The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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The territories of northern Canada, so far, appear to have escaped the novel coronavirus pandemic that is currently sweeping the globe. This is due, in part, to the remoteness of the region. But it's also likely the result of extraordinary steps some mining companies are taking to keep COVID-19 out of the region. Sabina Gold & Silver Corp., a Canadian junior aggressively seeking gold in Nunavut, for example, reported March 17 to delay the start of its 2020 exploration program... Full story
White Gold Corp., one of the most active mineral exploration companies in Canada's North in recent years, is taking a closer look at Nolan, a property found in Yukon's fabled Sixtymile area near the Alaska border. Here, eager prospectors have pulled gold from the region's creeks and streams since the precious metal was first discovered in the region in 1884. White Gold is betting throngs of prospectors who scoured the area during the past 136 years left a lot of gold behind. T...
Racing to become Canada's first miner of rare earth elements, Vital Metals Ltd. had clocked another milestone by producing a 12-kilogram sample of rare earth carbonate in a bulk sampling program at its Nechalacho rare earths project located 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Yellowknife, the capital of Northwest Territories. Vital is hoping to begin production of rare earth oxide at Nechalacho in the second quarter of 2021, with early production from a North T starter...
As Nunavut regulators wrapped up a contentious final series of hearings in April on a proposed expansion of the Mary River iron ore mine on Baffin Island, the Canadian territory got hit with a new outbreak of COVID-19, this time in Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital. Baffinland Iron Mines Ltd. has operated Mary River, one of the largest and northernmost iron mines in the world, for six years. The company employs more than 1,200 people, primarily at its Mary River Mine Site and Milne...
One of few mineral explorers active in Yukon Territory during the mining industry's 2020 beleaguered field season recently reported encouraging results that give credence to the idea that a new gold camp may be on the verge of emerging in Canada's North. Stratabound Minerals Corp. completed a late-season exploration program last year on its 84-square-kilometer (32.4 square miles) Golden Culvert property, along a 24 kilometer- (15 miles) long mineralized trend in Southeastern...
Nunavut is one jurisdiction in Canada with a favorable economic outlook in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent economic analysis completed by the Conference Board of Canada. The reason: Nunavut's mining sector, which remained mostly intact in 2020, accounted for more than one-third of its economy, a higher share than in every other Canadian province or territory. Projected to have expanded 6.1% last year, Nunavut's economy is forecast to grow 13.2% in...
From the first glimpse of a potential new discovery to watching the first load of ore pour into a new mill, mineral explorers working in Yukon Territory during 2020 reported experiencing the full gamut of mining highs. Encouraged by the commissioning of the Eagle Gold Mine, government grants for exploration projects, and metals prices, dozens of juniors rushed to the Yukon to chase prospects in the northern territory. "Based on the historic trends, coming into 2020, it looked... Full story
For many mining companies eyeing prospects in Canada's far north, 2020 presented insurmountable challenges. But for the few explorers and producers focused on Northwest Territories, the year proved to be quite productive, even as a global coronavirus pandemic added expensive restrictions to already costly campaigns. Rigorous restrictions imposed by local and federal officials to quell potential outbreaks of the disease at mining camps and prevent its spread to local... Full story
Already headed toward the lowest level of annual mineral exploration spending in nearly two decades, the mining industry in Nunavut got broadsided by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Travel and workplace restrictions quickly imposed last spring by federal and local authorities to prevent the spread of the disease to the northern territory led some companies to cancel or postpone planned exploration programs until 2021. In February, Natural Resources Canada released figures... Full story
As 2020, arguably the most calamitous year for northern mining in decades, drew to a close, the Government of Northwest Territories took the unusual step of topping up its annual mining incentives program with an additional C$100,000. In August, the territorial government awarded C$1 million in these grants to 19 junior mining companies and prospectors who proposed mineral exploration programs during the 2020-2021 field season. Normally awarded in the spring, the incentives... Full story
As the price of silver hovered around US$25 per ounce in 2020, Alexco Resource Corp. took the final lap in its race to production at its Keno Hill Silver Project in central Yukon Territory. One of the mining industry's few primary silver producers, Alexco set its sights in June on commissioning its renewed Keno Hill mine and mill in the fourth quarter and shipping silver-rich concentrates to market by year's end. This operation culminates more than a decade of exploration by... Full story
When Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. acquired the Back River gold project in Canada's far north in 2009, the junior set out to tame a baby elephant. More than a decade later, the project has tripled in size and is still growing. Located in remote southwestern Nunavut in the Kitikmeot Region, the Back River Property is located some 520 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife, NT, and 95 kilometers (58 miles) southeast of Bathurst Inlet. The project is named for the nearby Back River,... Full story
Gold Terra Resource Corp., one of nearly a dozen juniors seeking mineral riches in Northwest Territories in 2020, completed significant exploration drilling on its huge Yellowknife City Gold Project and potentially expanded its holdings in one of Canada's richest historic gold camps. Gold Terra began exploring its initial 37 square-kilometer (14.3 square miles) package of claims and leases about six years ago, and has since increased the property's size more than 21-fold,... Full story
During the most challenging mining season in nearly 20 years brought on by constraints imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, one mineral exploration company has forged ahead in its quest to develop a robust zinc-lead mine at the Pine Point project near Hay River in Northwest Territories. Unlike most companies with mining projects in northern Canada this year, Osisko Metals Ltd. is reporting significant advances in developing Pine Point, including updating the project's mineral...
When Granite Creek Copper Ltd. decided to refocus its energies on finding copper in Yukon Territory in October 2018, it swung into action, aggressively tackling its vision of becoming a leading copper exploration company. Just over two years later, the junior has acquired the advanced Carmacks Copper Project and is hoping to establish a mineral resource estimate on its larger Stu Project next door. To begin its transition, the junior changed its name from Granite Creek Gold... Full story
More than six years after turning its attention to advancing to production the world-class mineral reserves of its Nico project in Northwest Territories, Fortune Minerals Ltd. is again putting boots on the ground in search of new mineralization near the Nico deposit located 160 kilometers (99 miles) northwest of Yellowknife. The tenacious junior reported Sept. 2 that an exploration program planned for the 2020 field season is underway, despite restraints imposed by the...
Ten years ago, Yukon Territory witnessed a minor stampede of mineral explorers, hoping to cash in on new gold discoveries in the White Gold District south of Dawson City. A decade later, gold hunters are again targeting prospects across the northern Canadian territory, drawn by the recent successful startup of a new gold mine at Victoria Gold Corp.'s Dublin Gulch Property east of Dawson City in central Yukon as well as discoveries of other rich aurum deposits in Yukon.... Full story
Though world diamond markets remain closed after their shutdown this spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, diamond mining in Canada's North is showing signs of life. One mine, Ekati, shut down in the spring remains closed and most explorers have delayed field work until 2021, an intrepid few are reporting pre-pandemic progress and post-pandemic activities. In the spring, the governments of Northwest Territories and Nunavut imposed strict operating guidelines for all...
Like working a giant jigsaw puzzle, Western Copper and Gold Corp. has gradually pieced together components of the Casino Mine project in Yukon Territory, hoping to usher the project into production within the next few years. For 14 years, the industrious junior has chased the dream of producing copper, gold, molybdenum, and silver from the Casino deposit, known as one of the most prospective mineral concentrations of its type in the world. But with the turn of a drill a year a...
Until novel coronavirus ignited a global pandemic that plunged the world economy into recession, foreign investors, except for a lucky few, have salivated from afar over the bountiful mineral riches that others are mining in the vast reaches of Canada's northern territories. But with COVID-19 on the march and no cure or proven vaccine for the deadly malady in sight, traditional sources of capital markets have dried up, leaving many mining companies, especially those with...
One of the most prospective, if not the potentially richest, recent gold discoveries in Yukon Territory is changing owners. Seabridge Gold has agreed to purchase the 3 Aces Project in southeastern Yukon from Golden Predator Mining Corp. for 300,000 Seabridge common shares, contingent future cash payments totaling C$2.25 million and a 0.5% net smelter return royalty on the entire 3 Aces project, the companies reported March 30. The deal also includes an immediate cash payment...
Buoyed by the first-ever mineral resource estimate reported for its Yellowknife City Gold Project, Vancouver-based Gold Terra Resource Corp. (formerly TerraX Minerals Inc.) appears to be hitting its exploration stride after a half-dozen years of seeking gold in Northwest Territories. In February, the junior reported new intersections of gold mineralization in a winter drill program carried out at two deposits on its 790-square-kilometer (305 square miles) property. The junior...
After being stalled for decades, hardrock gold mine development in Yukon Territory appears to be picking up speed, as one company rockets toward full mine production by mid-2020, while at least two others report exciting new discoveries. The Yukon, legendary for producing millions of ounces of gold dating back nearly 125 years, is still one of the best places on Earth to find the precious metal. Yet few modern gold projects have managed to overcome the constraints imposed by...
In 21 months, Osisko Metals Ltd. has boosted the mineral resource estimate for its Pine Point zinc-lead project near Hay River in Northwest Territories by 36 percent to 50 million metric tons, a critical milestone for base metal mining ventures. The Montreal-based junior is also generating new excitement about the brownfields project by reporting more high-grade assays and additional evidence of upside mineral potential on the 22,213-hectare (8,990 acres) property located...
One intrepid junior tackled an enticing prospect in western Nunavut in 2019, marking the seventh year of its quest for gold in Canada's far north. Seeking new gold resources on the highly prospective Hood River property in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, Blue Star Gold Corp. (formerly WPC Resources) carried out an exploration program of drilling, mapping and sampling. The junior also acquired ownership of the adjacent Ulu gold project in July. The Hood and Ulu properties are...
