The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 1 - 11 of 11
From college students seeking their first job in the minerals industry to executives of the world's leading mining companies, a record-setting 7,003 people packed the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., Jan. 24-27 to attend the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia's 2011 Mineral Exploration Roundup. "The theme this year is 'Exploring Today for Tomorrow's Resources' - it couldn't be more important a theme, and it couldn't be more important an activity,"...
There are some new stats out regarding mining's impact on Alaska that the McDowell Group Inc. produced for the State of Alaska. For 2010, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 3,500 direct jobs and 5,500 indirect jobs. The industry paid US$350 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$95,000 per year, which is double the statewide average for all sectors. Mining salaries were higher than all other sectors except for the oil and gas sector. The industry paid...
Anecdotal reports are flowing in to the effect that the 200 placer mining operations in Alaska may expect visits from Mine Safety and Health Administration agents this field season and that operators should "have their checkbooks handy." Rumor has it that the focus on placer mining was spurred, at least in part, by the Discovery Channel's "Gold Rush Alaska" depicting some of the trials and tribulations of a start-up operation on Porcupine Creek near Haines. MSHA is one of those government agencies out to save us from...
By signing a preliminary devolution agreement with the federal government Jan. 26, the Government of Northwest Territories has signaled that it is as eager for resource development as Yukon Territory, its neighbor to the west. "This agreement brings us one step closer to devolution, to having province-like powers. With devolution, we will gain local management and control over our non-renewable resources," said the N.W.T. Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister Robert McLeod in a recent interview. "I think it was an...
One soil at a time," said Shawn Ryan, describing the gold-hunting technique he has perfected in a decade of working what has become the hottest exploration play in Canada. After collecting more than 200,000 soil samples since 2003 and leading at least two junior mining companies to the most significant gold discoveries in the new White Gold District of Yukon Territory, Ryan is happy to share the particulars of his slow and careful approach to prospecting. The former Dawson City prospector, who recently moved to Whitehorse,...
Ryan Gold Corp., the junior created when Valdez Gold Corp. merged with Ryan Gold Inc. in December, said it has defined a significant gold-in-soil anomaly during initial exploration of its Ida Oro Property in Yukon Territory. In mid-February, the company also reported signing a letter agreement to purchase 50 properties, comprising about 6,631 quartz claims located throughout the Yukon from Shawn Ryan and Wildwood Exploration Inc. "Having acquired the Ida Oro and Fifty Mile projects from Ryan Gold Inc. last fall, we are...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided not to preemptively strike down the possibility of building a mine at the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project, at least for now. Instead, the federal agency has decided to take a year to study the potential effects of large-scale development on Southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed where Pebble is located. EPA said its decision to conduct the study is in response to Bristol Bay Native Corp. and others who petitioned...
As the Meadowbank Mine, Nunavut's sole operating gold mine, approaches its one-year anniversary of commercial production, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., the mine's owner and operator, acknowledges that it is still a work in progress. But the 600-employee, open-pit operation, which achieved commercial production March 1, 2010, has cleared some major hurdles in the nearly 12 months since its startup. Despite significant setbacks in ore processing and safety, the mine is delivering substantial value not only to Agnico-Eagle, but also...
For more than a century Prince of Wales Island has been known as a rich source of gold, copper, platinum group elements and silver. The 2,577-square-mile, or 6,674-square-kilometer, Southeast Alaska isle later gained renown for its stores of uranium and rare earth elements. While modern explorers have investigated several of the uncounted historical mines that dot the island, Niblack and Bokan Mountain have emerged recently as standout exploration projects. Both located near...
U.S. Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., are up in arms over the U.S. Department of Defense's apparent laidback approach to ensuring it has an ample supply of the rare earth elements critical to many of the weapons systems in the U.S. military's arsenal. "Clearly, rare earth supply limitations present a serious vulnerability to our national security. Yet early indications are the DoD (Department of Defense) has dismissed...
Knowing that porphyry deposits like Pebble are seldom an isolated occurrence, explorers are wondering if another enormous copper-gold deposit of this type lies hidden under the glacial gravels that cover much of Southwest Alaska. That was a question tackled by Pebble Partnership Chief Geologist Jim Lang at the 2011 Minerals Exploration Roundup in Vancouver, B.C. The geologist told the crowd that Pebble may not have an unknown identical twin, but by looking for similar traits,...
