Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) reports on 3 August 2023 Alaska’s State Governor Mike Dunleavy along with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Ryan Anderson visited the company’s Estelle Gold Project in the West Susitna Mining District in Alaska, US.
The Governor and Commissioner’s visit comprised part of an overview tour of the mining district and the proposed West Susitna Access Road (WSAR), for which some significant advancements have been announced recently, and will potentially provide direct all year and all weather access to the Estelle project site.
The WSAR comprises a 100-mile-long transportation corridor across the West Susitna valley to the Alaska Range, which will connect existing road, power, rail and port infrastructure in the MatSu Valley with the West Susitna Mining District.
The proposed road has been the subject of several studies over the past decade which have indicated that a road would provide significant benefits to the local community and the State of Alaska including recreation, subsistence and other resource harvesting opportunities and enable access to a mining epicenter for gold, copper, and strategic minerals. The route of the current road design lies 100% on MatSu Borough owned or State of Alaska land.
Representative Kevin McCabe, District 30 and Chair of Alaska House Committee on Transportation says: “This access road will also open up Alaska land for exploration and mineral resource development; something Alaskans do better, safer, and with more respect for the ecosystem than anyone else.”
“This access road will also open up Alaska land for exploration and mineral resource development; something Alaskans do better, safer, and with more respect for the ecosystem than anyone else”
Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen says the visits have run in parallel with the company’s exploration and development activities in pursuit of bringing Estelle into commercial production.
“As a strong proponent of sustainable mining in Alaska we are also thankful for the policy under Governor Dunleavy’s administration of investing in critical infrastructure to stimulate growth in Alaska’s economy, including kicking off the all-weather, year round West Susitna Access Road which will provide access to the area west of the Susitna River for recreation, jobs and natural resource development to benefit all Alaskans.”
Nova Minerals’ vision is developing North America’s next major gold trend, Estelle, to become a ‘world-class’, tier-one, global gold producer. The flagship project contains multiple mining resources across a 35km long mineralised corridor of over 20 identified gold prospects, including 2 already defined multi-million ounce resources across 4 deposits containing a combined 9.9Moz Au.
The project is situated on the Estelle Gold Trend in Alaska’s prolific Tintina Gold Belt, a province which hosts a 220Moz documented gold endowment and some of the world’s largest gold mines and discoveries including Victoria Gold’s Eagle Mine and Kinross Gold Corporation’s Fort Knox Gold Mine.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Nova Minerals Ltd
