The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 501 - 525 of 588
Ever since prospectors rushed to the Yukon seeking gold more than a century ago, miners have been guilty of extracting the mineral riches in the North and doing a vanishing act when the veins petered out or prices fell. These miners often left behind environmental messes that occasionally became regulatory nightmares. Now that modern-day prospectors are again venturing to the far North, many of them are seeking out old mining claims. But before new exploration can occur, the old mine sites often must be cleaned up. That's...
From the opening volley last fall in what became a heated bidding war between two Canadian junior mining companies seeking to acquire BcMetals Corp. of Vancouver, B.C., observers couldn't predict what would happen next. But Imperial Metals Corp., also of Vancouver, upped its buyout offer one last time Feb. 2 to C$1.70 a share, valuing BcMetals at just under C$70 million. It proved to be an offer too good to refuse. BcMetals urged shareholders Feb. 14 to tender their securities to the Imperial offer and indicated that...
Copper Ridge Explorations Inc., owner of various precious and base metals-rich properties in the Yukon Territory, British Columbia and Alaska, is venturing into uranium exploration in the Yukon. The Vancouver, B.C.-based junior mining company reached an agreement with Dawson City prospector Shawn Ryan to acquire 100 percent interest in the Borealis uranium property about 30 miles northeast of that city. Under terms of the option, Copper Ridge will pay $5,000 in cash, spend a minimum of $600,000 on exploration at Borealis,... Full story
Research prepared for mining industry critic Earthworks claims that faulty water quality predictions, and mitigation and regulatory failures are responsible for hard rock mining-related water pollution, primarily in the West. The purpose of the studies, by consultant Jim Kuipers of Butte, Mont., and Boulder, Colo.-based geochemist Ann Maest, was to review the history and accuracy of water quality predictions in environmental impact statements for major U.S. hardrock mines, according to Earthworks. Kuipers and Maest found... Full story
The State of Alaska has established clear ownership of two historic trails in northern Alaska under a settlement reached with federal and Native corporation officials of the state's claim to the trails under federal law RS 2477, a top Palin administration official announced Jan. 11. Members of Alaska's mining industry Jan. 18 applauded the settlement, which ends a lawsuit filed by state officials against the U.S. government nearly two years ago. The suit sought to establish Alaska's clear title to rights of way for the...
BCGold Corp., a Vancouver-based startup launched in February 2006, has grabbed nearly 4 million acres of mineral claims adjacent to and near the Minto and Carmacks (Williams Creek) copper-gold deposits in west-central Yukon. BCGold said Nov. 27 that it entered into a letter of agreement with Shawn Ryan, a Dawson City, Yukon-based prospector and project generator, to acquire 100 percent ownership in 557 mineral claims comprising more than 11,640 hectares, or 3.84 million acres. Ryan staked the properties based on their... Full story
The State of Alaska moved one step closer Dec. 15 to reopening the Skagway Ore Terminal in mid-2007 when the agency handling the reactivation project opened three bids for major construction work needed at the facility. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority bought the terminal in 1990 to bring stability to the business of shipping ore through the 6.7-acre waterfront facility, then a year-round industry. The terminal ceased operating in 1998 when soft metals prices forced the Yukon Territory's zinc mines to... Full story
A plan to expand the remote Kemess copper-gold mining operation in northern British Columbia has met with significant opposition from members of First Nations communities in the area. The protests surfaced during a series of public hearings held by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency between Oct. 30 and Dec. 7. The hearings are part of the provincial and federal environmental assessment process. Northgate Minerals Corp., operator of the Kemess South Mine, wants to extend the life of its mining operation by developing...
Sometimes less can be more. That's what Sherwood Copper Corp. is finding with metallurgical tests it is conducting on ore samples from the Minto project north of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Minto is an advanced-stage copper-gold project with reserves exceeding 356 million pounds of high-grade copper and geology that indicates significant exploration potential. Development of an open pit mining operation with conventional crushing, grinding and flotation to produce copper concentrates with significant gold and silver cr...
Taseko Mines Ltd. said Nov. 10 it will reconsider plans to offer C$35.7 million ($31.6 million) to acquire bcMetals Corp. in the wake of that junior's maneuvers to avoid a hostile takeover. Taseko, a subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson Ltd., had said Nov. 2 it was about to bid C$1.05 for each bcMetals share, an 11 percent premium over an earlier hostile offer by Imperial Metals Corp. of 95 Canadian cents per share. "We believe this offer represents a solid premium over the Imperial Metals bid and fairly values bcMetals shares,"... Full story
The circumstances that led to four deaths in a water sampling shed at the Sullivan mine in southeastern British Columbia May 15-17, resulted from an unprecedented incident caused by an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, according to the province's chief inspector of mines. After producing lead, silver and zinc in vast quantities for nearly 70 years, the Sullivan Mine near the resort community of Kimberley had been decommissioned. Reclamation by mine operator Teck Cominco Ltd. was nearly complete when the fatalities occurred last sp... Full story
When a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor moonlighting as a consultant asked student Mike Busby to drive out to a gold mine north of the city, Busby had no idea the day trip would change his life. It turned out the mine was looking for workers and hired Busby on the spot. That opportunity in the mid-1970s thrust Busby into a gold mining career in Interior Alaska that has lasted for 30 years. Along the way, Busby met his wife, Lou, and raised two children. In 1990, the Busbys began mining a site about 180 miles east of...
As public and private interests in British Columbia move forward with cleaning up and reclaiming the old Britannia Mine site, Canada's Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn has weighed in with additional support. Lunn attended the opening Sept. 29 of the mine's renovated concentrator mill, now part of the BC Museum of Mining. Earlier, he told members of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia at a breakfast meeting in Vancouver that he would instruct Natural Resources Canada to contribute another C$5 million...
Teck Cominco revised its sales advisory to customers and investors in September, saying ice and poor weather conditions delayed shipments from its Red Dog zinc, lead mine, which is located about 50 miles above the Arctic Circle. The shipping delays adversely affected the company's third-quarter results, cutting anticipated sales nearly 30 percent, or by 50,000 tonnes, Teck Cominco said Sept. 26. The company said its sales of zinc in concentrate from Red Dog, the world's largest zinc mine, would drop to 125,000 tonnes for the...
Stornoway Diamond Corp. of Vancouver, B.C., worked up until a Sept. 18 deadline to win over minority shareholders of Ashton Mining of Canada Ltd., succeeding in wooing enough shareholders to move forward with the complex three-way merger. Stornoway said late Sept. 18 that conditions of its offer for outstanding shares of Ashton and Contact Diamond Corp. were met, and Stornoway has given notice to the depositary to take-up all shares tendered under the offers and extend the offers until Oct. 2. Stornoway proposed the...
No sooner than clearing an infrastructure hurdle to development of its Red Chris copper-gold project in northern British Columbia this year, bcMetals Corp. encountered another obstacle in the form of a blockade against road access to the property by a small group of local residents. The Vancouver, B.C., junior mining company went to court and won an injunction to clear the blockade earlier in September only to find itself the target of a potentially hostile takeover offer from Imperial Metals Corp., another small Vancouver,...
Mines ministers from across Canada gathered in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, in late August to craft a mining action plan aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the minerals and metals industry in ways that benefit all Canadians. Representing Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments, the ministers met for the 63rd Annual Mines Ministers' Conference Aug. 28-29. The ministers noted that challenges exist that potentially threaten the future viability of the minerals and metals industry in Canada, its intern... Full story
You could say David H. Brett has Cassiar Valley gold production in his blood. Brett is president of Cusac Gold Mines Ltd., a company with a history of finding and producing gold in northern British Columbia that dates back half a century. Brett's father, Guildford Brett, prospected for gold in the Liard Mining District in the 1950s, and began amassing mineral claims in the area. In 1965, he founded Cusac and led the company to become one of the few Vancouver, B.C,. juniors to take a gold mining project all the way from...
NovaGold Resources Inc. has cleared several important permitting hurdles in its quest to develop the Rock Creek and Big Hurrah gold mines near Nome. The Alaska departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation issued construction permits for the project Aug. 9. NovaGold, owner and operator of the mines, envisions the project becoming its first development-stage venture to begin significant gold production. First gold production at a rate of roughly 100,000 ounces per year at Rock Creek could begin by late 2006...
BHP Billiton, the huge international mining company that Arctic Slope Regional Corp. has enlisted to help explore and develop coal deposits believed to lie beneath its lands in northern Alaska, is an old hand in virtually every aspect of the venture. London-based Billiton is the world's largest resource development company with 37,000 employees in 100 operations in about 25 countries and nearly $32 billion in revenue and $6.5 billion in profits in 2005 as well as $92 billion in market capitalization. Billiton is a mining... Full story
In posting third-quarter profits, Taseko Mines Ltd., a subsidiary of Vancouver, B.C.-based Hunter Dickinson, also shared the latest on its Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine and its advanced-stage Prosperity copper-porphyry project, both located in south-central British Columbia. Hunter Dickinson, which is developing the Pebble copper-molybdenum deposit in southwest Alaska through its Northern Dynasty Ltd. subsidiary, has cited Gibraltar as an example of the environmentally responsible mining practices that the company aims to...
Stornoway Diamond Corp. of Vancouver, B.C., launched an ambitious bid in July that, if successful, will create a mid-tier diamond exploration and development company in Canada. The complex three-way combination of Stornoway with Ashton Mining of Canada Ltd. and Contact Diamond Corp. is valued at C$140 million. Considered a significant consolidation of leading exploration companies in Canada's growing diamond industry, the transaction would have a market capitalization of more than C$200 million, enough financial strength to... Full story
Flying high on strong commodity prices, Teck Cominco Ltd.'s profits soared to record levels in the second quarter. Despite the strong results, the Vancouver, B.C.-based mining company decided Aug. 16 not to pursue an outstanding hostile purchase offer for Inco Ltd., the world's second largest nickel producer. Teck Cominco disclosed the reversal one day after announcing plans to sweeten its original buyout offer to about C$89 a share. The move came less than 24 hours before its bid was due to expire. Meanwhile, the company... Full story
Unlike its neighbors to the north and east, the western Canadian province of British Columbia is widely regarded as an unlikely place to uncover commercial quantities of uranium. But that isn't deterring a small group of companies from organizing exploration of the few known prospects in the province. The impetus: The global market for uranium has accelerated rapidly in recent years as stores of uranium worldwide have been depleted and prices have climbed. Uranium prices have surged almost fourfold in the past three years....
Tahera Diamond Corp. celebrated the opening Aug. 17 of Jericho, Canada's third operating diamond mine and the first diamond mining venture to come online in the arctic territory of Nunavut. Just across the Northwest Territories border about 260 miles from Yellowknife, Jericho will eventually produce 375,000 carats of diamonds a year to yield 2.6 million carats over the initial eight-year life of the mine. Tiffany & Co., a marketing and financing partner in the venture, has first dibs on the mine's output, as well as a...
