GOLD – Freegold Ventures Ltd. Sept. 12 reported final assay results from the 2013 summer drill program at its Golden Summit project some 20 road miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. Three holes (1,666.8 meters) were drilled in the Dolphin deposit area during the 2013 summer program. Hole GSDL 1311, previously reported, cut 180 meters grading 1.13 grams per metric ton gold and averaged 0.82 g/t gold over the entire 585.5 meters. Holes GSDL 1312 and 1313, aimed at testing the deposit to the north where limited drilling has been done and multi-ounce gold bearing veins crop out at surface, intersected several significant higher-grade intervals with several of the intervals containing coarse visible gold. GSDL 1312 cut 552.6 meters averaging 0.68 g/t gold, including 27.13 meters averaging 3 g/t gold and 66.14 meters averaging 1.76 g/t gold. GSDL 1313 cut 520.14 meters averaging 0.68 g/t gold, including 21.79 meters averaging 1.15 g/t gold and 26.82 meters averaging 1.39 g/t gold. Freegold said additional drilling to the north is warranted to expand upon these higher-grade intercepts. The Dolphin-Cleary area is the only area of the Golden Summit project that has been intensively drilled for resource definition and it remains open to expansion in all directions laterally and to depth. Recent drilling has demonstrated the presence of higher-grade zones both within the Dolphin intrusive and in the adjacent country rock. Equally encouraging is both holes GSDL 13-12 and 13-13 clearly demonstrate that these high grade intervals extend to depths in excess of 450 meters below surface. Additional drilling will be necessary to further evaluate these significant results. Freegold has a comprehensive metallurgical program underway and the results will be incorporated into a preliminary economic assessment on the Dolphin-Cleary area.

TECHNICAL REPORT – NovaCopper Inc. Sept. 12 filed an NI 43-101 technical report titled “Preliminary Economic Assessment Report on the Arctic Project, Ambler Mining District Northwest Alaska.” The PEA, prepared by Tetra Tech, describes the potential technical and economic viability of establishing a conventional open-pit mine-and-mill complex for the Arctic copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold project. The base case scenario utilizes long-term metal prices of US$2.90 per pound for copper, US85 cents/lb for zinc, US90 cents/lb for lead, US$22.70 per ounce for silver and US$1,300/oz for gold. Highlights of the PEA include: Initial capital expenditure of $717.7 million, sustaining capital of $164.4 over the estimated 12-year mine life, and closure and reclamation costs of approximately $81.6 million; after-tax net present value (8.0 percent discount) of US$537.2 million and an internal rate of return of 17.9 percent for the base case; after-tax payback of initial capital is 5 years; minimum 12-year mine life supporting a maximum 10,000-metric-ton-per-day conventional grinding mill-and-flotation circuit to produce copper, zinc and lead concentrates containing significant gold and silver by-products; life of mine strip ratio of 8.39 to 1; average annual payable production projected to be 125 million pounds of copper, 152 million pounds of zinc, 24 million pounds of lead, 29,000 ounces of gold and 2.5 million ounces of silver for life of mine; estimated cash costs of US62 cents/lb of payable copper (C1 cash costs include on-site mining and processing costs, road tolls, transport, royalties and is net of by-product credits); total “all-in” cash costs (initial/sustaining capital, operating, transportation, treatment and refining charges, road toll, and by-product metal credits) estimated at US$1.26/lb of payable copper. “With the Report for Arctic open-pit now filed, our current priority is to focus on the areas with maximum potential for improvement in the economics of the project,” said NovaCopper President and CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. “Specifically, we will be assessing the viability of using liquefied natural gas in place of diesel as a source of power generation at Arctic. A recently released feasibility study, prepared by the Alaska Industrial Development Export Authority, suggested that the use of LNG should lead to substantial power cost reductions. Under that scenario, a standalone liquefaction plant would be constructed on the North Slope of Alaska from where LNG would be trucked to Fairbanks and other interior markets of the state. We will also be evaluating ways of enhancing the economics of the project by employing a larger mining fleet in the initial years of operation and/or stockpiling lower-grade material. Although the filed PEA demonstrates a solid return on investment, I believe there are a lot of opportunities to further improve the economics of the project.”

RESIGNATION – Dan Sullivan Sept. 11 informed Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell of his intention to resign as Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, effective Sept. 24. Sullivan served as Alaska’s attorney general from June 2009 until December 2010 when he transitioned to the office of DNR commissioner. “As attorney general, Dan played a major role in the Choose Respect initiative and fought hard against federal overreach. During his tenure as commissioner, Dan led the state’s efforts in resource development and permitting reform, and worked to resolve Pt. Thomson litigation - setting the stage for a natural gas pipeline,” Gov. Parnell said. DNR currently has two deputy commissioners, Joe Balash and Ed Fogels. Balash oversees the divisions of Oil and Gas and Geological and Geophysical Surveys. Fogels is responsible for overseeing five divisions – Agriculture, Forestry, Mining, Land & Water, Parks and Outdoor Recreation and Support Services – as well as the Office of Project Management and Permitting.

DELISTING REVIEW – Pure Nickel Inc. Sept. 9 provided additional information on a bulletin stating the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) has determined to delist the common shares of Pure Nickel (NIC) at the close of market on Oct. 9 for failure to meet the continued listing requirements. Pure Nickel’s market capital fell below the C$3-million-threshold for mining companies listed on the TSX, which triggered a delisting review by the TSX in May. The company was granted 120 days to comply. To that end, given the resource market has not recovered over the summer months, Pure Nickel’s market cap remains below the threshold. Pure Nickel currently meets all of the listing criteria save for the market capitalization requirement. The has granted Pure Nickel has been granted conditional approval to list on the TSX Venture Exchange and the company anticipates transitioning to that exchange in early October with no disruption in the trading of NIC. Pure Nickel has C$2.4 million in working capital and active exploration projects in Alaska and Manitoba.

GOLD – International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. Sept. 9 reported that it has filed an NI 43-10 technical report regarding a feasibility study to develop its Livengood gold project about 70 miles (115 kilometers) northwest of Fairbanks. This technical report, “Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Livengood Gold Project, Feasibility Study, Livengood, Alaska,” has been filed under International Tower Hill Mines profile at www.sedar.com and is also available at www.ithmines.com.

MANAGEMENT – Coeur Mining Inc. Sept. 9 reported that Hans Rasmussen has joined the company as vice president of exploration, assuming the senior exploration role held by Don Birak since 2004. “Hans brings extensive experience as a geologist, geophysicist, exploration manager and company executive. He has a proven record working with teams on major discoveries in locations including Penasquito, Mexico; Whistler, Alaska; and Lindero, Argentina,” said Mitchell J. Krebs, Coeur’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “I’d like to thank Don Birak for his years of service and contributions to Coeur as Senior Vice President of Exploration.” Most recently, Rasmussen served as president and chief executive officer of Colombia Crest Gold Corp., a public company with gold exploration in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Rasmussen started his career working for major mining companies including Newmont Exploration as a geophysicist searching for sediment hosted gold deposits in the Great Basin, and the Kennecott/Rio Tinto group where he was geophysicist and exploration manager for North American projects, and later country manager of Argentina and Bolivia. He has also served as a consultant for senior producers such as Teck-Cominco and Quadra Mining, and on the Board of Directors of junior exploration companies including White Knight Resources, Mansfield Minerals, Pachamama Resources, Bonterra Resources, Samaranta Mining, Golden Phoenix Minerals and Corazon Gold. Rasmussen has a Master of Science in geophysics from the University of Utah, and Bachelor of Science degrees in geology and physics from Southern Oregon University.