The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 922
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...
5 brought unprecedented engagement of First Nations in mining industry activities in Yukon Territory. While tight financial markets appeared to slow the pace of mining exploration, efforts of mining companies, local and territorial governments and others to advance and/or initiate various cooperative agreements with the 11 self-governing aboriginal groups with traditional territories in the Yukon seemed to intensify. Adding to a significant roster of existing agreements, mining companies forged new pacts with a number of...
Ethos Gold Corp. recently wrapped up a second phase of 2012 exploration aimed at identifying a multimillion-ounce gold deposit on its Betty Property located in the White Gold district of Yukon Territory. The junior Sept. 19 reported completing 7,500 meters of reverse circulation drilling in 61 holes, and collecting 8,700 grid soil samples and 166 prospecting samples in 2012 that targeted the 17-square-kilometer (6.56 square miles) Mascot Creek gold-in-soil anomaly at Betty that Ethos outlined in 2011 and where the junior...
Roughly a mile beyond the golden beaches of Nome, Placer Marine Mining Inc. - a joint venture that combines the gold mining expertise of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. with the marine mining experience of De Beers - is investigating the potential of dredging a vast placer gold deposit lying beneath the icy waters of the Bering Sea. These gold-rich placer deposits in Alaska's Arctic Northwest are not the first marine mining endeavors undertaken jointly by AngloGold Ashanti and De...
Pebble and politics are two matters that loomed large in the minds of the mining community that gathered in Anchorage for the 2012 Alaska Miners Association Convention in early November. The weight of these provocative and inexorably related matters was reflected in conversations and presentations at the annual gathering. With the trade show and technical session portion of the AMA convention typically starting on the day after the U.S. elections, the juxtaposition of...
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...
AXI: TSX-Venture President and CEO: John Gingerich, P. Geo VP Engineering and Technology: Florin Gheorghiu, Ph.D. Vice President, Capital Projects and Studies: Bernard Swarbrick Advanced Explorations Inc. focused in 2012 on developing its Roche Bay and Tuktu Iron Ore projects in Nunavut. The Roche Bay Project located on the east coast the Melville Peninsula boasts a NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate of more than 500 million metric tons outlined within a small portion of the potential 140 kilometers (87 miles) of banded...
Millrock Resources Inc.'s skillful execution of the project generator model is allowing it to flourish in an equity market that has not been kind to junior exploration companies. Capitalizing on its exploration expertise and first-hand geological knowledge of Alaska and southeastern Arizona, Millrock pulled together some C$11 million for exploration in 2012. Some 93 percent of this spending was funded by global miners Teck Resources Ltd., Kinross Gold Corp., Vale S.A. and Inme...
Aox: TSX-V CEO and Chairman: Gordon Blankstein Chief Operating Officer: Kent Turner Sun General Manager: Bradley Peek With a 2012 budget of US$3.5 million, Andover Mining Corp. set out to establish an inaugural NI 43-101 resource for its Sun copper-silver-lead-zinc-gold project situated at the eastern end of the Ambler Mining District - a region of Northwest Alaska renown for a 70-mile- (110 kilometers) long belt of world-class volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. A historical resource calculated for the Main Sun deposit...
While the frenzy of activity that engulfed the Yukon Territory in 2011 did not re-emerge this season, scores of players, from upstart juniors to global mining firms mounted impressive mineral exploration campaigns throughout the territory. Gold was the primary metal sought in the Yukon in 2012, but some explorers chased silver, copper, zinc-lead, iron and other minerals. Based on the spending plans of mining companies in March, Natural Resources Canada projected C$285 million planned spending across the Yukon, a decrease of...
The best place to find a new mine is in the shadow of a headframe" is an adage that has served geologists well in their search for new deposits of metals that the world needs and desires. This proverb has once again proven its worth at Pogo, Alaska's highest producing gold mine. Though Pogo does not boast an iconic headframe towering over its underground operations, new gold-rich zones discovered "within eyesight of the mill" are rapidly adding high-grade ore to the reserves...
From investigating grassroots gold prospects in the Yukon Territory to ensuring the Red Dog Mine has sufficient stores of high-grade ore to remain a top global zinc producer for decades to come, Teck Resources Ltd. 2012 is continuing a century of discovery in Alaska and Canada's Northwest. This broad spectrum of exploration across Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon Territory exemplifies the Vancouver, B.C.-based major's objective of accessing "high-quality, sustainable growth...
TSX: NIC President and CEO: David McPherson Chairman: R. David Russell Chief Geologist: Jon Findlay Pure Nickel Inc., a junior with a portfolio of nickel and platinum group element projects in Canada and Alaska, is focused on exploring its Man nickel-copper-platinum group element project. Itochu Corp., which joined the project at the end of 2008, can earn a 75 percent interest in Man by spending US$40 million on the Interior Alaska project by the end of 2013 - so far the company has spent US$17 million and earned a 30 percent...
SNG: TSX-V President and CEO: W. Douglas Eaton, B.A., B.Sc. Chairman: Bruce A. Youngman, B.Sc. Chief Operating Officer: Ian J. Talbot, B.Sc., LLB. Silver Range Resources Ltd., a 2011 spin-out from Strategic Metals Ltd., is exploring bulk tonnage targets at the silver-enriched Silver Range Project located 10-40 kilometers (6-25 miles) north of Faro in southern Yukon Territory and gold-rich Mint Project located 26 kilometers (16 miles) south of the Alaska Highway in southwest Yukon. Aggressive follow-up work programs were carri...
TAU: TSX-V Executive Chairman: Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse CEO and Executive Vice Chairman: Raj Chowdhry Vice President, Exploration: Jerry Zieg Tintina Resources Inc. emerged on the Alaska mining scene in 2009 when NovaGold Resources Inc. rolled 397,680 acres of its early-stage Alaska exploration properties into the Vancouver B.C.-based junior. Tapping NovaGold's exploration expertise, Tintina appointed Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse as executive chairman of its board of directors and recruited geologist Jerry Zieg to become the junior's...
Over the past six months, the single-most common question I have gotten asked about Alaska's mineral industry is, "Have there been any significant new discoveries?" While there may be an as-yet unannounced new discovery in Alaska, it seems the above question is being asked more frequently in other parts of the world as well and the most common answer is a simple "no." While information on new discoveries in other sectors of the mining industry is out there, it's not as...
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...
Location, location, location," the old adage goes, summing up the opportunities and challenges faced by the real estate industry. Well, "infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure," can offer the same insights into the problems of modern mining in remote jurisdictions like Yukon Territory. The relative scarcity of roads, bridges, airports, power and other infrastructure in the Yukon is critical to the outlook for mining, and in many cases, the presence or lack of these important components can spell the difference between...
Don Ewigleben and Tom Irwin - two figures that played key roles in the development of Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine - are once again united to develop a world-class gold deposit in Interior Alaska. Filling a void created by the sudden departure of James Komadina in May, International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. appointed Chairman Ewigleben president and CEO of the company looking to develop the 20-million-ounce Livengood gold project. Ewigleben, a lawyer who spent 35 years...
Capstone Mining Co., Alexco Resource Corp. and Yukon Zinc Corp. have crossed the Rubicon. Unlike other mining companies in Yukon Territory who continue to grapple with the complexities and uncertainties of exploration and development, the operators of the Minto, Bellekeno and Wolverine mines are working to master a new set of challenges - optimizing their mining and milling processes. Going gangbusters at Minto It will be five years in October since Sherwood Copper Corp. (Capstone Mining Corp.'s predecessor) commenced...
Grande Portage Resources Ltd. is in the midst of a 15,000-meter drill program targeting a high-grade gold deposit at Herbert Glacier, a project that is shaping up to be on par with its renowned neighbors in the Juneau Gold Belt. Located about 20 miles (35 kilometers) northwest of the legendary Treadwell Mine and about the same distance southeast of Coeur d'Alene Mines' Kensington operation, Herbert Glacier is situated along a 160-kilometer (100 miles) stretch of Southeast...
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...
FARO - Legendary mineral explorer W. Douglas "Doug" Eaton hurried forward to greet the group of visitors clambering out of the MD900 helicopter as its whirring blades whipped miniature cyclones of dust in the air. Eaton - unlike many of the geologists, engineers and mining executives the group would meet during a weeklong tour of mine sites, exploration camps and conferences around Yukon Territory - grinned from ear to ear. The early part of the territory-wide mining tour also would include visits to the Einarson Project...
