Rimfire eNews - Kiska Metals Corporation

eNEWS
FEBRUARY 2009
Letter from the President
LATEST
Rimfire Down Under
Everybody wants gold
Exploration partnerships in Australia
In October of 2006 Rimfire announced the acquisition of its first Australian
exploration licenses. Since then we have continued to add new, exciting
prospective Australian properties, as well as establishing effective in country
partnerships with companies like Northgate Minerals and Inmet Mining. In 2009
our exploration projects Down Under will be a major focus for the company and
we have high expectations for the proposed work programs.
I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the reasons we feel Australia
is a good jurisdiction for Rimfire to target, and why these properties are good
complements to our extensive North American portfolio.
Proven geology
Australia is currently the world's 4th largest producer of gold and coal, the 3rd
largest producer of iron ore and nickel and 2nd largest supplier of zinc and
uranium. There are more than 400 medium to large mines in Australia, and
these include mines in world-class deposits of most major, and several minor
mineral commodities. A number of the world's large multinational mining
companies are based in Australia including BHP Billiton, Newcrest, and Rio
Tinto.
Prospective geology
Gold discoveries in the Lachlan Fold Belt and Victoria Gold Fields of Australia
have been significant. Yet, there still remain vast areas of that have not been
adequately explored using modern techniques. In both regions Rimfire has
been able to define high quality targets. In the Lachlan Fold Belt, Rimfire relied
on advanced Neural Network data mining techniques to determine locations
with high probability of mineralization. In the Victoria Goldfields, our partner
Northgate Minerals offered an opportunity to explore key land packages in a
productive gold belt that we would not have had access to otherwise. The
geological models of known deposits are well understood, and identifying
characteristics can be revealed using a number of geophysical and
geochemical techniques.
Operational efficiency
Unlike some of our northern projects, our projects in Australia are not subject to
long winters with heavy snowfalls which allows us to work at full capacity year
round subject to harvesting season restrictions, a particularly important benefit
when our North American projects enter their slower winter phases. In addition,
these properties are easily accessible by road, dramatically reducing the
expenses of planning, mobilizing and executing work programs.
As the crash of '08 continues to
reverberate into 2009, one market and
one commodity remains at the top of the
"must have" list for most portfolio
managers and analysts. In the search
for financial "safe havens" there is one
definite winner; Gold.
Gold functions as a hedge against
currency fluctuations, a store of wealth
during inflationary times and as a bet
against a recessionary economy all of
which make it appealing in a bear market.
The challenge is determining the best
way to add gold exposure to a portfolio. Is
it through Bullion? ETFs? Shares in large
multi-mineral producers? Shares in
dedicated gold producers? Shares in
companies with undeveloped assets?
Ultimately, all of these investment
choices are a benefit to gold exploration
companies like Rimfire Minerals. At the
end of the day, the demand for gold
among institutions, commercial
producers and individual investors will
continue to drive the financing of
exploration for new gold deposits.
Rimfire Minerals joint-venture model
ensures that we can provide the gold
projects the majors will need and still
maintain our tight share structure - a
scenario that represents the best
possible combination for shareholders
when a discovery is made.
As for risk capital investors, they too will
start returning to the junior markets.
When they do, it is highly likely that the
first place they will go is to companies
which specialize in gold exploration.
Rimfire and its technical team have a
track record of success going back over
two decades, are known for their
experience with a variety of geological
models and operates with integrity.
Rimfire is extremely well positioned to
not only survive, but thrive in the months
and years ahead.
eNEWS
FEBRUARY 2009
Community and government support
Mining and mineral exploration have played a significant role in the
economic development of Australia. As a result, many areas of the
country are well disposed to exploration. Relationships between
explorers and land owners follow established and specific
guidelines that respect both parties. In addition, Australia is
arguably one of the world's most advanced nation in terms of the
extent and detail of its National and State geoscience databases.
We look forward to an exciting year of exploration in Australia, as
well as in our Canadian and US projects which now extend from
Nevada to Alaska. If you have any questions or comments we'd
love to hear from you.
Jason Weber, President & CEO
[email protected]
Australian property highlights
Stawell Gold Trend - Victoria Gold Fields
Partner - Northgate Mining
Rimfire will be exploring
three licences, totaling
120 km of the corridor
length, representing all
ground outside of a
buffer around the Stawell
Gold Mine (SGM). High
quality targets with
convincing similarities to
SGM exist in the land
package being made
available to Rimfire. In
addition to greenfields
opportunities, more
advanced targets exist
including the 10
kilometre-long Murtoa
target, which surrounds
the Kewell gold
resource.
Barmedman - Partner: Inmet Mining
Springfield - Partner: Jaguar Minerals
Rimfire had acquired
nine exploration licenses
totaling approximately
926 sq km within the
Lachlan Fold Belt. This
work has focused
Rimfire on two targets,
Barmedman and
Springfield. Inmet will
fund drilling at
Barmedman in 2009.
Rimfire is built to thrive in
both bear and bull markets.
1350-650 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6B 4N9
Tel: 604.669.6660
rimfire.bc.ca
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