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
Massive earthmoving equipment, explosives, enormous mills pulverizing rock into dust, chemicals, metal-liquefying furnaces and extreme weather conditions - mining in Alaska is fraught with peril. Yet, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, only the state's oil fields provide a safer workplace than Alaska mines. According to a state report on occupational injuries, 1.8 percent of miners in Alaska were injured in 2008, compared to the statewide...
As we near the end of September and the metals market remains robust, the mining industry is breathing a sigh of relief as we remember the market meltdown of early September 2008. Although nobody is suggesting that the larger economy is in any way out of the woods yet, the worldwide demand for metals and metal products continues to expand. For example, the gold price hit US$1,274.95 earlier this month, well above the previous record of US$1,261 hit on June 28. Some believe...
Several readers of last month's column were struck by the excessively cynical tone of my admonition that the last person out of Alaska should please turn out the lights. In retrospect, perhaps I was too rash because, in truth, Alaska will continue to be a fertile ground for all manner of relevant and critical activities for as far into the distant future as we are able to see. For instance, although there may continue to be a diminishing military establishment here, even in the total absence of saber-rattling along the... Full story
Hunter Dickinson Inc. has set out to bring continuity to the disjointed picture that geologists have of the precious metals-rich Delta volcanogenic massive sulfide property in the eastern Alaska Range about 36 miles, or 58 kilometers southwest of Tok, Alaska. Over the past 35 years, geologists representing a throng of mining companies have traversed the Delta project investigating the promising mineralization known to exist there. This exploration, which includes 23,711 meters...
Now that the word is out about Atac Resources Ltd.'s impressive gold discoveries at the Rau Project in central Yukon Territory, the financial market is taking to the early-stage exploration effort with the enthusiasm of a bear in a beehive. Atac recently reported impressive results from drilling and prospecting the Osiris and Isis targets on the Sten claim block near the eastern edge of the 185-kilometer-, or 115-mile-long Rau Project. Meanwhile, investors have fueled a run-up in Atac's stock price to about $7 a share from...
When Corvus Gold Inc.'s ticker symbol, KOR, first lit up on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange AMEX boards in late August, the junior explorer already had multimillion-dollar exploration campaigns under way on its promising exploration projects in Alaska. The Vancouver B.C.-based junior, formed to explore International Tower Hill Ltd.'s non-Livengood projects, holds four exploration properties in Alaska and the North Bullfrog project in Nevada. Under the... Full story
The diamond industry is poised for a turnaround due to recovery in the U.S. market and growth in Asian diamond markets such as China and India, according to a new comprehensive report by Global Industry Analysts Inc. While Europe continues to have the world's leading markets for diamonds, rapidly growing Asian economies are expected to form a significant market group, the San Jose, Calif.-based market research publisher said Sept. 16. The report also predicted that diamond prices are expected to rise in the near future and...
One of the reasons that mining-friendly Nunavut is attracting considerable industry attention in 2010 is the ongoing exploration success of ventures like Aura Silver Resources Inc.'s Greyhound Project in the Kivalliq region of the territory, where relatively modest spending can deliver impressive results. Aura Silver reported results in August and early September from surface sampling and drilling programs this summer that returned grades as high as 28.2 grams per metric ton gold and up to 5,380 g/t silver. The samples were...
Dozens of small explorers mounted exploration campaigns in 2010 in and around the historic Stewart Gold Camp in northwestern British Columbia, and as assays trickle in from samples and core sent to labs this spring and summer, many of them are reporting encouraging results. The Stewart Gold Camp, located about 20 miles, or 35 kilometers, from the B.C./Alaska border, is an emerging, world-class mining district that continues to offer discovery opportunities for major gold-copper and precious metal polymetallic deposits. The...
NIXON FORK - Flying more than 200 miles, or 320 kilometers, northwest from Anchorage, on a route that roughly parallels the legendary Iditarod trail, Fire River Gold Corp.'s Nixon Fork Mine looms on the horizon. The 4,000-foot airstrip and array of buildings resting atop a gold-veined ridge is an island of productivity in this vast expanse of Interior Alaska. "You might look at the site and say, 'It would never be built today.' If this was just a hillside and trees and we were...
Teck Resources Ltd. won a place in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index in September by ranking among the top 10 percent of it peers in the resource industry for its sustainability practices. By focusing on five areas where it can have a positive impact - safety, environment, community engagement and development, value for its stakeholders and responsible stewardship of its products in society - Teck has risen through the ranks of the Dow Jones sustainability indices. In...
