The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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The unseasonably, interminably, unspeakably cold spring that is delaying mineral exploration and development work in Alaska this year is being mimicked by a financial chill that is affecting Alaska exploration efforts just like it is the rest of the world. Not to put too fine a point on it, but from a mineral exploration standpoint, Alaska is shaping up to be as dead as a doornail this summer (ever wonder where that saying came from ... but I digress.). How dead? Try this statistic on for size: Of the 49 exploration projects...
For those of you that could not attend, the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention and Trade Show was well-attended, with most people pleasantly surprised by the strong turnout. Compared to a year ago, more companies are planning to get back in the field with exploration and development programs in 2014, a sentiment making up one of the few bright spots in a recent IntierraRMG resource sector exploration summary. This report and a similar snapshot of the exploration...
The ongoing scarcity of venture capital available to junior companies coupled with a retreat in metals prices has landed a one-two blow that sent mineral exploration spending in Alaska plunging for the second straight year. A handful of big-budget projects scattered across Alaska, though, is softening the hit to exploration spending across the Far North State during 2013. Mineral exploration expenditures in Alaska, which were a meager US$23.8 million in 2001, topped US$365...
With roughly C$216.6 million in the bank at the end of the third quarter, Novagold Resources Inc. is well-positioned to complete permitting at its Donlin Gold project in Alaska and continue exploration at its Galore Creek copper-gold project in British Columbia. "These are turbulent times in the business, but we have got the cash to see us through the permitting," Novagold President Greg Lang told attendees at the Denver Gold Forum. Ahead of the financial tempest that is battering most of the titanic gold producers and...
As I write this summary, the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention and Trade Show is right around the corner (Nov. 6-8). Despite the softening commodities prices and generally bearish sentiment expressed by the mining industry throughout the year, in the past month or so, I have seen a refreshing resurgence of that single-most important quality of the Alaska mining industry - optimism! Despite bankruptcies, mine closures, negative feasibility studies and the exodus from...
From Kotzebue to Ketchikan, Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is using its financial muscle and its ability to build and operate large infrastructure projects to help mining companies overcome the challenges of developing the often remote mineral riches that the Last Frontier has to offer. "We are working with local communities and mine developers on infrastructure projects throughout Alaska, including port facilities and energy supply," said AIDEA external...
A new preliminary economic assessment has stripped away the idea of underground mining as the only means to recover the copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold from the volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit at the Arctic deposit. Instead, the scoping study has encouraged NovaCopper Inc. to favor an open-pit mine scenario as it advances the Northwest Alaska project towards a pre-feasibility study. "We think this (PEA) demonstrates that the open-pit is a viable alternative; and I...
This month's mining news is a smorgasbord to delight the appetites of explorers, developers and miners alike. We had quarterly reports out from Teck, Kinross, Hecla and Coeur d'Alene discussing their respective results from operating mines around the state. We had one preliminary economic analysis by NovaCopper on its Arctic massive sulfide project and one feasibility study announced by International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. on its Livengood gold project. We had Freegold and...
Before we take a peek at what is happening across Alaska, I'd like to summarize a superb presentation on the world's exploration industry presented by MinEx Consulting's Richard Shodde at a mining conference in South Africa. He pointed out that since 1990 there has been a very strong correlation between gold price and exploration expenditures. While not earth-shattering in itself, he took the conclusion one step farther: analyst predictions for the gold price through 2020 are...
Following a rising chorus of junior companies touting impressive exploration programs on mineral prospects across Alaska that reached its crescendo in 2011, a deafening silence is resonating across the Far North expanse in 2013. And in the junior mining sector, no news is bad news. Mineral exploration expenditures in Alaska, which were a meager US$23.8 million in 2001, climbed to US$347 million by 2008. The "Great Recession of 2008" tightened the equity markets, resulting in...
VANCOUVER, B.C. - British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Territory - the headliners of the Association for Mining Exploration British Columbia's 2013 Mineral Exploration Roundup - tallied more than C$1 billion of mineral exploration spending in 2012. This marks the second year running that these neighboring jurisdictions at the northwestern extent of the North American Cordillera topped the C$1 billion mark. But unlike the 2012 Roundup, a year in which explosive exploration...
Ending a streak of robust growth, mineral exploration spending in Alaska during 2012 took a downward turn from the record US$300 million spent a year earlier. "More advanced-stage projects that added ounces or pounds to their resource base had a better go of it than early-stage exploration projects which have taken a hard right cross to the jaw!" Curt Freeman, a well-known Alaska geologist and president of Fairbanks-based Avalon Development, observed in September. This blow de...
NovaCopper Inc. - formed as a 2012 spinout of NovaGold Resources Inc.'s Ambler project in Northwest Alaska - already boasts some 3.6 billion pounds of high-grade copper resources plus appreciable quantities of gold, silver, lead and zinc. "This is an excellent start to NovaCopper's life as a public company," said NovaCopper President and CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. In addition to some 90,624 acres of state, federal and patented mining claims blanketing the Ambler Mining Distric...
An employment forecast published by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in October pegged the state's mining sector job growth from 2010 to 2020 at 19 percent. That is second only to health care, at 31 percent, and outpacing the 12 percent average growth across all Alaska industries. Expansion of current operations coupled with prospects of building mines at the world-class Livengood and Donlin gold deposits were cited as drivers behind adding new miners t...
The 17,209-meter drill program carried out by NovaCopper Inc. in 2012 at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Project in the Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska is revealing a third copper deposit with sufficient size and grade to be deemed world-class. When the spin-out of NovaGold Resources Inc.'s copper-rich Ambler project was completed in May, NovaCopper held Arctic, a single deposit with an NI 43-101-compliant resource. But the deal also included US$40 million in start-up...
As the first cooler days and termination dust start appearing across Alaska, seasonal exploration activities are winding down and operating mines are preparing for another winter. To be sure, less money was spent on fewer projects by the mineral industry exploring and developing Alaska's mineral resources in 2012 versus 2011. More advanced-stage projects that added ounces or pounds to their resource base had a better go of it than early-stage exploration projects which have...
Over a year ago, Natural Resource Holdings published a report entitled "How Rare are One Million Ounce Gold Deposits?" At that time, the publisher ranked 296 gold deposits that have more than 1 million ounces of gold in all resources categories. The same firm recently published a follow-up report titled, "Global Gold Mines & Deposits 2012 Ranking." The report ranks gold deposits above 1 million ounces, whose numbers have increased to 439 deposits with total resources of...
In a long overdue step to bring Alaska into the 21st Century, state and federal agencies met in late June to discuss collaborative funding strategies for Alaska's Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative, an enterprise designed to create Alaska's first high-quality digital topographic map. The roundtable was convened by Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell and the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of Interior. Alaska remains the only state in the United States...
If you are looking for proof that the mining industry is experiencing unparalleled changes, look no further than "Mine 2012: The growing disconnect," the 9th edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers' annual report on the global mining industry. This recently released report indicates that in 2011 the top 40 global mining companies posted record profits of $133 billion and generated record operating cash flows of $174 billion. However, over the course of the year, market...
The stock symbol "NCQ" lit up the boards on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges May 2, marking the official launch of NovaCopper Inc. as an independent mineral exploration company under the leadership of NovaGold Resources Inc. founder Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. "Now that we are a public company independent of NovaGold, we are looking forward to unlocking great value from the exceptional assets we have in the Ambler mining district," said NovaCopper President and CEO Van Nieu...
The Fraser Institute's "Survey of Mining Companies, 2011/2012" was recently released to the public. This annual survey of exploration and mining companies gauges the pros and cons of working in various countries around the world. This year's results came from over 800 mineral industry companies working in 93 jurisdictions and representing cumulative 2011 exploration expenditures of over US$6.3 billion. The perception of Alaska from the companies that work here was about the...
There are some new statistics just out from the Alaska Miners Association that I thought you might like to see. For 2011, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 4,500 direct jobs and 9,000 indirect jobs. The industry paid US$620 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$100,000 per year, which is double the statewide average for all sectors. The industry paid US$148 million in rents, royalties, taxes and other fees to the State of Alaska (up 170 percent over...
I was tempted to make a few 2012 predictions now that 2011 is nearly gone, but I decided not to when I came across the following lines and was struck by how closely they mimic our current mining climate: "On a more local level, several old Alaska properties have been rejuvenated by new players to the Alaska mineral scene. Reserve announcements have touched off renewed land acquisitions and property negotiations. Contracts for technical personnel, drill rigs, helicopters and...
As a busy year in the Alaska and global mining industry starts to slide closer to its end, I figured now was a good time to gaze into my crystal ball (rutilated quartz, of course) to see what next year might bring. While strong metals prices promise another busy year for Alaska, a dose of global reality was provided by the financial giant Ernst & Young, who recently published a list of the top 10 business risks for the mining and metals industry for the coming year. Resource n...
While NovaGold Resources Inc.'s ultimate goal is to become a 1-million-ounce-per-year gold producer, the Vancouver B.C.-based junior is taking a fresh look at the enormous reserves of copper waiting to be mined at its Galore Creek project in British Columbia and its Ambler project in Northwest Alaska. "Management believes the recently completed economic analyses of Galore Creek and Ambler clearly demonstrate that NovaGold's copper assets are considerably undervalued having reg...
