The Wallace Street Journal
By David Bond, Editor
The Silver Valley Mining Journal
Ain't No Chalk Lines Here
Wallace, Idaho – Those vultures who were drawing chalk lines around the supposed corpse of the Silver Valley just a few years ago had better atone right now, either by the utterance of Hail Marys, or by singing a dozen full renditions of "O, Canada."
Because 2006 was a year for the books in this venerable mining camp, it portends great things in 2007 for silver investors and silver junkies who know where the good stuff comes from.
Twenty-oh-six rang in with the liberation of the district's midsection by U.S. Silver Corp. from Coeur d'Alene Mines, and rang out with the acquisition by an upstart Canadian miner, Strategic Nevada Resouces, of the Crescent mine. In between, Canadians Aura Silver and Silverfields leased up chunks of ground on the western- and eastern-most flanks, respectively, of the camp.
Local miners New Jersey (NJMC) and Sterling (SRLM) advanced their goals – New Jersey by adding a leach circuit to produce dore at their mill instead of shipping concentrates all the way to Mexico; Sterling by poking more holes in the Sunshine mine's upper country, advancing the Sterling Tunnel, and by adding steadily to their work force, now over 30. Bunker Hill is thrumming along nicely, thanks for asking, and Hecla, well, that's a story in and of itself.
In researching the obligatory year-end thumb-sucker for the 1 January 2007 issue of Platt's Metals Week, one of the McGraw-Hill companies, we found CEOs and presidents of all stripes more hopeful than even (dare we say it?) 1979 or 1965. Here is Hecla's (HL) CEO, Phil Baker:
"In 2007, we are going to conduct the first generative exploration program on Hecla's 40 square miles of Silver Valley properties, looking for exploration targets, for the first time in perhaps 50 years. We're picking up all the data on the land that we have, and will be evaluating that data to decide if there's new mines to be discovered in our land package." (emphasis added)
"Why all of these developments are taking place now? Because for the last 20 years we've been in a price environment that prevented us from exploring. Now is the time for us to do the work and, hopefully, to make the investments. We are very much in a growth mode."
Hecla intends to upgrade its 1,100 tonnet/day mill at its flagship Lucky Friday silver mine on the Coeur d'Alene District's east end. The company will also improve the ventilation to permit mining below the Lucky Friday's current depths. "We now have a resource of 100-million oz of silver, and at the rate we're mining, it would take 25 years to produce it," said Baker. "The exploration programs we initiated in 2006 will continue through 2007 regardless of the silver price, although I doubt that price is going to go down much."
New mines? Can you say Star? Hercules? Dayrock? Tamarack? Forty square miles of land in the world's richest silver district? You betcha they're looking. And to meet Phil Baker is to immediately like him. And Baker actually likes this place. Imagine that. Hecla may not move its corporate headquarters back to Wallace any time soon, but trust us, their heart has returned. Gus Voltolini would be proud. For most of the 30 years we have been covering this district, Hecla has had one foot out of the door. But Hecla has just turned over its hole card, and guess what it says? Here's a hint: the first word on the card is Lucky.
We started the year with an upstart Wallace High School grad, John Ryan, who formed up U.S. Silver Corporation to acquire the Coeur, Caladay and Galena assets – three mines and two mills – from the formerly great Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. Acquiring Coeur's three Idaho properties made perfect sense for a guy able to raise more than $20 million: $15 million for the purchase from Coeur, and the balance to explore, develop and make infrastructure improvements.
Says Ryan, "The Silver Valley has been on its death bed many, many times, going back to the early days" and it managed to bounce back, said Ryan. "It's a good, old camp – and there's no shortage of ore." U.S. Silver is in the process of merging with Chryalis Capital (CYX.P-V) and will come out shortly with a new trading symbol.
Like Hecla, US Silver undertook an extensive geologic review of its land package around Galena, having first throttled production back from 600 st/day to 200 st/day and reducing its workforce by nearly 50percent.
The company is now ready to ramp production back up to 800 tonnes per day, utilising both the Coeur and Galena mills in 2007 for ore recovery – Galena for silver-copper tetrahedrite ores and the currently-idle Coeur mill for lead-silver sulfide material, according to Ryan. US Silver intends to spend $4 million to $5 million in 2007 on exploration and boost silver production.
"We're just marching right along on our business plan; we expect silver production to be about 3.2 million oz in 2007," Ryan said. "I feel confident we will be successful, and we're in the Silver Valley for the long haul.".
Sterling President Ray DeMotte said the company has had no difficulty attracting experienced hands back to the Sunshine. "We are bringing back to the Sunshine many bright people who left the Silver Valley during the price depression of the 1980s and 1990s, and they're glad to be coming home," DeMotte said. Sterling's complement of 30 will increase toward year-end 2007, as the silver mine, which produced more than 300 million ounces between 1884 and 2002, returns to production late in '07 or early in 2008. Sterling bootstrapped off the Pink Sheets earlier this year to become a fully reporting company – no mean feat for an outfit over 100 years old.
Canadian explorer Aura Silver (AUU.V) has high hopes for the venerable old Pine Creek mining district on Bunker Hill's west edge. Aura has scheduled exploration activities in the historic zinc mining district and think they'll find silver there. "What better strategy than to go into established camps not exposed to modern exploration and mining techniques?" says Aura CEO Paul Pitman. "I think the Coeur d'Alene District is going to be our company-builder. What can be done in a week with a helicopter would on foot have cost you a fortune, and years, a decade ago. Previously you looked for gold, silver or lead. Now there’s all sorts of pathfinder elements that can now measure minute quantities. It’s a combined regional play on the camp on the northern end of Bunker Hill," Pitman said. Watch these guys for news on Pine Creek
Not to be outdone, explorers Timberline (TBLC.OB) and Silverfields (SF.V) are poking around the Coeur d'Alene District's east end, in the shadow of the Lucky Friday's headframe. Interesting geology in that neck of the woods, where the Revett Fault leaves the Coeur d'Alenes and the Montana Copper-Sulfide belt kicks in.
And we ended the old year and ring in the new with the newest kid on the block: Strategic Nevada Resources (SNS.V) who on Tuesday, Jan. 2 will assume ownership of the Crescent Silver Mine smack dab between Bunker Hill and Sunshine. SNS has let no grass grow under their feet. Right after the mid-December court house auction (which broke a few hearts of mining companies who wanted Crescent but weren't in a position to make the lunge) Strategic Nevada President Neil Linder announced the hiring of long-time Coeur d'Alene District geologist Brian White and the appointments to SNS's board of long-time mining executive Tom Fudge, who managed both the Lucky Friday mine in northern Idaho and the La Camorra gold mine in Venezuela for Hecla, and Dr. Ishuing Wu, formerly U.S. Exploration Manager for Chevron Resources, Exxon Minerals, Kennecott Exploration, Great Wall Gold Corp., and General Minerals Corp.
Lastly, we would be remiss not to mention Silver Royal Apex, a new company founded by former Coeur d'Alene Mines CEO and mine-finder nonpareil Justin Rice, which is kicking rocks north of the Osburn Fault to find what may be a mirror-image of the rich Silver Belt on the south of the fault. There's a very good chance another billion or two ounces may be found in that unexplored territory.
So, silver fans, 2006 was indeed a year for the record books for the old Silver Valley and the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, now 120 years old and going strong. And long overdue. After all, how long can you trip over 20-ounce mill-heads in your dash to Bolivia or some other Bolshevik dictatorship? The silver is here, and so are the people with the will to mine it. Thus we enter 2007 with this prediction – nay, a promise: This great camp is gonna rock. 
![:]](https://goldseiten-forum.com/wcf/images/smilies/pleased.gif "Freude"){kind=small}
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