The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) continues to be interested in funding the Strategic Metals Complex, or SMC, a rare earth element separation facility that Ucore Rare Metals is planning to develop in Ketchikan, Alaska. In 2014, the Alaska Legislature authorized AIDEA to invest up to US$145 million to help finance the development of a mine at Ucore's Bokan Mountain rare earth deposit on Prince of Wales Island, which is located about 30 miles southwest...
Underscoring the interconnected nature of the global mining market, not 48 hours after the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law, the mining industry began wondering out loud how they were going to produce rare earth element, tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum in the near future. Why these metals and why the worry now? Because one of the many impacts the Defense Authorization Act will have on the U.S. economy is its ban on the U.S. Department of... 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 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...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Aug. 13 reported that results from metallurgical testing demonstrate a premium-quality barite concentrate can be produced as a co-product to the copper, zinc, gold and silver found in the volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit at the Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. According to a resource calculated in 2015, the South Wall-RW deposit at Palmer hosts 8.1 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 5.25 percent (940.4 million pounds)...
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. Aug. 14 said the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 signed into law by President Donald Trump is a turning point for the rare earth element sector in the United States. The new legislation, more commonly known as the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, prohibits the U.S. Department of Defense from acquiring rare earth magnets – along with certain tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum products – from China, Rus...
Extremely hard and with the highest melting point of all the elements on the periodic table, tungsten is a vital ingredient to a wide-range of industrial and military applications, yet none of this durable metal is currently mined in the United States. According to the United States Geological Survey, more than half of the tungsten consumed in the U.S. last year was used to make the cemented tungsten-carbide, a compound typically made with equal parts tungsten and carbon....
The Trump Administration's latest round of tariffs on Chinese goods includes a 10 percent levy on rare earth elements, a group of 17 elements on the periodic table with unique properties that make them key ingredients in a wide array of modern high-tech products such as terabyte hard-drives that fit in the palm of your hand, high-efficiency green-power generation and sophisticated military hardware. For decades, China has dominated the REE market and has largely controlled...
Golden Predator Mining Corp. June 21 named globally recognized geological experts Richard Goldfarb, Lance Miller, Craig Hart and Bill Threlkeld to the company's newly formed exploration management council. These founding members bring vast experience in the geology of the Northern Cordillera – a metals rich volcanic province that extends through British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska – to the council. This council will assist Golden Predator management and field staff in rev...
11 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the Palmer copper-zinc-silver-gold project in Southeast Alaska. A roughly US$9 million exploration program outlined by Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. on May 10 proposes not only the annual tradition of resource expansion and new discoveries but also plans to provide the first peek into the economics of mining the copper- and zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits found there so far. Being carried out by a joint venture...
Born from an idea to create a vehicle that could provide Alaska businesses lower interest rates offered by tax-exempt financing, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, has been doing its part to create jobs and bolster Alaska's economy for five decades. "Fifty years ago, the Alaska State Legislature created the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, to develop, encourage, and improve the economic potential and welfare of the people of... Full story
China Minerals Mining Corp. Feb. 26 announced plans to evaluate the content and potential recovery of gold from tailings of the historical Erickson Mine on its Cassiar gold property in northwestern British Columbia. The 140,470-acre (56,846 hectares) Cassiar property hosts the past producing Main (formerly Erickson), Cusac, Bain, Taurus, Sable, Plaza and Vollaug hardrock mines that produced 350,651 ounces of gold. Most of this aurum, roughly 315,000 oz, was recovered from a 300-metric-ton-per-day plant that operated at...
Before color televisions hit the markets in the 1960s, rare earths where a curious group of elements that had the distinction of occupying their own separate section at the bottom of the periodic table but had very few practical applications. Over the ensuing 50 years, however, this group of 15 lanthanides plus yttrium and scandium have been discovered to possess unique properties that make them key ingredients in a wide range of modern products such as terabyte hard-drives...
Graphite is among the 23 metals and minerals the U.S. Geological Survey deemed critical to "the national economy and national security of the United States" in a December report, "Critical Mineral Resources of the United States – Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply." One of the reasons the USGS considers graphite critical is the growing demand of this mineral as anode material in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles and a r...
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. Dec. 22 said President Donald Trump's executive order to ensure reliable supplies of critical minerals is a fundamental policy shift that is important to the company and its Bokan Mountain rare earth elements project in Southeast Alaska. The executive order signed by Trump on Dec. 20 instructs federal agencies to identify and publish a list of critical minerals, and develop a strategy to reduce the United States' reliance on other countries to supply...
Exploration companies familiar with Alaska already know the Far North State is great place to look for critical minerals such as rare earth elements, platinum group metals, cobalt and tin. A new report published by the U.S. Geological Survey, however, indicates that Alaska may be richer in these and other minerals vital to the United States than previously realized. Working alongside the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, USGS developed a new geospatial tool... Full story
It is high summer in Alaska and the mining industry is busy breaking rocks, drilling holes, collecting baseline data, making upgrades to mine facilities and producing metal and coal across the state. The effects of declining prices for metals are starting to be felt at the operating metal mines and except for a few projects, the exploration sector continues to wallow in the doldrums, which have plagued the industry since 2013. That said, the tire-kicking of earlier this...
Though lower metals prices weighed on the value of Alaska’s mining sector, the production of minerals, not including coal and oil, in the 49th State topped US$3 billion for the sixth year running. According to the United States Geological Survey’s annual report, “Mineral Commodity Summaries 2016,” Alaska mines produced roughly US$3.09 billion worth of non-fuel minerals during 2015. This reflects roughly a 12 percent decrease compared with the US$3.51 billion that USGS reporte... Full story
Roads to some of Yukon's richest mining districts are getting more than C$360 million in upgrades. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rolled out the plans to invest in modern transportation infrastructure during a visit to the territory on Sep. 2. "Modern infrastructure is key to developing and properly managing the incredible natural resources we have at our fingertips," Trudeau said. The prime minister pledged C$247.8 million to the Yukon Resource Gateway project, a... Full story
As some of the world's biggest gold miners nab exciting plays that turned up across Yukon Territory during the past decade, Yukon's mining explorers continue to seek the next generation of mine projects in the northwestern-most Canadian territory. Many of the up and coming mines in Yukon also are getting a boost from C$360 million in upgrades to roads into some of Yukon's richest mining districts. Known as the Yukon Resource Gateway project, the endeavor to modernize... Full story
According to the United States Geological Survey’s annual report, “Mineral Commodity Summaries 2017,” the value of non-fuel minerals produced in the United States and Alaska during 2016 remained at similar levels to 2015. Alaska mines produced roughly US$3.09 billion worth of minerals, excluding petroleum and coal, marking the seventh year straight that output from Alaska mines have topped US$3 billion. Gold and zinc account for roughly 80 percent of Alaska’s mineral productio...
Alaska fell from favor with the 350 mining executives who responded to the Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining Companies 2016, published on Feb. 28. This group of miners, explorers and consultants ranked the Far North State as the 14th best jurisdiction on Earth to seek and develop a mine. To gather information for its report, the Fraser Institute asks mining executives to rank the mineral potential and mining policies of mining jurisdictions around the globe. The C...
A former high ranking United States Army executive charged with acquiring and developing world-class equipment for U.S. soldiers under the Obama and Bush administrations warns that the lack of a domestic source for rare earth elements, or REEs, will be the Achilles heel of American military superiority. "Every one of the current and next round of super and unimaginable US weapons relies on REEs, an exotic assortment of 17 metals and elements, that are neither mined nor...
During an era of partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has managed to garner broad support for an energy bill aimed at modernizing the way power is produced in the United States, including numerous provisions important to Alaska. The legislation, which was passed out of the U.S. Senate with an 85-12 vote, also contains provisions to improve access to the U.S. mineral resources supply by streamlining the minerals mine permitting process. "My... Full story
I do love metaphors and aphorisms; there's one for every occasion. For instance, it is often noted that, on the one hand, it is always darkest before the dawn and, on the other, that the light at the end of the tunnel is another train. It would be folly to believe that in today's environment, things will be better, economically, in Alaska, any time soon; however, experience teaches that the current disaster will, like all others, one day pass. Here's the scenario: Alaska is a...
The "National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2015," legislation aimed at streamlining the lengthy process of permitting a mine in the United States, passed the U. S. House of Representative Oct. 22. National Mining Association President and CEO Hal Quinn said this bill, introduced by U. S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, "will bring the U.S. mine permitting system into the 21st century and help boost the country's economy and manufacturing renaissance." By... Full story
