The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 1 - 12 of 12
Kenai Peninsula College Anthropology Professor Alan Boraas is a frequent op-ed contributor to the Anchorage Daily News. One of his regular targets for criticism is the Pebble copper project in southwest Alaska. Most recently, on April 14, the brunt of his criticism was the involvement of Rio Tinto in the project. In Prof. Boraas' words, news of the Rio Tinto buy-in is "not good for those concerned with environmental and community impacts of the proposed mine." He notes that...
The exploration season has started but not before a bevy of new corporate competitors have entered the Alaska mineral scene and not before a number of past producing mines have been dragged into the 21st century. During the last month, three new companies have acquired properties in Alaska and two old Alaska producers have been brought out of mothballs to have new exploration done on them. This month's commodities of interest include gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver, uranium,...
Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty, whose sole asset is the Pebble project in southwest Alaska, is the only junior mining company to remain in the top five on the TSX Venture Exchange or TSX-V by market capitalization for two years straight. The company's market capitalization was C$326.5 million in 2005, making it the fourth-largest in its sector, and C$657.4 million in 2006, making it the third-largest. These and other achievements by Canadian companies are highlighted in a report called Junior Mine by Pri...
As summer approaches, Niblack Mining Co. is assembling everything it will need from people to permits to tunnel 6,000 feet into the heart of Lookout Mountain on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. The Vancouver, B.C.-based junior wants to explore at depth zones believed to be rich in copper, gold, zinc, silver and other marketable minerals. Niblack Mining hired Henry Bogert as operations manager for the project in March. Juneau resident Bogert is a longtime mining and civil engineer with degrees from Montana Tech and...
More junior mining companies than ever appear to be seeking their fortunes in precious metals and gems in the wilds of northwestern Canada these days and more seem to be joining the throng every day. Still, few of these modern-day explorers are drawn to the Far North by the allure of high-rank coal and metallurgical minerals such as cobalt and bismuth. But Fortune Minerals of London, Ontario, is one such firm. Founded in 1988, Fortune Minerals went public a year later. In the 18 years since, the company has gotten lucky more...
Vancouver-based New Gold plans to develop its New Afton copper-gold project into an underground block cave mine, based on a feasibility study the company released April 2. New Afton is located six miles west of Kamloops in south-central British Columbia, at the site of the former Afton open pit mine. That mine operated from 1978 to 1987, producing approximately 500 million pounds of copper, 500,000 ounces of gold and 3 million ounces of silver. New Afton's reserves contain almost 1 billion pounds of copper, more than 1...
As production steadily increases, investment in mill upgrades is making a big difference in the quality of lead and zinc concentrates at Teck Cominco's Red Dog mine in northwest Alaska. Bringing in new equipment and enhancing systems is always a challenge because the facility is already a labyrinth of massive SAG mills, ball mills and flotation columns, mill engineer Curtiss Ehrsam said at a meeting of the Alaska Miners Association and Society of Mining Engineers in Anchorage April 11. Recent improvements have included the in...
After several years of revision, Alaska is closing in on the goal of bringing its surface coal mining regulations in line with federal rules governing the same activities. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources says changes are necessary to the Alaska Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act to make it consistent with corresponding federal regulations administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. DNR proposes revisions and additions to Alaska regulations,...
AFter years of exploration, permitting and construction, the day when a junior company brings its first mine into production should be a cause for celebration. Many juniors never even see such a day. But it is also the moment of truth, when all the wealth that has been promised must start to show itself. Some investors are already starting to wonder when Toronto-based Tahera Diamond Corp.'s Jericho mine in Nunavut will bring them a return. Jericho commenced operations in August 2006 and immediately experienced start-up...
The problem of bringing power to NovaGold's remote Donlin Creek project in southwest Alaska is one of the main bones of contention in the Vancouver-based junior's never-ending battle with its joint venture partner, Barrick Gold. Toronto-based Barrick, the operator at Donlin Creek, envisions a combination of diesel and wind power for the proposed gold mine. NovaGold's management believes the logistics of transporting huge quantities of diesel fuel upriver are too challenging and expensive, and wants to put in a power line...
Stornoway Diamond Corp. is aiming to become one of the few successful middle-tier diamond exploration and development companies, following its amalgamation with Ashton Mining and Contact Diamond Corp., which concluded in mid-January. The Vancouver-based company now has three advanced exploration projects in the eastern Arctic, one on the border of Quebec and Ontario, and another in northern Alberta, as well as a 50 percent interest in the Renard property in Quebec. Middle-tier companies are much more common in the gold sector...
When Polaris Minerals developed its plan for the Orca quarry on Vancouver Island, the company expected that the initial market for the sand and gravel would be California, where demand for concrete is apparently insatiable. But by the time the quarry began production in March of this year, Polaris had received a pleasant surprise: a five-year contract with a ready-mix concrete manufacturer in the Vancouver area, a customer that has asked Polaris to keep its identity confidential. Polaris will ship 400,000 tons of sand and...
