The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Sharon McLeod heard that the mining industry was hiring and mining jobs typically paid good wages. "I had worked around heavy equipment and I was working with the local school district, but I couldn't make ends meet," recalled the single mother of two sons. "I thought that my previous experience in the mining industry and in the school district would help, so I applied to the mine. I never got a response." McLeod, 49, then heard about a group focused on helping Aboriginal people get jobs in the mining industry. As a member...
Results of a recent study of the projected labor force requirements of resource industries such as mining in northern British Columbia reinforces the need for organizations like British Columbia Aboriginal Mine Training Association to complete their mission. The study was commissioned by the Northern BC Resource Sector Human Resources Committee in the summer of 2011. R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. was contracted to forecast work force requirements for the northern region's resource industries, including mining, through...
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.'s hunt for gold in Nunavut is rapidly becoming a tale of two deposits. Though the aggressive mid-tier gold producer is about to celebrate a second anniversary of gold production at its Meadowbank Mine near Baker Lake, it is increasingly looking to the Meliadine gold project located 290 kilometers (180 miles) to the southeast to make future investment in the northern territory worthwhile. An advanced-stage gold project, Meliadine is Toronto-based Agnico-Eagle's second major project in Canada's Low...
After 17 long years of working to develop the Gahcho Kué diamond deposit into what promises to be one of the world's largest and richest diamond mines, Mountain Province Diamonds Ltd. is turning its attention to the diamonds next door. The Toronto-based junior and its 51 percent partner De Beers are rapidly closing in on their long-sought goal at the Kennady Lake diamond project in the Northwest Territories. The joint venture is permitting an open-pit mine expected to produce about 4.5 million carats per year for 11 years...
After seeing the movie "Top Gun" some years ago, I've often wondered what the U.S. military could be thinking to turn over $30 million fighter jets, not to mention world peace in many cases, to the dubious discretion of testosterone-laden young men. "The Debrief Imperative," is a new management manual written by a former fighter pilot and his business partner. Subtitled "Fighter Pilots and The Secret Tool That Is Transforming Businesses The World Over," the book was written by best-selling author James D. Murphy and William...
In the shadow of two new producing mines and startup of a gold mine on the near-horizon, a mega-mine project is quietly taking shape in a remote area of central Yukon Territory. The sprawling Casino property, where Western Copper and Gold Corp. has spent the past five years aggressively exploring and defining a huge copper-gold-molybdenum-silver resource, is proving to be an attractive venture that could transform the territory's mining industry, delivering within the next few years 1,800 construction jobs over four years...
One byproduct of the recent revival of the mining industry in Yukon Territory is the ongoing success of the rehabilitated Skagway Ore Terminal at Alaska's Port of Skagway. Originally built in 1968 to accommodate ore shipments form Yukon's Faro lead-zinc mine, the terminal closed in 1997 after the Faro Mine ceased operations due to unfavorable market conditions. Purchased by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority from White Pass Railway in 1993, the terminal, after substantial renovation, resumed shipping ore...
Yukon Territory is poised to take its largely successful campaign to attract and encourage a robust mining industry to the next level by developing a new center for mineral research and mine training in the North. Yukon College, the territory's focal point for higher education and training, is conducting a yearlong study of the feasibility of establishing a Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining. The proposed center would offer accredited programing in mining and related technology and conduct, in collaboration with...
The value of mineral production in Yukon Territory is expected to soar in 2013 to more than C$1 billion when the third of three producing mines hits its stride with commercial output of about 1,700 metric tons per day. The territory, meanwhile, is enjoying the economic benefits of having three high-paying and big spending mines in operation. In 2011 the value of mineral production at Capstone Mining Corp.'s high-grade Minto copper-gold-silver mine, Alexco Resource Corp.'s Bellekeno silver-lead-zinc mine and Yukon Zinc...
It is still early days in the exploration play for gold in eastern Yukon Territory, but a score of companies got a jump on competitors in 2011 by targeting promising occurrences of gold and pathfinder elements in a frenzy of unprecedented claim staking and reconnaissance. The early explorers rushed to the region following a report by Atac Resources Ltd. in September 2010 that it discovered unusual mineralization in the rocky eastern ridges of its 1,600-square-kilometer (618 square miles) Rackla Project. Atac posted high-grade...
The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has approved a proposal by Canadian Zinc Corp. for protecting the environment during operation of the Prairie Creek Mine in the Northwest Territories. The move, which comes after more than three years of review, is seen as perhaps a major milestone in the permitting process for the underground lead-zinc mine project and a signal that the investment climate for mining may be changing for the better in the northern territory. The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact...
The Yukon Chamber of Mines recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun and the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in to create a framework within which the industry and aboriginal groups will work together for their respective goals. The First Nations said they seek to preserve a way of life that is based upon an economic and spiritual relationship with the land, while the Chamber of Mines said it aims to promote a vibrant, healthy, safe and responsible mining and exploration industry in the Yukon. T...
As cold weather wraps up the 2011 field season, mining in Yukon Territory appears to be getting hotter, with exploration and development activities throughout the year living up to all of the pre-season hype and then some. Early in the year, explorers laid the groundwork for grassroots exploration seemingly in every corner of the territory. No sooner than the meeting rooms emptied at Roundup in Vancouver in late January, than a frenzy of claim staking erupted in the Yukon. Golden Predator Corp. snatched up all of the...
A second wave of mining exploration swept across Yukon Territory in 2011, bringing with it new mineral discoveries, record employment and myriad other changes, large and small. Roughly 100 companies, including a score of newcomers, mounted an array of mineral exploration programs with most of them stalking gold and silver deposits. Some came away with early success and excitement about their results, while others sifted the tea leaves, looking for clearer signs of the elusive mineralization they seek. "The impact of this...
For Yukon geologist Jean Pautler, the busy 2011 field season also may end up being one for her personal record book. "I was lucky to spend a week in one place," she told Mining News in a recent interview. Pautler, a geological consultant through her company, JP Exploration Services, has spent more than 30 years tramping through the Canadian bush in search of mineral deposits. A sprite of a woman with a cheerful smile, Pautler works alone, except for her German Shepherd mutt, Shadow, who accompanies her into the field....
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency has agreed to invest C$3.275 million over three years (2012 to 2014) to support continuing geoscience research and data analysis in the Northwest Territories. The Government of the Northwest Territories' Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and the private sector will invest a further C$1.1 million and C$900,000, respectively, for a total project value of C$5.275 million. The Hon. David Ramsay, newly elected minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment and...
Droves of exploration companies have rushed to Yukon Territory in recent years to hunt for sizable deposits of gold, silver, copper, rare earth elements and base metals. Employing the most advanced geophysical and geochemical techniques available, along with their best hunches, these explorers, like others around the globe, are pulling out all the stops to find commercial quantities of the minerals currently riding the winds of strong demand and high prices. But noticeably absent from the list of lucrative commodities being...
Throughout the 2011 field season, explorers pushed the envelope in Yukon Territory, scrambling to target and assess rapidly increasing numbers of deposits of gold, silver and base metals mineralization being identified as the exploration rush that overtook the region in 2009 stretched into its third consecutive year. With gold prices climbing to new highs and a stable investment climate, the lure of the Yukon attracted miners and investors in numbers not seen in a century. "Both Yukon and Nunavut are entering a period of sust...
Frontrunners in the Yukon mineral exploration rush in 2011 spent more than C$12 million each, with at least one company pouring C$25 million into its program. These companies include Atac Resources Ltd., Kaminak Gold Corp., Capstone Mining Corp., Alexco Resource Corp., Golden Predator Corp., Ryan Gold Corp. and Silver Range Resources Ltd. At least another 14 companies shelled out more than C$5 million each to search for precious and base metals, using virtually every modern exploration technique from sampling to drilling....
New Gold Ltd., less than six months after gaining majority ownership of the Blackwater Gold Project in central British Columbia, has moved to consolidate its control of the project. The mid-tier gold producer reported Oct. 17 it had entered into agreements to acquire two juniors that currently claim significant stakes in gold-rich properties believed to host the mineral resource. New Gold entered a binding agreement to acquire Silver Quest Resources Ltd. in an all-stock transaction that valued Silver Quest's assets at about...
The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board released an external report in early October that potentially could lead to significant improvements in the environmental assessment process for mineral exploration and development in a large, natural resources-rich region of the Northwest Territories. The report, commissioned by the Review Board and dated June 2011, was prepared by Stantec Consulting Ltd. of Yellowknife, NT and focuses on opportunities to improve the timeliness of the regulatory board's environmental...
East of the hub of Canadian production in Northwestern Territories, diamond exploration intensified this year in far-flung corners of neighboring Nunavut. Ongoing work at the Chidliak Project to the east and the Jericho Mine to the west dominated activity in the sector, but explorers conducted modest programs at other projects in northeast and northwest Nunavut. Here's an early look at the progress of the 2011 campaigns and what lies ahead for them in 2012. Ready to build a mine At Chidliak, a 51/49 joint venture between BHP...
Pretivm Resources Inc. reported considerable exploration progress this field season at its high-grade gold Brucejack Project in northern British Columbia. The explorer Oct. 17 said it concluded exploration drilling at Brucejack for the season, with 176 holes completed totaling 72,144 meters. Pretivm also reported in September that ongoing drilling at Brucejack continued to demonstrate continuity of high-grade gold mineralization on the property, and visible gold continues to be encountered. Among drilling highlights: Hole...
The quest for uranium that led to the creation of Uranium North Resources Corp. to explore Nunavut five years ago continues today, despite plummeting demand for the mineral after the partial meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant in March. But the nimble junior, having noted soaring demand for gold in recent years, had already seized the initiative to also hunt for the precious metal on many of the very same Nunavut properties where it sought uranium. As a result, Uranium North is one of a few exploration-stage co...
As gold prices soared in 2011 along with demand for silver and base metals, droves of mineral explorers fanned out across remote areas of Yukon Territory, seeking lucrative hardrock deposits. Lured by news of recent gold discoveries in the White Gold district of the Dawson Range and the Carlin-type mineralization found in the Rackla Gold Belt to the east, the horde of juniors, along with the occasional major, turned up with a frenzy of new claim-staking that started early in the year. Many returned to projects they first...
