The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 1326 - 1350 of 1467
It would put a halt to activity around mining in Alaska." That's what Cynthia Carroll, president and CEO of global mining giant Anglo American plc, had to say about the Clean Water Initiative when asked about the proposal currently working its way to the ballot in Alaska. Carroll made the comment at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel Oct. 24, after speaking to members of the Resource Development Council about the proposed 8.2 billion-ton Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine. Anglo...
As is commonly the case in late January, an over abundance of news has come out in the last month, in part to coincide with year-end financial releases and in part to coincide with the annual Cordilleran Roundup mining convention in Vancouver. The news itself included an $819 million year-end 2007 profit at one Alaska mine, new gold resources of 32.8 million ounces for the state's largest gold deposit and the sale of 70 percent of another mine for a whopping $750 million. That doesn't count new resource estimates on two other...
Full Metal Minerals Corp. is gearing up for a busy 2008 exploration season. And Rob McLeod, the Vancouver, B.C.-based junior's vice president of exploration, "can't think of a better place to explore than Alaska in terms of mineral potential." McLeod told Mining News in a recent interview that the company will spend between $17 million and $20 million on exploration this year on ten projects in Alaska and one prospect in Canada's Yukon Territory. Some $6.5 million of that...
For any of you who have experienced that odd quiet before a big storm hits, I'd suggest you grab Toto and head for the root cellar because the "quiet" is about to end and the perfect storm is about to begin! I say this because the mining industry took its collective breath during the last month and recharged its batteries in preparation for what looks to be a wild and woolly 2008. Commodities prices remain high; worldwide demand for metals and energy minerals remains strong, and investment capital is there for quality mining...
High diamond counts from an exploration property in Nunavut Territory are raising hopes in Canadian investment circles of a new diamond mining district in Canada's far north. Diamonds North Resources Ltd. reported finds of 862 high-quality diamonds Jan. 8 and Jan. 14 from drill-hole samples of three kimberlites located on its 2 million-acre Amaruk property in the Pelly Bay Diamond District in northeast Nunavut. Diamond counts for two of the kimberlites averaged 2.5 diamonds per kilogram and 2 diamonds per kilogram. Diamonds...
Nash Minerals Ltd. and its joint venture partner Mega Uranium Ltd. may have a tiger by the tail, but the beast these explorers are tracking is metallic in nature. Unveiling the most promising results to date from four years of exploring the Wernecke Uranium District in northern Yukon Territory, Cash Minerals Jan. 23 said it is moving into the resource definition stage at its Igor property with a goal of developing a resource estimate for the iron oxide copper-gold-uranium (IOCG-U) prospect by this summer. Igor is the most adv...
Andover Ventures Inc. has released the assay results from the final seven holes of its 2007 drill season at the Sun property west of Kotzebue in the Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska. Four of the assay results were from the northernmost holes drilled at Sun. These holes were drilled in four fences at step-outs of 150 meters (492 feet) to the northeast. Two of the fences were north of what was originally considered the main Sun deposit, and the positive assay results have extended the deposit by 300 meters (984...
In days gone by the Alaska mining industry thought of December as a time of decreased activity and a chance to catch your breath before the New Year started. Well, in case you have not noticed, those days are long gone! This month's activities stretch from one side of Alaska to the other with metals of interest spanning the periodic table of elements. Results from a number of programs are still outstanding and likely will not be seen until the New Year, blurring transitions...
Sean Magee, spokesman for The Pebble Limited Partnership, told members of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Dec. 3 that the Pebble Mine Project could be developed in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. "There are lots of precedents in our part of the world where mining does coexist with fisheries," Magee told the Anchorage audience. He gave examples of several modern large-scale mines in Alaska and British Columbia that are not only coexisting with the fish...
A year ago, Vancouver-based NovaGold Resources Inc. triumphantly fought off a hostile takeover bid by Toronto giant Barrick Gold. In 2007, the ambitious junior brought its Rock Creek project near Nome to the brink of production, began construction at Galore Creek in British Columbia and just a few weeks ago sealed a deal with Barrick to end their dispute over the Donlin Creek project in southwest Alaska. On Nov. 7, NovaGold's share price hit a 52-week high of $21.91. Then disaster struck: NovaGold and its new partner at...
Alaska mining activity climbed to new heights in 2006 with the value of exploration, development and production exceeding $3.5 billion. Production values more than doubled, leaping to $2.86 billion from $1.4 billion in 2005, according to Alaska's Mineral Industry 2006, an annual report released Nov. 7. Continuing high zinc prices played a key role in the record-breaking tally for the industry, the report said. The Red Dog Mine north of Kotzebue, the world's largest zinc mine,...
For those of you who could not attend the Alaska Miners Association convention in Anchorage in early November, you missed what I understand was a record attendance and presentations on some of the most exciting mining developments in the last decade. In addition, I noticed a lot more business being conducted around the conference hotel than is normally the case. Geologists and engineers from companies large and small could be seen hunkered down over reports and maps with...
Since agreeing to acquire the Alaska portfolio of South Africa major AngloGold Ashanti in August 2006, International Tower Hill Mines of Vancouver, B.C., has been exploring the state and expanding its claims as it goes. A total of nine properties were involved in the junior exploration company's agreement with AngloGold. In the 15 months since, International Tower Hill has purchased 100 percent interest in seven of the properties and entered into joint ventures with AngloGold...
If Newmont Mining Corp., the world's second largest gold producer, succeeds in its $1.52 billion takeover of Vancouver, B.C.-based Miramar Mining Corp., the major will gain control of one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in North America. Miramar owns the Hope Bay Project in Nunavut Territory, which has a 10.7 million-ounce gold resource about 99 miles north of the Arctic Circle and about 434 miles northeast of Yellowknife, NWT. Miramar planned to start construction this year and achieve annual output up to 600,000...
Vancouver-based Andover Ventures Inc. launched an aggressive acquisition and exploration campaign when it entered Alaska in the spring of 2006, starting with a $42 million deal with Full Metal Minerals on the Kamishak property in southwest Alaska. Today, the ambitious junior holds interests in eight Alaska mining properties, less than two years after incorporation. Six of the properties are located in Southwest Alaska, one in the Nome mining district and, arguably, the most...
Sherwood Copper, a Vancouver-based junior mining company, has found success with a little-used geophysical method known as Gradient Array Induced Polarization survey at its Minto Mine in central Yukon Territory. GAIP is less expensive and provides quicker results than other IP surveys, but has the drawback of not being able to provide information on the depth of the mineralization found. This is not a problem in an area like Minto where the geology is well known, according to...
The results from Alaska's summer field campaigns continue to pour in from all over the state, while field crews wind down their summer work and kick off their winter programs. If the results released this month are any indication of what is yet to come, 2008 is fixing to be one heck of a year! Western Alaska NovaGold Resources announced that initial testing of their crushing circuit had commenced at their commissioning Rock Creek gold mine near Nome. The operation is...
A Canadian federal court slapped Imperial Metals Corp. in September with a significant regulatory setback in its bid to develop the copper-and gold-rich Red Chris project in northwest British Columbia. But the results of its 2007 drilling program and some progress toward bringing power to the property gave the mid-tier mining company some good news. Located 280 miles north of Smithers, B.C., and 11 miles southeast of the village of Iskut, the Red Chris porphyry copper-gold deposit is considered one of the most...
Even though the concept of global warming is a welcome idea to many companies working in Alaska, its effects are not being felt fast enough to allow companies to complete all of the work they had hoped to finish in 2007. Drills are still turning all over the state, but the first signs of "termination dust" are showing on the higher peaks and the smell of fermenting berries fills the air, giving us all a not-so gentle prod to get ready for winter. Western Alaska Teck Cominco...
A joint panel created by the governments of British Columbia and Canada has ruled against the Kemess North copper-gold mine project as currently proposed by Northgate Minerals Corp., saying the project would not be in the public's interest, B.C. officials announced Sept. 17. "In the panel's view, the economic and social benefits provided by the project, on balance, are outweighed by the risks of significant adverse environmental, social and cultural effects, some of which may not emerge until many years after mining...
As the late, great Phil Rizutto used to say when something amazing happened on the baseball field: "Holy Cow!" The last month has seen an explosion of activity across Alaska with companies working in virtually every region on a diverse package of metals including gold, platinum group elements, silver, molybdenum, lead, zinc, copper and nickel. Several new companies have entered the exploration field in Alaska and several new partners have joined forces with previously active...
Greg Beischer is a familiar face in Alaska's mining industry, but he's wearing a new hat now. For the past few years he's played a peripheral role, working for Bristol Environmental and Engineering Services, advising parent company Bristol Bay Native Corp. on mineral, oil and gas developments in the Bristol Bay region, including the Pebble project. He's also the outgoing chairman of the Alaska Miners Association's Anchorage branch. This summer Beischer has gone back to breaking rocks in an entirely new job. Beischer is now...
At the site of Alaska's most controversial mining project, Pebble, near-tranquility reigns. Out on the mossy tundra, surrounded by deep blue lakes and streams, mountains and sky, the drone from the drill rigs and the buzzing of helicopters are the only disturbances. Away from the deposit itself, field crews conduct environmental studies in spots that would be ideal for picnicking, if they weren't so remote. Back in the village of Iliamna, where Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty has its project headquarters, core shack and empl...
It is high summer in Alaska and the wheeling and dealing are nearly as frenetic as the exploration, development and production going on all around the state. New deals continue to be cut on old and new projects while more established projects are being subjected to the "truth machine," otherwise known as the drill. This time-tested application has proven many a cock-sure geologist or engineer dead wrong but that doesn't stop anyone in the industry from picking himself up,...
Alaska's summer exploration season is in full swing with strong budgets on a number of projects around the state. Alaska's mines also weighed in with strong quarterly results as metal prices remain strong. The hot spots in the state this month include Southeast Alaska, Interior Alaska and the Alaska Range but don't think that silence means there is nothing going on! We are entering the period where everyone has his nose to the ground and has little time for news releases or...
