"I can't fathom why Briscoe would sell the land if the hole was something that would have shown value"
Maybe this is why--NR135-
"Twelve target areas have been defined by ZTEM, airborne magnetics, geology and geochemistry in the Big Chunk S Block. Some 81 potential drill sites targeting various anomalies or types of anomalies have been chosen. Not all of these can be drilled during this phase, but alternative sites give the Company freedom to move to the next best site."
or-
Liberty Star Finds Copper, Zinc, Moly, Lead, Silver in Big Chunk Alaska Core Hole #1003....
and as Gem asked, "where is this hole located?"-
A porphyry copper-like target about 6 km (3.6 miles) north, about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) in diameter at a depth slice of 500 meters has ZTEM characteristics similar to but much more pronounced than hole 1003