The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 1 - 15 of 15
A bill in the Alaska Legislature introducing a mining production tax would ensure that the people of the state derive the maximum benefit from the use of resources, as guaranteed in the constitution, according to the bill's sponsor. Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, a commercial fisherman, believes that the mining industry is not contributing enough to the state compared with the fishing industry and the oil and gas industry. His bill would impose a tax of 0.6 percent of the gross value of the resource at the point of production in...
The Pogo Gold Mine Project near Delta Junction began gold production Feb. 12, nearly a month ahead of schedule, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. jointly announced Feb. 13. The companies said construction at Pogo progressed well enough to enable the project to advance production from an originally scheduled start in March. Pogo is estimated to contain 7.7 million tons of gold ore that should yield just under a half-ounce of gold per ton. The mine employs about 240 permanent workers. Sumitomo Metal is the...
British Columbia's reputation as a region where the mining industry could flourish hit a low point in the 1990s, but the picture is completely different today. That's how Bill Bennett, the Canadian province's minister of state for mining, sees the situation after returning from a jam-packed Mineral Exploration Roundup event in Vancouver in January. The atmosphere at Roundup this year was "almost elation," Bennett said in an interview with Mining News. "Commodity prices are behind us, but there was also a lot of specific inter...
What's in a name? Apparently, a lot, says the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia. The Vancouver, B.C.-based nonprofit trade group changed its name in January from BC & Yukon Chamber of Mines, the moniker it has proudly used since its inception in 1912. The new name, accompanied by a new logo, more accurately reflects the association's membership of 3,400 individuals and 100 companies and its role as the organization that represents the interests of the mineral exploration community working or based in...
Alaska's main rival in the international coal market is Indonesia, developer and rocket scientist Bob Stiles told an Anchorage audience at a myth-busting session Feb. 3. Stiles' goal in speaking to the World Affairs Council was to put to rest common misconceptions about coal, which is too often lumped in with other energy resources by economists and the general public. As development manager for PacRim Coal, Stiles hopes to build a mine at the Beluga coal field in Southcentral Alaska. There are two main types of coal:...
Permits from the State of Alaska and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to re-open Nixon Fork gold mine near McGrath have been issued to Ontario-based St. Andrew Goldfields. The permits become effective upon the posting of a reclamation surety bond by the company. St. Andrew plans to upgrade and refurbish the existing gold mill, including the installation of a cyanide leach circuit. The company plans to produce 40,000 to 50,000 ounces of gold a year and 1.2 million pounds of copper. Engineering is expected to be completed in...
As all miners know, if you do some digging, there's a chance you'll strike it big. Barry Kibler of California dug out his grandfather's diaries and found a treasure trove of stories about his stints working at the Treadwell gold mines in Douglas, near Juneau, in 1903-04. Kibler, a retired truck driver, recently finished transcribing the diaries of Edwin Warren and hopes to find a publisher for them. Warren himself set out for Alaska by bicycle, train and steamer, hoping to study birds and save money for his tuition at...
Capitalism is good; its excesses are to be tolerated. Freedom of expression is good; and its excesses are likewise to be tolerated. When a successful capitalist uses his financial power to express himself, it truly represents the confluence of two very American very positive forces. When those forces are marshaled to achieve an evil objective, it is to be tolerated. As Thomas Jefferson observed, "error should be tolerated where truth is free to combat it." Environmentalism...
Yukon Territory has approved a mine site reclamation and closure policy for new hard rock mines developed in the Yukon, effective immediately. Yukon, which devolved from the Canadian federal government in recent years, is now responsible for primary regulatory decisions involving major mines in the territory. "Devolution created an opportunity to develop a 'made in the Yukon' approach to managing hard rock mine developments, operations, reclamation and closure," said Laurie Sthamann, a spokeswoman for the Yukon Government's M...
Pebble copper-gold mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay region is still on the drawing board, but a debate is already raging in the state Legislature over the best way to oversee the project. Although Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty has said it won't submit permit applications for Pebble for another year, while it assesses new drill results, mine opponents have launched a multimedia advertising campaign in an effort to drown out the voices of supporters and those who prefer a wait-and-see approach. The House Resources Committee...
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was not the ideal time to be scouring the country for three 3,500-gallon-per-minute pumps, but that's exactly what Anchorage-based Precision Power needed last fall to complete a rush job for a gold mine in the Russian Far East. Fortunately, manufacturer Gorman-Rupp happened to have three such pumps on the shelf and Precision Power met the deadline to provide the mine with customized equipment for building ice roads. "I got a phone call while I was having lunch and took the numbers down on a...
Most Alaskans have never heard of Robert B. Gillam, the self-made Anchorage money man who built from scratch an investment empire approaching $10 billion in financial assets under management. But Gillam recently emerged as a central figure in the ongoing fight to stop development of the mammoth Pebble copper-gold deposit near Iliamna in southwest Alaska. He testified in favor of House Concurrent Resolution 29 at a hearing Feb. 10 before the Alaska House Committee on Natural Resources in Juneau. HCR 29 is a resolution that...
In the last month the Alaska mining industry has seen start-up of its first major gold mine in five years (Pogo) and approval of permits for the Nixon Fork copper-gold mine. We also saw announcement of substantial increases in copper, gold and molybdenum resources at two advanced exploration/development projects (Donlin Creek and Pebble). New development plans were offered for heap leaching at the Fort Knox gold mine and initial funding was approved for evaluation of a coal to liquids facility at the Beluga coal deposits....
This summer, Vancouver, British Columbia-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. will spend $20 million on an expanded-scale continuation of its drilling program at the newest discovery in the east zone of its Pebble mine project near Iliamna on the Alaska Peninsula. The drilling budget is twice what the company spent on the project last year. The new find just to the east of the initial discovery made Pebble meaningfully bigger and richer, and the company expects this year's drilling program to tell just how much the east zone...
A report on the economic impact of Alaska's mining industry published in February provides a comprehensive look at the varied benefits mining brings to the state. The Alaska Miners Association commissioned the McDowell Group to prepare the report and distributed it to state legislators. Presentations to the Legislature by the AMA and the Alaska Minerals Commission in the same week emphasized the positive aspects of Alaska's mining resurgence and the importance of a stable tax regime. Much of the information in the McDowell...
