A geological-exploration company based in Wrangell will be taking surface samples on Zarembo Island for the next year. Zarembo Minerals has been exploring the northwest portion of the island for the past 10 years.
Owner, Mark Robinson, said the samples taken from several claims near St. John and Frenchie creeks have shown the area to be geologically similar to the Greens Creek mine near Juneau.
“We’ve been finding zinc, led and gold with minor silver,” said Robinson.
So far, Robinson said it’s been unsuccessful in locating a large enough deposit.
“It’s a tough thing to do, to start from scratch, build a model and try to evaluate that model,” he said. “We’ve been fairly successful. The problem is we’ve found grade, but we’re having a tough time finding tonnage.”
No drilling will take place this year. Robinson says it’s too expensive, and Zarembo is searching for a partner to fund future drilling operations. This year’s exploration will take surface samples, primarily from Frenchie Creek and surrounding surface rock deposits.
Robinson said Zarembo has 54 mining claims on the island.
