GSN Winnemucca Chapter Holiday Party & Silent Auction – Thursday, December 11, 2025

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Contact: ewitte@i80gold.com

Please join us for the

GSN Winnemucca Chapter Holiday Party & Silent Auction

Thursday, December 11, 2025

Where: The Martin Hotel, 94 W. Railroad St., Winnemucca, NV

Raffle + Silent Auction from 6-7 PM (*before* talk)

Time: Drinks @ 6 PM, Food @ 6:30 PM, Talk @ 7 PM

Sponsor: NEILSEN EXPLORATION

Speaker:  Kris Alvarez, Sundance Mining LLC

Talk: “The Dawson Mine, Hollis, Alaska: New Life in an Old District”

Abstract: Historic mining near Hollis, Alaska on Prince of Wales Island began in 1899. The Dawson Mine was profitably mined from 1930 until 1952 by Wendell Dawson. The property is located on Alaska Department of Natural Resource lands, and the permitting process took less than a year when the mine was acquired by the Sundance Group in 2014. The property flanks the Tongass National Forest, the island’s most important industry is tourism, and the mine itself is located above residential housing and upstream of creeks used for domestic water. The Sundance Company’s operational philosophy of small and sustainable has enabled it to operate in a very socially and environmentally sensitive location, and the mine has significant community support.

Mineralization is hosted in quartz veins within graywacke, banded siltstone and argillite with minor slate, limestone, and phyllite of the Descon Formation within the Alexander Terrane. Veins and stringers are 2-6’ thick striking 35E, dipping NW 28 degrees. Gold exists along pyrite-quartz contacts and along slate and phyllite contacts. Gold is associated with pyrite sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena. Higher grade mineralization is associated with graphitic schists and altered andesite dikes and sills.

Mining is modified block and pillar, and the processing circuit uses gravity only. 2025 brought significant enhancements to the Dawson Mine Project. Acquisition of contiguous strike length Crackerjack claim group expanded the existing mine life several decades at current mining rates. The ball mill was replaced by a rod mill, increasing production rates by 60%. A new ore control system is being implemented using lidar on handheld tablets to improve mapping.
Several research questions will be examined in the coming year, Supergene enrichment in the upper levels of the deposit is suspected, the age of the deposit is unknown and would be useful for large scale Alaskan exploration, and the controls on gold grade are poorly understood.

Bio: Kris Alvarez is a geologist with experience ranging from green fields gold exploration to gold production in Nevada, British Columbia, and Alaska. She graduated with a BS from Weber State University, joining the USGS mapping Mt. Baker. She received her MS from Western Washington University. She has worked at several underground and surface mines in Alaska and Nevada, recently returning to Alaska to work at the Dawson mine. She received a 2023 Nevada Women’s Fund Women of Achievement award, a 2024 NVMA individual safety award for her support of the Nevada Mine Rescue Alliance and is former president of the Winnemucca chapter of the Geological Society of Nevada.

We will be holding our raffle/silent auction on December 11 from 6 -7 PM before our December meeting talk. Donations for the silent auction are needed and will be much appreciated!

If you have any questions, contact ewitte@i80gold.com

Eli Witte, Winnemucca Chapter President