The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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National Mining Association President and CEO Rich Nolan says the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the risks associated with America's overreliance on foreign supply chains for nearly every sector of the economy, especially when it comes to minerals. "As states continue to open across the country, we must focus on investing in and establishing domestic supply chains to help speed our economic recovery and make us more resilient to future crises," he penned in a June 9 letter.... Full story
In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and following the cancellation of the Alaska Miners Association 2020 Spring Convention in Fairbanks, AMA Executive Director Deantha Crockett takes the time to answer 20 questions on how the pandemic is affecting Alaska's mining sector and the association; Alaska's economy; state and federal mining policy; and due process for the Pebble Mine project. Q. Alaska Miners Association recently made the difficult decision to cancel its spring... Full story
It's official, U.S. mining projects can now be considered for more efficient permitting under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, or Fast-41, a program established in 2015 to improve the timeliness, predictability, and transparency of the federal environmental review and authorization process for eligible infrastructure projects. This Obama-era Fast-41 program established the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC), a federal entity... Full story
Mining and other trade organization leaders welcome the White House's proposed revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as much needed upgrades to the burdensome and often redundant regulations that are holding back investments into mines and infrastructure in the United States. "The mining industry is all too familiar with the project delays and escalating costs associated with NEPA compliance," said National Mining Association President and CEO Rich Nolan.... Full story
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) have teamed up to introduce bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing America's "Achilles' heel" – a heavy dependence on foreign countries for its growing mineral needs. "Our nation's mineral security is a significant, urgent, and often ignored challenge. Our reliance on China and other nations for critical minerals costs us jobs, weakens our economic competitiveness, and leaves us at a geopolitical d...
The American Exploration & Mining Association Dec. 19 announced that it honored Novagold Resources Inc. with the AEMA Platinum Award for Corporate Excellence at the association's 124th Annual Meeting in Spokane, Washington. The award was bestowed to Novagold for its part in designing the Donlin Gold project to incorporate a strong culture of safety, environmental stewardship, and community engagement with the potential to generate meaningful benefits throughout Alaska for...
While not the flashiest of the 35 minerals on the United States Geological Survey's critical list, barite plays an essential role in America's energy sector. Barite got its name from the Ancient Greek word for heavy, barús, and it is the high specific gravity that earned this mineral its name that makes it a critical mineral. Added to drill mud, a solution that serves multiple purposes in bore drilling, barite's weight helps maintain the integrity of the drill hole and...
With the holidays in the rear view mirror and the convention season half-way over, mining operators in Alaska, big and small, are processing their paperwork for the upcoming field season. The major properties work around the calendar, but when it comes to placer operations and exploration projects, the time for 2018 field season planning is at hand. All the signs are that 2018 will be the best season in five years. Although the stock market is rising steeply, the incremental... Full story
Antimony is a poor conductor of heat, an attribute that lends itself to this semi-metal's most common use, as an ingredient to make clothing, mattresses and other products flame resistant. While making work clothes and household items safer and less likely to catch fire is a relatively new use for antimony, humans have been using antimony for other purposes for more than 5,000 years. "For example, the ancient Egyptians and early Hindus used stibnite, which is the major ore... Full story
While not the flashiest of the 35 minerals on the United States Geological Survey's critical list, barite plays an essential role in America's energy sector. Barite derives its name from barús, the Ancient Greek word for heavy, owing to an exceptionally high specific gravity for a non-metallic mineral. It is this weight that makes barite a key element to the oil and gas sector and lands the mineral on USGS' critical list. "More than 90 percent of the barite sold in the United... Full story
Since investing roughly US$70 million to acquire a 28 percent stake in Novagold Resources Inc. in 2009, American billionaire Thomas Kaplan and his Electrum Group of companies have taken a keen interest in some of the more intriguing mineral exploration companies and projects in Alaska and across Canada's North. Kaplan, an Oxford-educated historian that began investing in natural resources in the 1980s, knows that gold has served as a currency throughout mankind's written histo... Full story
A group of diverse global-scale mining companies hailing from Australia, Japan, and the United States are quietly exploring a relatively small region of Alaska's Interior. Two of these international players - Sumitomo Metal Mining and Newmont Mining Corp. - are seeking gold in the Pogo region of the Tintina Gold Belt. Melbourne-based MMG Ltd., on the other hand, is seeking nickel in the Wrangellia Terrane, a promising band of rocks immediately south of the legendary gold... Full story
As gold exploration cools globally, the search for the precious metal is once again heating up in the larger Pogo Mine region of Interior Alaska. One of the reasons this region continues to be a hotbed of gold exploration is Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo LLC’s success in finding and expanding new deposits of high-grade gold on its Pogo Mine property, which anchors the Goodpaster Mining District. Another dozen promising prospects found beyond the borders of the Pogo Mine claims a...
After eight years of battling anti-mining policies being promulgated by the Obama Administration, the National Mining Association is cautiously optimistic about the positive change in the tone and substance of U.S. resource development policies since Donald Trump has moved into the White House. “The November election ushered in a surprisingly swift and dramatic change, particularly in the way people in Washington D.C. view natural resources,” NMA President and CEO Hal Quinn said during a June 28 keynote speech at the Res... Full story
As in the recent past, the state of the world's exploration industry was summarized in SNL Metal & Mining's annual "Corporate Exploration Strategies" publication, released at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto earlier this month. Not surprisingly, it painted a grim picture of 2015, the worst year for exploration since 2009. The statistics indicate that worldwide exploration expenditures declined a further 19 percent to $9.2 billion...
Although there is plenty of Alaska mining industry news this month, the big dog in the pen is the dramatic and unexpected run-up in the price of gold, which moved from a low of $1,078 per ounce to a high of $1,246/oz., most of which occurred after Feb. 1. Although profit-taking and other factors have caused the price to back off a bit, the move was both dramatic and unexpected. As you might guess, the ether is full of talking heads telling us why it went up, why it either won'... Full story
Hecla Mining Company Dec. 2 kicked off a year-long celebration marking its 125th anniversary as a mining company in 2016. Hecla President and CEO Phillips S. Baker Jr. addressed the company's milestone during a keynote speech at the welcoming luncheon of the American Exploration & Mining Association Annual Meeting and Exposition in Spokane, Wash. Founded in 1891, Hecla Mining Co. is the oldest mining company on the NYSE. "We have been in business longer than iconic American co...
Citing a need to ensure clean drinking water, the Obama administration May 27 unveiled new rules that broadens what is considered the Waters of the United States and, thereby, pushing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Act authority further upstream. President Barack Obama said the new measures - which add wetlands and small tributaries to the navigable waters protected under the Clean Water Act - are needed to protect sources of drinking water for some 117...
The United States is richly endowed with a broad range of metals and minerals critical to national security, green energy and modern technology but is often overly-reliant on foreign sources for these same commodities. This was the resounding message from miners, manufacturers, regulators and analysts who testified on U.S. Senate Bill 883, "The American Mineral Security Act of 2015." Introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, S.883 aims to reduce the United States' heavy...
Alaska miners are taking U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to task over recent comments she made that suggest mining is prolific on federal lands in Alaska. Following a speech to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank based in Washington, D.C., Jewell told Alaska Public Radio Network Correspondent Liz Ruskin that "much" of mining in Alaska is done on federal lands. The Alaska Miners Association said this assertion contradicts what is actually... Full story
Valued at US$4 billion per year, Alaska's mining industry is as healthy as it has ever been. Much of this success is owed to the Alaska Miners Association, which celebrated its 75th anniversary during its annual convention and trade show held in Anchorage Nov. 3-9. The anniversary event also highlighted many of the challenges the association and its constituents face going forward. Under the stewardship of AMA, Alaska boasts six large-scale operating mines churning out gold,...
Mineral and coal exploration in British Columbia, which peaked at C$680 million in 2012, retreated to roughly C$476 million in 2013. This drop is on par with the roughly 30 percent decrease in exploration expenditures worldwide. The dynamics that led to the decrease - tight capital markets that continue to challenge the ability of junior explorers to raise money, senior miners keeping tight reins on exploration spending and softer gold prices - have remained in play during...
A coalition of 38 companies and organizations, representing a broad spectrum of America's economy, is urging lawmakers on Capitol Hill to dust off pending critical minerals legislation and send a version to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature. "Updating our geologic data, reducing delays in permitting, bolstering research, and encouraging efficient use can pay dividends for future generations," explains the group pressing for critical minerals legislation....
At the recent Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada meeting in Toronto, Dr. Richard Schodde, managing director of MinEx Consulting, presented some key factors which affect the time span between a mineral discovery and start-up of commercial mining. The study reviewed about 3,500 nonferrous metal deposits discovered between 1950 and 2013. Dr. Schodde's findings suggest that only 45 percent of all discoveries made since 1950 have turned into mines. The rate is... Full story
I have often mused about why the mining industry is held in such disdain in the United States today. It wasn't always that way. When I was a child, the mining industry was the subject of song and saga, and before that, there was the day when the incessant stamp mills of mines like the A.J. in Juneau were the sound of a full lunch pail. People respected hard work and knew intuitively that basic industries were from whence our raw materials evolved into consumer goods that made...
