Overview

Located in Washington State, the Great Excelsior Mines present drill indicated gold-silver resource is 493,298 equivalent ounces of gold.

The Great Excelsior Mine was a former gold-silver producer which was forced to close in 1918 due to falling metal prices and a shortage of supplies. Alto Cascade Resources, which is 51% owned by Alto Mines, recently located 30 lode mining claims covering the drilled resource.

This mining property has been explored by numerous mining companies over the years, including ASARCO, Silver Standard, Ltd., Quintana Resources, Inc., US Borax, Steelhead Resources, Inc, FMC Gold Corp., Stanford Metals, Ltd, and Arizuma Silver, Inc. In 1987 Steelhead Resources commissioned American Mine Services, Inc. (AMS), to calculate the global geologic reserves and stripping ratio for the deposit. This calculation was done using geostatistical methods and based on the assay results from 45 core holes drilled by US Borax, Corp. AMS concluded that the project could be mined using a 3:1 stripping ratio. The results of this study are presented in Table 1.

Based upon the results of the American Mine Services study, Steelhead initiated a drilling program, consisting of 50 reverse circulation drill holes. The data gathered from this drilling program increased the high-grade reserves. Steelhead investigated mining the high-grade ore but was not successful in raising the necessary capital. Steelhead subsequently entered into a joint venture with FMC Gold which did additional “wild cat” drilling.

Mark Hawksworth of FMC Gold Corporation (1989) estimated the untested exploration potential of the Excelsior to be +500,000 equivalent ounces of gold. The present drill indicated and potential gold - silver resource is +700,000 equivalent ounces of gold. His conclusion was based upon the evaluation of six areas (not included in the above table) within and adjacent to the claim group. Estimated tonnage for calculated and untested reserves are believed to be 7.1 million tons of 0.08 Aueq @ 60:1Au:Ag ratio or 0.10 Aueq @ 48:1 Au:Ag ratio.

In 2004 Excelsior Mining Corporation commissioned a preliminary feasibility study for a 250 tpd mine and mill, using $390/ounce for gold and $5.90 for silver.