KSO Property
KSO Copper‑Gold VMS Project: Past‑Producing High‑Grade Mine with Untested Depth Potential
Overview
The KSO Project encompasses the historic Khayyam and Stumble-On deposits, representing one of Southeast Alaska’s earliest known copper-gold VMS mining districts. Discovered in 1899, 385 m of workings were developed at the Khayyam Mine between 1901 and 1907 by the Khayyam Copper Company, producing copper, gold, and silver from multiple massive sulfide lenses. It closed in 1907 due to poor copper prices and operational challenges.
The nearby Stumble-On Prospect, located 1.3 km east along strike, was discovered in 1901 and includes two underground workings totaling 155 m of development. No historical production figures exist for Stumble-On, but surface and underground sampling confirm high-grade Cu-Au-Ag-Zn mineralization consistent with Khayyam.
Ore from both deposits was transported to tidewater at MacKenzie Inlet using a combination of surface and aerial tramways; early evidence of the district’s logistical viability.
Subsequent evaluations include wartime investigations by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (1944–45), examination by Anaconda Copper (1946), and multiple assessments by companies such as Banner Mining, Cominco, Homestake, Duval, and Noranda from the 1970s through the 1990s. Banner drilled 14 holes in at Khayyam and 11 at Stumble-On in 1971, although results are unknown and no drill data are available. These remain the only known drillholes on the property.
Select historical chip samples include:
- 6.9 g/t Au, 30.9 g/t Ag, and 3.0% Cu over 3.4 m at Khayyam and
- 2.7 g/t Au, 10.3 g/t Ag, and 12.7% Cu over 2.3 m at Stumble-On.
Recent chip sampling by Alex Metals includes 3.7 g/t Au, 54.9 g/t Ag, 8.1% Cu, and 6.5% Zn over 2.2 m, confirming historical grades and robust Cu-Au-Ag-Zn endowment.
Despite a century of interest, and multiple airborne and ground geophysical surveys highlighting strong conductive responses, the KSO Project has never been systematically explored using modern geoscience or modern drilling. Alex Metals will be the first company in over 55 years to drill test the system with targeted, data-driven exploration programs.
A 2025 airborne SkyTEM electromagnetic (EM) and magnetic survey conducted Alex Metals clearly defines strong conductors over Khayyam and Stumble-On, indicating that massive sulphide may extend vertically and laterally to depth. The survey also identified a large, similarly conductive, previously unknown ‘Western’ EM anomaly underlying siliceous schists, which are known to be stratigraphically equivalent to mineralization at Khayyam. This survey provides new drill-ready targets, confirms known mineralization, and is a highly effective tool for VMS exploration in the Wales Group rocks.
Location
Southeast Alaska
Ownership
100%
Project Stage
Advanced Exploration — past-producing mine
Metals
Gold, copper, silver, and zinc
Property Size
5.7 km2
Target
High-grade Cu-Au VMS deposits hosted in deformed and metamorphosed Wales Group rocks.
