Heliostar Metals Ltd. (HSTR:TSX.V; HSTXF:OTC; RGG1:FRA) is a junior explorer and developer with a portfolio of high-grade gold projects in Alaska and Mexico.
The company's flagship asset is the 100% controlled Unga Gold Project 900 km southwest of Anchorage, in Alaska. The project holds a 384,000 ounces NI43-101 compliant resource with an average grade of 10 g/t gold.
In Mexico, Heliostar owns 100% of three early-stage gold and silver epithermal projects in Sonora. The company is in the middle of a 5,000 meter drill program on Cumaro, following up high-grade gold hits on the surface.
Streetwise Reports recently spoke with Heliostar Chief Executive Officer Charles Funk about the company’s plans for these two projects separated by 6,000 kilometers.
“Alaska is our flagship project,” confirmed Funk. “We had a lot of success there last summer. And we believe it can be a multi-million-ounce deposit. But for the next couple of months, we're drilling in Mexico. And then we'll be back out in the summer to Alaska to push ahead where we had the success last year.”
On Jan. 12, Heliostar announced that the 5,000-meter core drilling program has restarted on the Cumaro Project in northern Sonora, Mexico.
Cumaro Project Is Initial Focus in 2022
- 5,000 meter Cumaro drilling program recommenced after the holiday.
- Four holes for a total of 428 meters completed in December 2021.
- Veining intersected at expected depths in each 2021 drill hole, with assays pending.
- Drilling expected to continue to April with first results anticipated in late February.
“We start the year in the fortunate position of having both an ongoing drill program on a new discovery in Mexico and a suite of high-grade gold hits across the district at our flagship Unga project in Alaska,” Funk said.
“Our initial focus in 2022 is the fully funded drill program at Cumaro, where we have hit veining as predicted in each of our completed drill holes,” he said. “The project enjoys great access, the extensions of veins, modern mining on the adjacent property, and close proximity to mills within the district."
The Cumaro project is a 5 square kilometer claim within the El Picacho District. It hosts the El Salto, Dos Amigos, and Basaitegui Vein corridors. In addition to those known systems, it holds the recently identified Verde and Palmita Vein Corridors.
The geological model indicates that a north-northeast trending fault (white broken line in figure above) has divided the Picacho-Cumaro district into western and eastern halves.
Despite the presence of historical mine workings in the western part of the Cumaro claim, the property has never been drill tested prior to the ongoing program.
Highlights at Verde Vein
The Verde Vein Corridor is over 1.3 kilometers long and comprises three veins which are consistently mineralized over 530 meters of strike and spread over 200 meters of width. The vein zones vary from 0.5 to 5 meters wide and have numerous medium to high grade surface channel samples. The veins returned values including:
- 12.6 g/t AuEq (10.3 g/t gold and 168 g/t silver) over 5.0 meters
- 13.1 g/t AuEq (11.5 g/t gold and 125 g/t silver) over 1.75 meters
- 9.57 g/t AuEq (8.35 g/t gold and 92 g/t silver) over 2.1 meters
- 5.49 g/t AuEq (4.68 g/t gold and 61 g/t silver) over 3.0 meters
- 13.6 g/t AuEq (11.9 g/t gold and 130 g/t silver over 1.65 meters
- 4.05 g/t AuEq (2.65 g/t gold and 105 g/t silver over 5.9 meters
- Twenty channel samples returned a grade multiplied by vein thickness greater than 5 g/t meters
Within the Verde Vein Corridor, the Verde and Orilla veins dip toward each other and intersect, forming a high potential drill target.
Select sub-samples from the green quartz at the Verde target return values up to 41.2 g/t gold and 364 g/t silver.
One historic tunnel descends 35 meters below surface on the Verde vein. It shows similar grades and widths to those on surface, thus providing confidence in the depth potential of the surface channel results.
On Nov. 9, Heliostar closed the second and final tranche of its financing, issuing a total of 5,734,072 shares for gross proceeds of $4,013,850.
“Closing the offering for $4 million puts Heliostar in a strong financial position,” Funk said. “The funds raised will go directly to the company’s field programs in Mexico and Alaska.”
An investment video production company called “Big Gain Hunters” did a deep dive on Heliostar’s Alaska project.
At minute 19:30 of the documentary, we meet local community relations expert Joy Huntington who is working with Heliostar.
Question: How important is community relations for a project like this?
Huntington: It's absolutely critical. A project can have all of the best features and even be determined to be economic. But if you've left the community behind, and you haven't brought them along the journey with you, then it's not going to be successful.
Question: What are the steps Heliostar has been taking to achieve that?
Huntington: Hiring someone to focus on community relationships, right out of the gate, like they're doing is a very important step. And not everybody does that.
Question: Is it unusual?
Huntington: Yes, definitely.
Question: Do you think communities like this can survive and maintain population without mines or businesses coming in? Can fishing do it alone?
Huntington: The fluctuation that we've seen in the fishing industry – the uncertainty – also the seasonality of it. … I think it’s important for people to have different options. And when you have people from the area that care the most about the environment, taking the jobs in like the environmental side of things … that's kind of a best-case scenario.”
“We’ve got a massive land passage in Alaska with high grades everywhere. And it's never been well explored in modern history,” Funk told Streetwise Reports. “It was Alaska's first underground gold mine. It's got a very high-grade resource, nearly 400,000 ounces at 13.8 grams per tonne. But we think it can be much bigger.
“Historically, there was an underground mine, that's the most likely scenario from our perspective, we look at our recent intercepts. The veins are wide, the grades are high, we've just got to find more of it to justify building a mine,” Funk said.
Funk said that Heliostar has proven up to 384,000 ounces on the Alaska project.
“If we get to 1 million ounces, that would be very profitable,” stated Funk, “We think the district can be bigger than that. But that's the hurdle that we're trying to get to.
“We've got nearly a half a dozen open economic gold intercepts across our project,” Funk said. “We need to come back and step out under those and expand them. And if we can get the same results in the step-out holes, then we just roll over into a resource drilling program.
“Having two exciting projects — one in Alaska, one in Mexico — makes it a slightly more difficult story to tell,” added Funk. “But high-grade gold is our focus and our brand.”
Disclosures:
1) Lukas Kane compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. He or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. He or members of his household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.
2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Heliostar Metals. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees.
3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.
5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the decision to publish an article until three business days after the publication of the article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Heliostar Metals, a company mentioned in this article.
