The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 145
Two companies that trace their roots to the oil and gas sector have agreed to form an alliance to continue exploration at the Tetlin gold-copper-silver property in Alaska's eastern Interior. In early October, Contango Ore Inc. announced that it inked a deal with Royal Gold Inc. that provides the Colorado-based royalty company the opportunity to earn up to a 40 percent interest in Tetlin. The agreement, which awaits final approval from Contango Ore shareholders, calls for the f...
Contango ORE Inc. co-founder Brad Juneau ventured to Alaska seeking natural gas; today, his Texas-based company is sitting on a gold-copper-silver deposit at its Tetlin project with an initial 1.1 million-ounce gold-equivalent resource and a 760,000-acre land package with enough "blue sky" potential to keep a mineral exploration company busy for decades. Following five years of systematic exploration, Contango ORE Jan. 23 reported an indicated resource of 5.97 million metric...
With devolution around the corner and a well-reasoned mineral development strategy in place, government and industry officials in Northwest Territories are making a concerted effort to alert the world to the mineral resource and investment opportunities to be found in Canada's Far North, especially in the jurisdiction that boasts the third-richest diamond resources in the world. In addition to three operating diamond mines and the sole tungsten producer in the West, NWT currently has six well-advanced mine projects working...
Led by a petroleum engineer with a 25-year history in the oil and gas industry, Contango ORE Inc., known as Core, may be the most unconventional mineral exploration company working in Alaska. Yet, while most of the company's more orthodox colleagues were unable to raise the venture capital needed to mount significant exploration campaigns during 2013, the Houston, Texas-based junior topped its coffers with a US$14.2 million private placement that closed in March. Core...
Northwest Territories continued to benefit in 2013 from a recent surge of exploration interest. A vast expanse of mountains, forests and tundra that is roughly two-thirds the size of Alaska, the territory covers 1.17 million square kilometers (431,162 square miles). "We have, in the North, what the world wants - what emerging markets need," Northwest Territories Premier Robert "Bob" McLeod told an audience at a Prospects North gathering in Yellowknife Sept. 11. "We are the third-largest diamond producer in the world. In...
AVL: TSX President and CEO: Donald Bubar Senior Vice President, Metallurgy: Dave Marsh Vice-President, Exploration: William Mercer Avalon Rare Metals explored six of its seven properties in 2013, but focused most of its attention on the advanced Nechalacho rare earth elements project located at Thor Lake, Northwest Territories some 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Yellowknife. The property is comprised of five contiguous mining leases totaling 10,449 acres (4,249 hectares) and three claims totaling 4,597 acres (1,869...
With a marketing campaign seemingly designed to send investors and their money running, Contango ORE Inc., also known as Core, may be the most unconventional mineral exploration company working in Alaska. A presentation posted on the company's website in 2011 provides a sense of the explorer's unabashed frankness: "It would be truly exciting if Core owned gold or REEs (rare earth elements) - we sadly do not - we are an exploration company i.e. a pure and simple...
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...
Lacking the fanfare emblematic of an explorer hot on the trail of a high tenor gold-copper-silver deposit, Contango Ore Inc. recently posted results from its Tetlin project that include a 58.5-meter intercept averaging 14.45 grams per metric ton gold, 0.24 percent copper and 9.1 g/t silver. While this interval from hole TET1218 underscores the potential of this previously undrilled prospect, it is not alone. Some 20 holes sunk into the newly discovered Peak zone tapped broad...
Alaska miners are on the cusp of topping 1 million ounces of gold produced, an annual milestone that has not been achieved since Gold Rush pioneers recovered copious amounts of alluvial aurum at the turn of the 20th Century. "When you think about what a million ounces of production means, it is all the more amazing that it was first accomplished by placer miners and a few lode miners, a few shovelfuls at a time, more than a century ago!" Curt Freeman, a well-known Alaska...
A challenging economic climate in 2012 failed to impede growth in mining activity in Northwest Territories. As miners struggled to fund their work programs, numerous companies managed to plow ahead in the wake of regulatory improvements, advancing projects that could bring even more robust times to the territory's mineral resources sector. The Northwest Territories, one of Canada's three northern territories, is sandwiched between Yukon Territory to the west and Nunavut to the east. With a land mass of nearly 1,347,150...
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...
With its sights set on gold, Contango Ore Inc. raised US$8.8 million in March to fund a US$6.75 million exploration program on its Alaska projects during the 2012 field season - the bulk of which was spent on a second-year drill program at the Tetlin gold-copper project about 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of the crossroads town of Tok. The Houston, Texas-based explorer, known as CORE, is an Alaska-focused mineral spinout from Contango Oil & Gas Co., an exploration and...
The Northwest Territories has been closely linked with the mining industry ever since B.A. Blakeney, a prospector on his way to the Klondike, staked the first gold mining claim here in 1898. And although the focus has shifted from gold to diamonds, the industry remains at the forefront of any discussion regarding the NWT's economic well-being: the territory produced over C$2 billion in total mineral shipments in 2011, a staggering total for a jurisdiction which has a population that barely exceeds 40,000 residents. Although...
Northwest Territories, a vast expanse of mountains, forests and tundra, has been slower to experience the surge in mineral exploration and development activities that has swept across Yukon Territory and Nunavut in recent years. But the mining industry is turning its attention to the 1.17 million square kilometers (431,162 square miles) Arctic land - roughly two-thirds the size of Alaska - that lies in between. Permits have been issued for new areas of exploration and claims are being staked in places where such activity has...
Putting Alaska on the map as a domestic source of rare earth elements and other strategic and critical minerals is a priority of Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell. During the 2012 budget cycle, Alaska lawmakers approved US$498,000 proposed by the administration to begin a statewide REE evaluation. This year's budget includes US$2.7 million for a three-year project to continue this initiative. "Alaska can become America's source for rare earth elements," Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell...
Avalon Rare Metals Inc. is working to capitalize on the jump it believes it has on competitors. The would-be producer of rare earth elements told investors recently that none of the other companies currently pursuing development of REE mining projects will have all of the highly desirable heavy rare earths ready to market by 2015-2016. Currently, China produces some 95 percent of the world's REEs, and the county will soon consume 60-70 percent of the world supply. Yet in the next five to 10 years, the Asian country could...
The vast landscape of the Northwest Territories is blessed with an abundance of resources. It is a land filled with opportunity, and much of the mineral wealth remains untapped. Mineral explorers and producers are making best efforts to unlock this potential and seizing the opportunities that await them. The Government of the Northwest Territories strongly supports responsible and sustainable mineral development that yields substantial economic benefits to NWT residents, communities and businesses. Four mines are operational...
AVL: TSX President and CEO: Donald S. Bubar, M. Sc., P. Geo. Vice-President, Finance and CFO: R.J. (Jim) Andersen, CA, CPA, CFP Vice-President, Exploration: William Mercer, Ph.D., P. Geo. Formed in 1991, Avalon Rare Metals is a mineral exploration and development company primarily focused on the rare metals and minerals that are in increasing demand for environmentally-beneficial high technology applications. These include lithium, tantalum, cesium, indium, gallium, rare earth elements, such as neodymium, dysprosium and...
Tri-Valley Corp., a California-based oil explorer, has cut an exploration-purchase deal with US Gold Corp. on the Richardson gold property, one of Tri-Valley's two mineral exploration properties in Interior Alaska. The agreement, penned July 1, provides US Gold with an option to acquire 60 percent interest in the 55-square-mile Richardson property once the Toronto-based company completes US$5 million in exploration and pays Select Resources Corp., Inc., Tri-Valley's mineral...
Less than two years after completing its initial public offering, Fire River Gold Corp. is positioned to commence production at its Nixon Fork Gold Mine in Interior Alaska. Building stockpiles of ore with gold grades of more than 1 ounce per metric ton, the young junior is preparing to start up the historical mine in June. With Fire River Gold nearing a point where it will generate its own revenue stream, company founder Harry Barr is stepping down as president and CEO of the...
Contango Oil & Gas Co., an exploration and production company focused primarily on petroleum resources in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, has turned one eye toward Alaska. Acquiring a large land package that is prospective for gold in the eastern Interior as well as six rare earth element prospects across the state, the Houston-based independent has spun out Contango ORE Inc., or Core, to explore its northern mineral assets. "Core has leased or filed mining claims...
The search for furs opened up the Northwest Territories more than 400 years ago, bringing explorers and traders to the North. In today's economy, it's the search for - and the development of - mineral resources that is the one of the main cogs in the NWT economy. It's an industry that contributes more than C$1 billion annually to our economy and creates more than 2,000 direct jobs. And while the past two years have been challenging for the mining industry everywhere due to the global economic crisis that has seen exploration...
Diamonds continued to dominate mining production in Northwest Territories in 2010, but other hardrock mineral projects led most of the mineral exploration activity during the year. Yet 2010 is shaping up to be a year of recovery for nearly all of the territory's miners. Rough diamond production from Harry Winston's 40 percent share of the Diavik Mine totaled 650,000 carats in the second quarter, up significantly from 570,000 carats a year earlier. Rio Tinto plc controls 60 percent interest in Diavik, Canada's largest diamond...
AVL: TSX President and CEO: Donald S. Bubar, M. Sc., P. Geo. Vice-President, Finance and CFO: R.J. (Jim) Andersen, CA, CPA, CFP Vice-President, Exploration: William Mercer, Ph.D., P. Geo. Formed in 1991, Avalon Rare Metals is a mineral exploration and development company primarily focused on the rare metals and minerals that are in increasing demand for environmentally-beneficial high technology applications. These include lithium, tantalum, cesium, indium, gallium as well as rare earth elements such as neodymium, dysprosium...
