Icy Cape Project

The Icy Cape Gold and Industrial Heavy Minerals Project

The Trust Land Office is currently conducting exploratory work on Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority land near Icy Cape, about 75 miles from Yakutat. The Icy Cape sands contain significant prospects of gold and industrial heavy minerals, such as garnet, rutile, zircon, magnetite, epidotes, and platinum group metals. Further exploration this summer will help determine the potential for development of this project.

Minerals extraction would generate revenue to fund Trust programs

In order to support vital services for Trust beneficiaries, the Trust needs to continue to generate revenue from its land and resources. Those revenues fund Trust programs that serve Alaska’s most vulnerable populations including people with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, traumatic brain injuries, and substance abuse disorders.

Icy Cape is located in a remote, hard-to-access region

Icy Cape is located on the coast of the Gulf of Alaska near Icy Bay, 75 miles northwest of Yakutat. There are no roads to the area but it is accessible by boat, barge, and plane. The area is closed to public access. There is no fishing, hunting or recreational activities allowed in the area. Since the area has seen timber harvest activity in the past, some infrastructure already exists, including logging roads and a 4,000-foot airstrip.

Preliminary results have been promising

The Trust Land Office (TLO) has conducted mineral exploration on the Icy Cape land block and has defined significant prospects for gold and industrial heavy minerals, as well as platinum group metals. In 2020, the TLO commissioned an independent review of the Project’s economics. Based on TLO’s encouraging exploration results, the independent review recommended that the TLO further develop the Project to define economic parameters and resources so that returns to the Trust can be maximized. The review also recommended further exploration and development work to advance at least one prospect to an indicated resources level.

Summer 2022

The first phase of resource definition drilling at the Grinder Prospect was conducted during June, July and August of 2022. During the three months of operation TLO had about 24 people in camp, including geologists, drillers, sample processing technicians, camp maintenance personnel, mechanics, and cooks. Besides the field crews, TLO also has leading industry consultants working on the Icy Cape Project.

Summer 2023

Building on the TLO’s field work in 2022, in 2023 the TLO will conduct the second phase of resource definition drilling at its Grinder Prospect.  The exploration team consists of placer gold and industrial heavy minerals experts. In addition, bulk sampling is planned for metallurgical and industrial processing engineering tests.