The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Western Copper and Gold inches toward startup at its giant Casino copper porphyry deposit as others advance earlier stage projects. While one would-be miner in Canada's Yukon Territory guides its giant copper project toward development, several juniors – ranging from newcomers to more established players – are picking up the pace in the search for other rich deposits of the red metal. Western Copper and Gold Corp. is marking its 16th year of working to develop its huge Cas...
Northern territory's highly prospective Thelon Basin attracts uranium-hungry investors, veteran explorers, and hopeful newcomers. As the transition to carbon-free and renewable energy gains momentum, worldwide demand for nuclear power is increasing and with it has come a surge in uranium mining. 2023 was a banner year for uranium, as it outperformed most commodities. This year could bring more of the same, according to analysts at Bank of America. Though uranium prices have...
Preliminary feasibility study envisions production of 2.5 million ounces of gold at Courageous Lake. Amid the recent surge of interest in mining lithium and rare earth elements, some companies exploring the Northwest Territories remain focused on gold. Seabridge Gold Inc., for example, is revisiting its long-held Courageous Lake Gold Project more than a decade after shelving an initial mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment of the venture in 2012....
Stratabound changes name to Lode Gold Resources Ltd.; plans to spinout Canadian gold assets and reports 2024 exploration strategy. In recent market buzz about the emerging gold district in southeastern Yukon, one junior says its promising assets have been largely overlooked by investors, resulting in its shares being significantly undervalued. Lode Gold Resources Ltd., known until January as Stratabound Mineral Resources Corp., says its name change signals ongoing growth and...
As Nunavut officials hail the Canadian government's recent decision to grant devolution to the country's newest territory, one junior explorer is planning to undertake a summer exploration program this year that highlights the extraordinary mineral prospectivity of the Far North jurisdiction. Toronto-based New Break Resources Ltd. recently reported encouraging assays from rock chip and grab samples recovered by an exploration team during a September visit to its Sundog gold...
Shifting its immediate focus to potentially more lucrative opportunities in the lithium mining sector, Rover Metals Corp. reported plans Dec. 11 to put its Cabin Lake gold project in Northwest Territories up for sale after nearly five years of exploration. The 400-hectare (988 acres) Cabin Lake project is located about 110 kilometers (69 miles) northwest of Yellowknife, the territory's capital, and 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the community of Behchokǫ̀. Rover M...
Raging wildfires and record hot temperatures challenged the well-laid plans of a score and more of mineral explorers in Canada's Yukon this year as the 2023 field season shifted into high summer. Most of the companies, however, managed to carry out their exploration for gold, silver, copper, and other minerals across the territory. The fierce and sometimes out-of-control blazes marked one of the worst wildfire seasons seen in Canada in nearly 30 years, consuming more than... Full story
Reading the tea leaves years ahead of many other investors, one junior is bringing its late-stage base and platinum group metals project in central Nunavut to the forefront of mineral exploration in northern Canada. Focusing on metals critical for clean-energy, electric vehicles, batteries, and high-tech industries, Canadian North Resources Inc. has quietly advanced the Ferguson Lake project for the past decade. The project covers nearly 254 square kilometers (98 square... Full story
Armed with new leadership and a plan to rapidly explore and develop its lithium prospects in Canada, Li-FT Power Ltd., set out in late 2022 on a bold quest to confirm historical prospects of lithium near the capital of Northwest Territories. While aggressive, the move was far from lacking precedent. Yellowknife, after all, has a history of delivering mineral riches, most notably upwards of 12 million ounces of gold from the legendary Con and Giant mines throughout much of the... Full story
With a summer marred by unprecedented wildfires behind them, companies exploring the mineral-rich Northwest Territories are reporting impressive results from their 2023 programs. Seeking new deposits of valuable minerals, ranging from ever-popular diamonds and precious metals to recently designated "critical minerals," such as lithium, rare earth elements and zinc, a score of explorers took to the field across the territory. "An exciting new chapter is emerging for mining in t... Full story
As 2023 raced toward its final weeks, mining explorers working in Canada's northernmost territory wrapped up ambitious campaigns to identify new deposits of various lucrative minerals, ranging from cobalt to copper and gold to uranium. Both mineral production and exploration spending in Nunavut decreased in 2022 compared with the previous year's totals, and another drop is expected for 2023. Natural Resources Canada earlier projected a 28% decrease in planned spending for... Full story
After establishing its position as a leading zinc-lead-silver explorer in northern Canada, Fireweed Metals Corp. set out in late 2022 to broaden its focus in both geography and commodities. Partly defying the age-old adage to stick to what you know, the longtime explorer of the district-scale Macmillan Pass zinc-lead-silver project ventured across the border into Northwest Territories to acquire two projects. While the Gayna River zinc-lead-silver-gallium-germanium project is...
After getting a conditional green light in 2022 from regulators to advance the proposed ABM Mine at its Kudz Ze Kayah property in Southeastern Yukon, BMC Minerals Ltd. has completed a favorable economic review of its plan for a hardrock operation and developed new exploration targets on the property. BMC Minerals wants to extract 1.8 million metric tons of zinc, 350,000 metric tons of lead and 600,000 metric tons of copper from the Kudz Ze Kayah deposits located within the...
Economists at the government of Nunavut are predicting major economic growth in Canada's northernmost territory next year, partly due to increased production and steady commodity prices in its mining sector. Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok told an audience at the Nunavut Trade Show Sept. 19 that the Nunavut economy is expected to grow by 13.6% in 2024, up from around 7% this year. "I'm happy to report Nunavut's economy is expected to expand strongly this year, at a rate of 7%...
Early this summer, Blue Star Gold Corp. launched an exploration program, hoping to identify favorable prospects and advance targets on its landholdings in western Nunavut to drill-ready status for a 2024 discovery program at its Ulu Gold Project. The company's Ulu, Hood River, and Roma properties cover more than 45 kilometers (28 miles) of the High Lake Greenstone Belt. By the first week in August, Blue Star had scoped out several promising areas for drilling next year on the...
Potentially rich deposits of lithium in the terrain near Yellowknife, the capital of Northwest Territories, has spurred a small stampede of mining companies to Canada's north this summer as worldwide demand for the critical mineral accelerates. At least seven companies have reported exploration programs underway this field season on lithium projects near Yellowknife. Lithium is an important mineral for green energy technologies, and net-zero emissions will require greater...
Amid renewed market interest in gold, White Gold Corp. recently reported increased mineral resource estimates for its flagship White Gold Project and unveiled plans for a 2023 exploration program across its namesake district in the Yukon. The junior explorer, which enjoys the financial backing of major Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (19.5%) and Kinross Gold Corp. (15%), has turned its attention in 2023 to further evaluation of targets at its JP Ross and Betty Ford projects and...
Six months after the Canadian government rejected a plan to double approved output from the Mary River iron mine on Nunavut's Baffin Island, the mine's operator, Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., is working to get the green light to move ahead with a different proposal. The new plan, which the company calls a "Sustaining Operations Proposal," surfaced in December, about a month after federal Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal rejected the earlier plan Nov. 16 to expand...
Osisko Metals Inc. has finalized a joint-venture agreement with one of the world's leading mining and metals investment advisors that could propel its Pine Point project in Northwest Territories into becoming one of the top-10 zinc-lead producing mines in the world. Inked in late February, the estimated C$100 million deal with Appian Capital Advisory LLP, a unit of Appian Natural Resources Fund III LP, won speedy approval from Osisko Metals' shareholders in mid-March....
Strategic Metals Ltd., surely the most active project generator in northern Canada, recently reported substantial mineral exploration and transaction activities in 2022 and early 2023. This includes an update in January on exploration at Mount Hinton, a gold-silver project in Yukon's Keno Hill District that lies immediately southeast of Hecla Mining Company's Keno Hill Silver Mine, 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of Victoria Gold's Eagle Mine, and 25 kilometers (16 miles)...
While lithium deposits are sparking fresh interest in Canada's northernmost territory, uranium is also spurring exploration companies to venture north this year to search for mineral riches in Nunavut. After a prolonged slump dating back to the recession in 2008, uranium prices are beginning to rebound as nuclear-generated power gains global acceptance as a viable source of affordable green energy. At least two companies, ValOre Metals Corp., and Forum Energy Metals Corp., are...
Lured partly by proximity to infrastructure in Yellowknife, several companies moved in January to advance exploration in mineral-rich Northwest Territories. The explorers include seasoned diamond and now rare earths hunter North Arrow Minerals Inc., NWT newcomer Gama Explorations Inc., and ambitious junior Gold Terra Resource Corp. North Arrow Jan. 30 reported acquiring a 100% ownership interest in the DeStaffany lithium property from NWT project generator Parnac Resources...
While a small group of dedicated explorers returned in 2022 to advance production and development projects in Nunavut, a growing number of newcomers fanned out across the northern territory in search of a variety of minerals. Some came seeking gold deposits like those being explored and mined by Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., while others chased historical occurrences of newly designated critical metals, especially copper and certain base metals, now in high demand for... Full story
Less than three years after bringing its ambition to mine rare earth elements to Canada, Vital Metals Ltd. is rapidly establishing its presence on the world stage as one of few miners of rare earth minerals outside of China. In July 2021, the Australia-based company became the first to extract rare earth-rich material for commercial processing from the ground in Canada – a country known to host vast undeveloped quantities of the coveted resources. Vital Metals is also only t... Full story
Mining activity in Northwest Territories held steady in 2022 despite constraints imposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a cadre of mainly junior mining companies took up the international challenge to seek out large deposits of critical minerals. Early in the year, government officials noted that industry interest in diamonds, gold, and especially critical minerals boded well for the NWT economy in the coming year. "An exciting new chapter is emerging for mining in the... Full story
