospect, 2000 –

2001.

Sample # Cu (%) Ni(%) Pb (%) Zn (%) Ag (opt) Au

(ppb) Pt (ppb) Pd(ppb)

WB01501 3.30 3.20 N/A N/A 0.128 N/A N/A N/A

WB01502 1.14 1.35 N/A N/A 0.0708 N/A N/A N/A

169 5.725 9.477 0.01 0.02 0.25 72 425 1605

173 5.079 0.001 2.16 3.57 2.86 846 <2 <2

174 4.82 <0.001 1.28 2.67 3.16 1922 <2 <2

175 8.532 <0.001 6.68 7.27 7.28 26496 <2 6

179 1.050 1.382 <0.01 <0.01 0.12 329 1236 1417

206 1.66 4.44 <0.01 <0.01 0.11 40 433 796

216 0.43 3.76 <0.01 <0.01 0.08 453 460 642

The grade and widespread nature of Cu-Ni-PGE mineralization prompted Pacific Northwest Capital to conduct a property visit in September 2002. This work r returned high-grade nickel, copper, platinum, palladium and gold from the Forbes and Emerick prospects and high grade copper from the Red Knob prospect. (Table 2, Figure 5-

8). Nickel values at the Forbes and Emerick prospects are extremely high, reaching 5.43% at Forbes and 5.46% at Emerick. Copper values at Forbes reach up to 3.19% while those at Emerick are considerably lower reaching only 0.69%. Platinum plus palladium values reach up to 2.08 gpt at Forbes and 2.77 gpt at Emerick with Pt:Pd ratios ranging from 0.26 to 1.27. Gold values were sporadically anomalous at both Forbes and Emerick reaching a high of 2.92 gpt at Forbes.

Pervasive, strong serpentinization has masked the original form of Cu- Ni-PGE mineralization at the Emerick prospect. Mineralization at the Forbes prospect takes the form of disseminated to net-textured pyrrhotite &#8211; chalcopyrite &#8211; pentlandite (to 30% by vol.) hosted in weakly chlorite &#8211; calcite altered gabbro &#8211; norite with a color index of about 50. The extent of mineralization at Emerick appears to be limited due to structural complications however soil and glacial cover make determination of the potential size of the Forbes prospect impossible at present. A single soil sample collected from a 10 cm depth above the main outcrops of mineralization at Forbes returned 4,530 ppm Cu, 2,340 ppm Ni and 916 ppb Au suggesting soil sampling also may be useful in determining the extent of the Forbes prospect mineralization. Airborne and ground geophysical surveys completed by Falconbridge should help determine the subsurface extent of sulfide mineralization at Forbes. These geophysical data currently are being compiled by the State Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) for release as a public data file in the spring of 2003.

Samples collected at the Red Knob prospect contained the highest copper values of the survey, reaching 11.2% but contained no other anomalous elements. The host rocks at Red Knob are phyllic altered (quartz-sericite-pyrite) diorite to granodiorite which has been oxidized to a vermillion red iron-copper oxide. Weakly anomalous molybdenum (to 66 ppm) and zinc (20 0.6%) also were detected at the Red Knob prospect. Extensive areas of similar supergene oxidation were observed in the uplands comprising the ridge southeast of the Red Knob prospect and the uplands south of the Forbes prospect suggesting widespread copper mineralization may be present in previously unexplored areas. The geology and geochemistry of the Red Knob area suggest it is younger than the mineralization at Forbes and Emerick and may be related to other Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary gold &#8211; copper porphyry systems in the central Alaska Range.

Several samples collected at the Silver and Quarry zones exhibited anomalous copper and silver values but did not return significant nickel, gold, platinum or palladium values. Based on field observations, mineralization at the Silver and Quarry zones probably is related to that at the Red Knob area.

Table 2: Geochemical results from the Forbes Emerick prospect, 2002.

Data from Pacific Northwest Capital.

Sample # Prospect Au_ppb Pt_ppb Pd_ppb Ag_ppm Cu_ppm

Ni_ppm Pb_ppm Zn_ppm

462955 Emerick 52 465 780 1 2920 6710 4

86

462956 Emerick 6 10 22 -0.5 267 11600 4

90

462957 Emerick 136 570 2200 3.5 6920 52500 12

140

493745 Emerick 20 330 284 0.5 3600 54600 8

60

493746 Emerick 2 10 10 -0.5 147 1805 10

6

493747 Emerick 128 280 220 -0.5 2510 4070 2

186

493748 Emerick 340 1050 1140 3.5 5890 12600 18

80

462958 Forbes -2 -5 12 -0.5 226 350 12

8

462959 Forbes 36 400 668 2.5 31900 31700 8

44

462960 Forbes-Soil 22 296 620 5 4530 2340

12 76

493587 Forbes 60 430 628 2.5 12100 23800 10

66

493588 Forbes 2920 510 728 8 31100 44900 10

108

493589 Forbes 560 1080 1000 3.5 18700 31900 10

108

493590 Forbes 4 80 164 2 2100 11300 6

104

493749 Forbes 144 360 992 5 22600 54300 10

116

493750 Forbes 20 360 420 2 12400 21400 10

56

462951 Quarry 4 -5 2 2.5 3770 8 26

436

462952 Quarry 18 -5 4 4.5 4590 10 44

90

493737 Quarry 34 -5 6 2 207 29 14

118

493738 Quarry 36 -5 4 2 706 30 80

282

493739 Quarry 8 -5 2 0.5 41 20 12

28

462953 Red Knob 66 -5 -2 23 25600 6

10 1285

462954 Red Knob 40 -10 4 31 112000 5

2 72

493740 Red Knob 70 -5 -2 18.5 25700 16

44 388

493741 Red Knob 50 -5 2 5.5 794 19

32 168

493742 Red Knob 62 -5 2 43 25700 13

62 336

493743 Red Knob 24 -5 2 2.5 127 10

40 116

493744 Red Knob 42 -5 2 20 41200 17

22 140

462961 Silver Zone 2 -5 2 33 129 68

1604 6010

468910 Silver Zone 2 -5 2 9 56 64

522 2380

493591 Silver Zone 22 -5 4 51 119 65

722 1705

493592 Silver Zone -2 -5 2 -0.5 82 66

22 120

493593 Silver Zone 2 -5 2 165.6 71 35

678 4230

493594 Silver Zone 2 -5 2 24 104 39

424 1470

Ore Deposit Model: The Forbes Emerick prospect is situated in a broad belt of sillform mafic to ultramafic rocks of the Wrangellia Terrane extending from western Yukon Territory through the central Alaska Range. These large sillform bodies have been the subject of recent exploration to the southwest at the Nikolai and Tangle Lakes projects and are similar in many respects to the past producing Wellgreen property in the western Yukon Territory. It is likely that the Forbes discovery outcrop is part of a much larger ultramafic body located less than a kilometer to the southeast on claims controlled by FNX Mining under lease to Nevada Star Resources. Work conducted on this block on the Canwell prospect in 2002 returned surface rock sample values ranging up to 13.68% Ni, 2.90% Cu and 0.993 gpt Pt+Pd+Au (http://www.nevadastar.com/index1.htm). Work conducted by

Hulbert (1995) in the western Yukon suggests these mafic &#8211; ultramafic intrusive complexes have potential to host Noril&#8217;sk type Cu-Ni-PGE mineralization.

Copper ±molybdenum±silver mineralization at the Red Knob prospect suggests it is similar to that seen at other Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary copper-gold porphyry systems such as the Golden Zone and Slana prospects. The potential for larger bulk tonnage copper mineralization exists in the uplands east of the Red Knob prospect and south of the Forbes prospect.

CONCLUSIONS

The Forbes Emerick prospect contains economically significant Cu-Ni-PGE-Au mineralization and Cu±Mo±Ag mineralization. The property has good access and infrastructure and is located on stable State of Alaska lands. Recent work on the property has resulted in several new massive sulfide discoveries, none of which have been drilled.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the fieldwork conducted in 2002, the following recommendations are warranted:

1. Open acquisition discussions with the owners of the Forbes Emerick prospect. The owner has expressed interest in receiving a combination of stock and cash and appears flexible to a wide variety of acquisition options.

2. Acquire the airborne EM and ground EM and magnetics data from Falconbridge (apparently these data were not transmitted to the property owner). Remodel these data to determine if the Forbes prospect is contiguous to the southeast with the Canwell prospect.

3. Complete soil sampling on a 100 meter grid over the Forbes prospect. Use of a power auger is recommended to insure that samples are collected on bedrock below a variable thickness of glacial drift.

4. Conduct reconnaissance mapping and geochemical sampling on the southwest trending ridgelines located southeast of the Red Knob prospect and south of the Forbes prospect.

5. Conduct reverse circulation drilling of the Red Knob prospect from the access road that cuts through the property. Drilling can be conducted with a wheel-mounted rig from the flat glacial plain surrounding the prospect on the north, west and south.

6. Conduct diamond core drilling of the Forbes prospect after remodeling of the geophysical data and after completion of prospect scale geologic mapping and soil sampling. Initial drilling should be conducted with a helicopter-supported drill rig. If encouraging results are obtained, upgrading of the existing road and ATV trail to the prospect could be completed to facilitate access via wheel or track-mounted core rigs.

7. In the event preliminary drill results are encouraging, consideration should be given to acquisition of the Canwell prospect from Nevada Star Resources.

8. Consideration also should be given to acquisition of a much larger land block, the Fish Lake block, located about 12 miles southwest of the Forbes Emerick prospects and owned by FNX Mining. Past drilling and surface work suggests the Fish Lake complex has significant potential to host Noril&#8217;sk type Cu-Ni-PGE mineralization.

RAINBOW MOUNTAIN

The Rainbow Mountain deposit (location A, fig. 2) consists of a mineralized gabbronorite dike that crops out on an east-facing terrace slope approximately 1 mile east of Milepost 214 on the Richardson Highway (fig. 2).

Access to the site is possible by automobile via an unimproved trail, locally known as the Red Rock Canyon trail, which departs the Richardson Highway near Milepost 213.

The dike occurs on inactive mining claims known as the Emerick Prospect after the original locator in the late 1950's who explored nearby massive copper-nickel sulfidelenses.

Although the dike is visibly mineralized, it appears to have been largely ignored during the original prospecting. Local terrain is glaciated and has vertical relief of about 2,000 ft. Lower slopes are mantled by glacial till.

The dike has intruded an ultramafic body (fig. 4) which consists of highly serpentinized fine-grained pyroxenite and peridotite. The ultramafic is exposed for about 0.5 mile along the face of a glacial escarpment. Petrographic examination of samples from the ultramafic rocks revealed antigorite with chlorite, actinolite, and accessory clinopyroxenes, magnetite, chromite, asbestos, and calcite. Amphibolite segregations are common, as are crosscutting serpentinite magnetite veinlets. Local geology of the Rainbow Mountain area has been described further by Hansen (4) and Rose (5).

The dike is 13.2 ft wide and strikes west-northwest with a steep northerly dip (fig. 4). The presence of slickenside and mylonite on the wall rock indicates the dike has been emplaced along a fault zone. Observations are tenuous since outcrop is limited to less than 20 ft in either the vertical or horizontal dimension of the dike.

Sulfide copper-nickel-cobalt mineralization with PGM and gold values is disseminated throughout the gabbronorite dike. Thin-section examination showed hypersthene with lesser clinopyroxenes, olivine, and biotite (partially altered to chlorite) to be present in the dike. Feldspars are altered to sericite and clay. From examination of hand samples and polished sections, it was estimated that the dike contained 10 to 15 pct sulfide. In order of abundance the sulfide minerals are pyrrhotite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, pentiandite, and trace bornite. Trace amounts of magnetite are also present.

A 200-lb bulk channel sample for metallurgical testing by the Bureau was also collected across the dike in 1981. Head analyses for precious metals were 0.01 tr oz/ton Pd, 0.031 tr oz/ton Pt, 0.002 tr oz/ton Ir, 0.009 tr oz/ton Rh, 0.148 tr oz/ton Ag, and 0.007 tr oz/ton Au. Additionally, this sample contained 0.25 pct Co, 0.8 pct Cu, and 1.17 pct Ni. Another nearby channel sample contained 0.92 pct Cu and 1.44 pct Ni with 0.032 tr oz/ton Pt, 0.03 tr oz/ton Pd, and 0.01 tr oz/ton Au.

EMERICK PROSPECT

The serpentinized intrusive body, which contains the gabbronorite dike previously discussed, is also host to nearby segregations of massive iron-nickel-copper sulfide (location B, fig. 2). During prospecting and trenching in the 1960's, at least nine lenses and numerous smaller wisps and segregations of massive sulfide were exposed along the base of the glacial escarpment. At the time of this investigation in 1983 only one lens remained exposed.

The sulfide lenses7 are associated with northwest-trending shear zones that generally have a steep northeast dip.

Lenses range in thickness from several inches to 2.5 ft and typically have a 10:1 length-to-width ratio. Several limonitic, gossan zones, up to 6 ft across, suggest wider zones may have existed prior to surficial oxidation. The lens sampled for this study was about 6 in wide at its midpoint.

Petrographic examination of polished sections from the lenses identified pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and minor magnetite and pyrite. The pentlandite occurs as compact, rounded to rectangular, subhedral grains and fine lamellae embedded in other sulfide (primarily pyrrhotite) and silicate minerals. Pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite are anhedral. Sulfides compose approximately 50 pct or more of the rock and contain interstitial phenocrysts of fine- to mediumgrained clinopyroxene. Gypsum, limonite, goethite, malachite, and nickel bloom are common coatings on weathering surfaces.

Head analyses of a 50-lb metallurgical sample collected in 1981 from a nearby 2.5-ft-wide lens were 6.87 pct Ni, 0.72 pct Cu, and 0. 2 pct Co. Precious metal content of this sample was 0.018 tr oz/ ton Pt, 0.01 tr oz/ton Pd, 0.09 tr oz/ton Ir, 0.02 tr oz/ton Os, 0.018 tr oz/ton Rh, 0.066 tr oz/ton Ru, 0.001 tr oz/ton Au. and <O.l tr oz/ton Ag. The average value of similar analyses of grab samples of three other sulfide lenses were 5.23 pct Ni and 1.41 pct Cu, with 0.018 tr oz/' ton Pt, 0.040 tr oz/ton Pd, and 0.003 tr oz/ton Au. None of these lenses were exposed in 1983.

7 Description of the lenses is based on previous examination by the author in 1971;

unpublished notes by B. Thomas, Alaska Field operations Center, Bureau of mines,

Fairbanks, AK, in 1961-1963; and an unpublished report by R. Saunders ' Alaska Division of Mines and Minerals, 1961.

Rainbow Mountain

Samples from A & B areas

Contact: Miner's Manual

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