Location

The Whistler Project is located in the Alaska Range approximately 150 miles (170km) northwest of Anchorage. The centre of the property is located at 152.57 degrees longitude west and 61.98 degrees latitude north.

The Whistler property comprises 304 State of Alaska mining claims covering an aggregate area of approximately 53,700 acres (217km2) in the Yentna Mining District of Alaska. The claims are  owned 100% by U.S. GoldMining.

An all-season camp facility exists near the confluence of Portage Creek and the Skwentna River, and adjacent to the Whisky Bravo 1,000-meter-long gravel airstrip.

West Susitna Access Road

Exploration and mining in the Alaska Range is receiving strong local support at the community, regulator, and state political level. The Alaska State Government has initiated a ‘Roads to Resources’ program to design, permit and build the West Susitna Road which will link the Whistler Project with road, rail, power, and port infrastructure in south central Alaska.

From Anchorage, Whistler is located 105 miles northwest across the Yentna – Susitna River Valley, a broad alluvial plain.  A road to access this area is a relatively simple matter in terms of engineering and with the State leading this work, ultimately the Company expects an efficient permitting process and a shared capital cost of the road construction with the State and other potential proponents operating in the district.

AIDEA’s brief is to study, optimize and build infrastructure projects that will deliver growth to the Alaskan economy.  AIDEA (Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority) has completed three major studies on the West Susitna Access Road since 2014, to assess route alternatives, cost and benefits, environmental and cultural impacts, and the benefits to the Alaskan economy of building a road that will provide access to various natural resources and also open up recreational access to the public.

In 2021, $8.5M was budgeted for AIDEA to undertake preliminary design, environmental baseline, and stakeholder consultation. On July 27, 2023, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (“DOT&PF”) announced plans to include the first 15 miles of the WSAR, including a major bridge over the Susitna River, within its draft ‘2024-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program’, with funding set aside for construction to begin in 2025, pending permitting. Subsequent to the DOT&PF announcement, on July 28, 2023, AIDEA announced that it will continue working on a separate and additional portion of the WSAR, extending beyond the proposed DOT&PF road build to establish an industrial access corridor to several exploration and development projects in the West Susitna Mining District, including the Company’s Whistler project. 

A key advantage which the West Susitna Road will provide to the Whistler Project, is the already constructed but underutilized port facility at Port Mackenzie which lies at the eastern terminus of the proposed road.

Via press release on March 21, 2023, Governor Mike Dunleavy said, “The West Susitna Road is important for local residents and gaining fair access to hunting, fishing, and potential jobs. My Administration is constantly looking at ways to grow our economy and this project is a great opportunity for not only south-central Alaska but the entire state. I am committed to this project and unlocking resources that benefit all Alaskans.”

Geology and Mineralization

Alaska consists of a collage of various geologic terranes that were accreted to the western margin of North America as a result of complex plate tectonics throughout the Phanerozoic (from 540 million years ago to present day).

The Alaska Range represents a long-lived continental volcanic arc characterized by multiple magmatic events ranging in age from about 76 million years ago ("Ma") to present day, and hosts a wide range of base and precious metal mineralization.

The geology of the Whistler Project is characterized by a thick succession of Jurassic to Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, upon which late Cretaceous through to early Tertiary (ca. 76 to 64 Ma) volcanic rocks were deposited. These rocks are in turn intruded by a diverse suite of plutonic rocks of late Cretaceous to mid-Tertiary age.

Two main intrusive suites are important in the Whistler Project area:

1. The Whistler Igneous Suite comprises alkali-calcic basalt-andesite, diorite and monzonite porphyry intrusive rocks dated to approximately 76Ma, with minor extrusive correlative volcanic equivalent rocks. The porphyry intrusions are commonly associated with gold-copper porphyry-style mineralization (e.g. Whistler Deposit).
2. The Composite Suite intrusions vary in composition from peridotite to granite and their ages span from 67 to about 64Ma. Gold-copper veinlets and pegmatitic occurrences are characteristics of the Composite plutons (e.g. Estelle deposit (Nova Minerals) and the Muddy Creek prospect).

Early exploration work completed by Cominco, Kennecott, Geoinformatics and Kiska has discovered several gold-copper porphyry -style sulphide occurrences. The Whistler property contains numerous geophysical and geochemical anomalies suggesting that the project area is highly prospective for magmatic hydrothermal mineralization including potential for additional porphyry gold-copper deposits.

Current Activities:

• Historic drilling completed: 257 holes (70,247 m)
• Established resource includes gold (1.94 Moz gold Indicated & 4.7 Moz gold Inferred) and copper (422 Mlbs copper indicated & 711.4 Mlbs inferred)  See^TS1  Resource Statement
• Drilling recommenced in 2023 for the first time since 2011, comprising 4 holes for 2,232 meters.
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• Geologic interpretation at deposit scale and mineral system scale is ongoing
• Geophysical modelling and interpretation
• Continued exploration drilling summer2024 field season

2023 Program Summary

Four drill holes were completed for a total of 2,234 meters at the Project from mid-August to mid-November, 20524. Highlight intercepts are as follows:

• WH23-03 intersected 599.74 meters at 0.99 g/t AuEq from surface (0.41 meters depth) and included 547.15 meters at 1.06 g/t AuEq, comprised of 0.77 g/t gold (Au), 0.17% copper (Cu) and 1.55 g/t silver (Ag), from 53.00 meters depth to end of hole at 600.15 meters.
  • Including a higher-grade intercept of 176.00 meters at 1.55 g/t AuEq from 131.00 meters depth.
  • WH23-03 infilled an area of previously sparse drilling, with corresponding lower confidence resource classification, on the southern margin of the Deposit’s ‘high-grade core’. Assay results confirm the continuity of mineralization extending from near surface throughout the length of the drill hole. The lower half of WH23-03 infilled an area of the Deposit currently classified as inferred in the Whistler mineral resource estimate, which may be upgraded in future iterations of the resource model.
  • Mineralization intersected in WH23-03 remains open at depth, including a high-grade interval of 25.15 meters at 1.12 g/t from 575.00 meters to end of hole. 
  • The Company intends to deepen the hole to explore the depth extents of the Whistler mineral system in 2024. 
• WH23-01 intersected 241.05 meters at 0.60 g/t AuEq, comprised of 0.33 g/t Au, 0.16% Cu and 1.86 g/t Ag, from surface (1.95 meters depth).
  • Including an upper high-grade intercept of 8.00 meters at 1.26 g/t AuEq from 29.00 meters depth.
  • An intercept of 118.00 meters at 0.74 g/t AuEq from 77.00 meters, which includes several higher-grade zones:
  • 31.0 meters at 1.00 g/t AuEq from 77.00 meters
  • 19.23 meters at 1.06 g/t AuEq from 137.77 meters
  • 8.00 meters at 1.16 g/t AuEq from 231.00 meters
  • WH23-01 confirmed that mineralization extends to surface on the south side of the Whistler Ridge, a steep slope that presents challenges for building drill platforms and which was subsequently under-drilled in the past.  
• WH23-02 intersected 142.34 meters at 0.51 g/t AuEq, comprised of 0.17 g/t Au, 0.21% Cu and 1.05 g/t Ag, from 305.00 meters depth.
  • Including a higher-grade zone of 22.00 meters at 1.10 g/t AuEq from 401.00 meters depth.
  • WH23-02 successfully expanded the Whistler Deposit approximately 100 meters to the south of previously drilled mineralization in the southwest sector of the Deposit. Mineralization remains open to surface, to depth and south along strike. Follow-up drilling in 2024 will aim to extend the resource to surface and test for additional expansion southwards and to depth.
• WH23-04 tested the Rainmaker South target, a target external to existing mineral resources and located approximately one kilometer southeast of the Whistler Deposit. Core logging indicates the drill hole intersected a porphyry intrusive stock, confirming and validating the geophysical modeling used to target potential new porphyry stocks. Assays are currently pending; however, visual core logging indicates a lack of veining and alteration which are normally indicative of a productive porphyry intrusion.

Resource Statement

GoldMining Inc. Equity Interest: 81%

Notes to Table 1-1:

1. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources will be converted into mineral reserves.

2. Resources are reported using the 2014 CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining,) Definition Standards and were estimated using the 2019 CIM Best Practices Guidelines.

3. The Mineral Resource for Whistler deposit and the upper portions of the Raintree West deposits have been confined by an open pit with “reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction” using the following assumptions:

• Metal prices of US$1,600/oz Au, US$3.25/lb Cu and US$21/oz Ag;
• Payable metal of 99% payable Au, 90% payable Ag and 1% deduction for Cu;
• Offsite costs (refining, transport and insurance) of US$136/wmt proportionally distributed between Au, Ag and Cu;
• Royalty of 3% NSR;
• Pit slopes are 50 degrees;
• Mining cost of US$1.80/t for waste and US$2.00/t for mineralized material; and
• Processing, general, and administrative costs of US$10.50/t.

4. The lower portion of the Raintree West deposit has been constrained by a mineable shape with “reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction” using a US$25.00/t cut-off.

5. Metallurgical recoveries are: 70% for Au, 83% for Cu, and 65% Ag for Ag grades below 10g/t. The Ag recovery is 0% for values above 10g/t for all deposits.

6. The NSR (Net Smelter Return) equations are: below 10g/t Ag: NSR (US$/t)=(100%-3%)*((Au*70%*US$49.273g/t) + (Cu*83%*US$2.966*2204.62 +Ag*65%*US$0.574)), and above 10g/t Ag: NSR (US$/t)=(100%-3%)*((Au*70%*US$49.256g/t) + (Cu*83%*US$2.965*2204.62)) ;

7. The Au Equivalent equations are: below 10g/t Ag: AuEq=Au + Cu*1.5733 +0.0108Ag, and above 10g/t Ag: AuEq=Au + Cu*1.5733

8. The specific gravity for each deposit and domain ranges from 2.76 to 2.91 for Island Mountain, 2.60 to 2.72 for Whistler with an average value of 2.80 for Raintree West.

9. Numbers may not add due to rounding.

*See U.S. GoldMining Inc. Technical Reports titled:
“S-K 1300 Technical Report Summary Initial Assessments for the Whistler Project” with an effective date September 22, 2022, as filed under the Company’s profile at www.sec.gov; and
“NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate for the Whistler Project” with an effective date of September 22, 2022, as filed on www.sedar.com.

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