The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 1 - 13 of 13
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority said it served notice to Homer Electric Association that it is terminating a 2006 agreement with the utility to place the Healy Clean Coal Project in operation. AIDEA said it is taking the action as part of its continuing efforts to get the mothballed experimental clean coal plant up and running. The termination will be effective on August 20, 2009. Construction and testing of the clean coal project was completed in the 1990s with nearly US$300 million in federal and...
The Alaska summer is in full swing but news is slow in arriving from new field programs and mining operations around the state. The biggest news in the past month was the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of Coeur d'Alene Mines' tailing disposal permits at its Kensington deposit north of Juneau. The longstanding stalemate, dating back to late 2006, clears the way (hopefully) for completion of the construction at the Slate Lake tailings facility and commencement of mining... Full story
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Fifth Amendment, U.S. Constitution. "That is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where arbitrary restrictions, exemptions, and monopolies deny to part of its citizens that free use of their faculties, and free choice of their occupations, which not only constitute their property in the gener... Full story
Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. is working to bring on line its new mercury-emission control equipment in compliance with state-mandated mercury emission limits and resume gold production at the Jerritt Canyon Mine near Elko, Nev. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is quietly drafting a new federal regulation that could throw another monkey wrench into the miner's two-year effort to return the gold mine to production. Yukon-Nevada reported a delay June 2 in the fabrication of the fiberglass ductwork that it planned to... Full story
Kinross Gold Corp. - operator of the largest gold mine in the Tintina Gold Belt - has embarked on a treasure hunt in hopes of identifying another Fort Knox-like deposit in this gold-rich province. The Tintina belt is a boomerang-shaped swath of land that spans the breadth of Alaska, through the Yukon Territory and into northern British Columbia. While Kinross works to extend the mine life of Fort Knox after 13 years of production through drilling, the Toronto-based miner is...
Victoria Gold Corp. is making good on its promise to put the Eagle Gold Project in east-central Yukon Territory on a fast track once its merger with StrataGold Corp. was completed. The Toronto-based junior June 29 reported the commissioning of a pre-feasibility study and a comprehensive project proposal that satisfies Yukon regulatory requirements and associated permits necessary for development of Eagle Gold, a sizeable, advanced, lower-risk project through its merger with Vancouver, B.C.-based StrataGold Corp., which...
RED DOG MINE - Teck Resources Ltd. and NANA Regional Native Corp. are waiting, with cautious optimism, for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide final approval for development of a huge zinc-lead deposit that would extend the life of the Red Dog zinc mine by about 20 years. The partners in the world's largest zinc mine began their quest for approval to mine the Aqqaluk deposit, which is adjacent to the Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue, more than two years ago. Though... Full story
The Province of British Columbia recognized two of Teck Resources Ltd.'s coal operations for excellence in mine safety at the 54th Annual Provincial Mine Rescue, First Aid and Safety Awards ceremony held June 6 at Britannia Beach. Teck Coal's Greenhills Operations won the John Ash Award for achieving the lowest injury frequency rate for mines operating more than 1 million worker-hours in 2008 and the Line Creek Operation received the Edward Prior Award for mines operating between 200,000 and 1 million worker hours, with the...
The Canadian government recently approved a massive expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada, a move being hailed as a win for both conservation and economic development. "Nahanni is one of the Crown jewels of our incredible system of national parks and it is with pride that I take part in the greatest conservation achievement in a generation," said the Honorable Jim Prentice, Canada's Environment Minister and minister responsible for Parks Canada. "Enshrining this magnificent area in legislation, under the... Full story
North American Tungsten Corp. Ltd.'s decision to shut down the Cantung Mine, Canada's only producing tungsten mine, Oct. 15 comes at a time when tungsten prices are depressed and stockpiles of ore are climbing. But company Chairman and CEO Stephen M. Leahy, told reporters in Brazil recently that he doesn't expect the temporary shutdown to last more than six months. "Logistically it's much simpler to come back in the spring after April," Leahy said. "We will have to make our decision based on how we gauge the market in the...
Though Alaska has more than 7,300 abandoned hardrock mine sites, most of which are located on federal lands, the state's problems are relatively small potatoes compared with the estimated 260,000 abandoned mines to be found scattered across the West, according to a 2008 study conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office. GAO Natural Resources and Environment Director Robin M. Nazzaro, in testimony before a U.S. Senate panel July 14, said the GAO researched state mining royalties and abandoned mine sites - two issues that a...
Teck Resources Ltd. and affiliates of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. said they completed the sale of Teck's 40 percent interest in the Pogo Gold Mine in Interior Alaska July 7 after several months of negotiations. The transaction, first announced April 30, required the Japanese conglomerate to pay Teck US$245 million, plus an undisclosed amount of working capital. As a result, Sumitomo Metal and Sumitomo now own 100 percent of Pogo, with the former increasing its share to 85 percent from 51 percent, and...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take another look at the tailings disposal permit it issued for the Kensington gold project near Juneau. In a July 14 letter written by Region 10 Acting Deputy Regional Administrator Michael Gearheard, the EPA advised the Corps to "reevaluate the circumstances and conditions of the permit in view of new information related to the Kensington Mine and Lower Slate Lake disposal site." The EPA...
