The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Restructured and under new leadership, Heatherdale Resources Ltd. is expanding the high-grade targets at its Niblack copper-gold-silver-zinc project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. Heatherdale, which had advanced Niblack to the brink of considering the feasibility of mining the high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide mineralization found there, became hampered by debt during the economic hardships endured by the junior mining sector in 2008 and again in 2012. Ro...
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...
Strong metal prices and an infusion of cash from notable resource investors helped to salvage much of a 2020 mineral exploration season in Alaska that became lethargic with disruptions, delays, and shelving of field programs infected by the COVID-19 pandemic early in the year. At its onset, 2020 was looking like it would be the best year for Alaska's mining sector in a decade. Australia-based mining companies were slated to invest nearly US$100 million in mineral exploration...
Challenged by a global pandemic and a particularly wet summer, many of Northern British Columbia's mineral explorers became adept to adjusting on the fly as they endeavored to unlock the rich precious, base, and battery metals potential of this section of the Pacific Cordillera. With companies like Skeena Resources Ltd. and Ascot Resources Inc. running year-round drill programs as they seek to establish a new era of gold-silver mines at historic operations in the Golden Triang...
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...
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...
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." I cannot help but to reflect on this famous opening passage in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities when considering the dichotomy of mineral exploration across Alaska and Canada's North...
Surpassing 4 million ounces of gold production and roughly another 6.7 million oz in the ground, the Pogo Mine in Alaska is a rising star in Australia-based Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s growing portfolio of gold assets. The February pouring of the 4 millionth ounce of gold recovered from rich deposits at Pogo was a milestone that seemed to mark a changing of the guard for this operation that is transitioning to a renewed life under Northern Star ownership. "It is awesome...
As a project generating exploration company, Millrock Resources Inc. identifies and secures grassroots mineral projects and brings on partners to fund the high-risk early stages of exploration. Currently, this work is primarily focused on gold and copper projects in Alaska and Mexico. One of the largest and most intriguing Millrock generated project is 64North, which covers a 163,240-acre swath of Alaska's Goodpaster Mining District. This large land package has been divided...
After years of quietly and efficiently optimizing a mine plan for Livengood, International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. is now ready to incorporate this work into an updated pre-feasibility study for the 11.5-million-ounce gold project in Alaska. A 2017 PFS outlined plans for a 52,600-metric-ton-per-day mill at Livengood that would produce 6.8 million ounces of gold over a 23-year mine life, or roughly 294,100 oz annually. This mine plan was based on 392 million metric tons of reserv...
Attracting the attention of some of the biggest names in the resource investment world, HighGold Mining Inc. raised C$13.8 million in July to fund an expanded drill program at its Johnson Tract gold project in Southcentral Alaska. HighGold Mining was formed in 2019 to explore gold properties spun out of Constantine Metal Resources that included Johnson Tract. Situated on Cook Inlet Region Inc., or CIRI, land about six miles west of Cook Inlet and roughly 125 miles southwest...
Continuing a tradition of growth, Hecla Mining Company entered 2020 with 37.08 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 212.2 million ounces of silver, 2 billion pounds of zinc, 1.6 billion lb of lead and 2.71 million oz of gold – historic levels of silver reserves for the 129-year-old mining company. This is an 11% increase in silver reserves, even after replacing the 15.4 million oz of silver mined (12.6 million oz produced) during 2019, despite using a...
Following a C$3 million investment by Eric Sprott in July, Grande Portage Resources Ltd. launched a 21-hole drill program at its Herbert Gold project about 16 miles north of Juneau in Southeast Alaska. Going into the 2020 exploration program, Herbert hosted 1.88 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 10.03 grams per metric ton (605,000 ounces) of gold; plus 553,429 metric tons of inferred resource averaging 14.15 g/t (251,700 oz) gold. This resource is contained...
Freegold Ventures Ltd. struck gold in Alaska, both literally and figuratively, during 2020. While it is no surprise that the Vancouver, British Columbia-based mineral explorer tapped gold at Golden Summit – the company had already outlined nearly 3 million ounces of precious metal on the property bordering Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine – the bonanza grades encountered in the first hole of the 2020 season reminded investors of the project's high-grade roots. Situated alo...
While Contango ORE Inc. opted not to carry out a 2020 field program in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this unconventional mineral exploration company oft referred to as CORE churned out some of the most exciting results of the 2020 season. CORE entered 2020 with the appointment of Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, one of the most prominent names in Alaska's mining sector, as president and CEO. The Alaska-based company exited the year as 30% owner of Alaska's next million-ounce gold...
Coeur Mining Inc. invested heavily in exploration during 2020, including robust programs at its Kensington gold mine in Alaska and Silvertip mine project in British Columbia. After investing US$21 million in exploration at six projects in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico during the first half of the year, the Chicago-based miner increased its total 2020 exploration budget to US$54 million. "We significantly increased our investment in exploration to test these targets in 2020,...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd.'s 2020 program focused primarily on exploring the hardrock source of Porcupine gold placer mining on its Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. Constantine has traditionally focused its exploration on the discovery and expansion of volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits at Palmer. This work has outlined 4.68 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.23% (539 million pounds) zinc, 1.49% (154 million lb) copper, 30.8 grams per metric ton...
Following the July closing of a C$2 million private placement in which Eric Sprott acquired 20 million Avidian Gold Corp. shares, the junior explorer resumed exploration of its expanded portfolio of exploration properties in Alaska. Avidian has two properties adjacent to the Fort Knox Mine property, which makes them ideally located to be potential future sources of the higher grade ore Kinross Gold Corp. is seeking for its underused mill at Fort Knox. Avidian, which already...
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...
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,...
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,...
After raising a staggering C$50 million through a financing led by Sprott Capital Partners, more than twice the C$21 million original 2020 offering, Benchmark Metals Inc. announced plans to complete up to 300,000 meters of drilling at its Lawyers gold-silver project in Northern British Columbia by the end of 2021. Eric Sprott, who already owned roughly 15.6 million Benchmark shares, bought another 7.8 million during the financing that closed in September. As a result, the...
With robust support from the investment community, encouragement from Barrick Gold Corp., and a strong working relationship with the Tahltan First Nation, Skeena Resources Ltd. is rapidly advancing towards the reopening of Eskay Creek and Snip – iconic precious metals mines in the heart of British Columbia's Golden Triangle. Both these high-grade gold and silver operations were previously operated by Barrick. Over a 14-year span ending in 2008, an underground mine at Eskay C...
Donlin Gold LLC, a joint venture partnership owned equally by Barrick Gold Corp. and Novagold Resources Inc., completed 23,400 meters of drilling this year to gain a better understanding of the 39-million-ounce Donlin gold mine project in Southwest Alaska. "Diligent exploration and detailed geological modeling are essential in establishing a strong foundation on which to deliver optimal value from an asset the size of Donlin," said Barrick Gold President and CEO Mark Bristow....
Kinross Gold Corp. has rolled out a strategy to double gold production at its Fort Knox Mine by feeding higher grade ore into the underutilized 14-million-metric-ton-per-year mill at the open-pit operation about 20 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. "We have enhanced our production profile, ramping up from approximately 200,000 ounces per year to approximately 400,000 ounces per year," Fort Knox General Manager Jeremy Brans told Mining News. While some of this new mill feedstoc...
