The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 726 - 750 of 922
Knowing that porphyry deposits like Pebble are seldom an isolated occurrence, explorers are wondering if another enormous copper-gold deposit of this type lies hidden under the glacial gravels that cover much of Southwest Alaska. That was a question tackled by Pebble Partnership Chief Geologist Jim Lang at the 2011 Minerals Exploration Roundup in Vancouver, B.C. The geologist told the crowd that Pebble may not have an unknown identical twin, but by looking for similar traits,...
The last half of December and the first half of January are normally relatively slow for business in the mining industry, in general, and in Alaska, in particular. The last two weeks this December were a bit slower than the first two weeks of the month but if anyone was thinking that January 2011 was going to creep silently into being, they were sadly mistaken! With metals prices heading toward recent and, in some cases, historical highs, there seems to be a sense of urgency...
Two years after explorers stampeded to Yukon Territory in search of gold and other minerals the rush is showing no sign of abating. In fact, the exploration frenzy appears to gather fresh steam with every new mineral discovery reported in the territory. And the pipeline of discoveries is flowing, fast and furious. Junior mining companies and prospectors also continued to stake hordes of claims in 2010 right up to Dec. 23, stopping only when Government of Yukon mining recorders called a halt for the holidays. The excitement su...
Mining exploration activity in northern British Columbia approached record levels in 2010 with explorers setting a new drilling record and spending about C$168 million in pursuit of a wide range of minerals, including gold, copper, silver, molybdenum, and rare earth elements, according to a top provincial geologist. Paul Wojdak, regional geologist for the Northwest Region of British Columbia's Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, said the major good news mining story in 2010 for central and northern British...
As the last days of the decade tick by, I am tempted to look back on 2010 and distill the year in a few sentences. I'll resist and opt for a bunch of sentences similar to some I recently dumped on the Society of Economic Geologists, an exploration-focused scientific organization of which I am a card-carrying member. Those words prompted more than a few heated responses, both supportive and not so supportive ("You're a pin-head" is the one that will probably stick with me...
Alaska's mining industry is entering the final lap for what has turned out to be a more robust than expected year for exploration, development and production. Strong worldwide demand for mined products has certainly helped push metallic and energy minerals prices up, but all is not rosy for Alaska's mineral industry. A recent CNBC report placed Alaska dead last of all the states in terms of overall business attractiveness. We were a dismal 46th of 50 in terms of cost of doing...
As termination dust falls across most of Alaska, the curtain has come down for the bulk of the exploration projects around the state; however, mine development programs as well as mine-site exploration continue apace as does some exploration work in tropical Southeast Alaska. With few exceptions, preliminary conclusions drawn from 2010 work indicate that 2011 is going to be a busy year. And though a lot of exploration and development is still going on for gold, copper...
With final 2010 exploration in hand, Golden Predator Corp. said its Clear Creek Project vaulted to the front of the pack of the eight gold projects that it is aggressively exploring in Yukon Territory. Clear Creek is located 65 kilometers, or about 40 miles, northwest of Mayo in central Yukon. Golden Predator can earn a 100 percent interest in the property, subject to a 3 percent net smelter return royalty, of which 1 percent on 77 quartz claims can be bought back for C$1 million and 2 percent on 55 quartz claims can be...
A highlight for 2010 has been the startup of the Kensington gold mine in June. I first testified at a hearing on the Kensington project in Haines in 1990. Gold price fluctuations, environmental group attacks, financial markets, etc. all played a role in the saga. Coeur Chairman and CEO Dennis Wheeler should be commended for his diligence and determination to make Kensington into a mine. However, I am disappointed about one item at Kensington, and it does not involve the quality of the orebody, the work of the company or the...
With all eyes pointed north, the mineral industry in Yukon is having a banner year in 2010. A number of regions are continuing to attract high-profile attention. With two new mines starting production and encouraging discoveries throughout the territory, the year has been very exciting. Exploration Claim staking in the White Gold area, the Dawson Range and the 60 Mile area has been robust in 2010 with many new companies (more than 20) involved in the staking rush. Kinross Gold Corp. issued a friendly takeover offer for...
The Last Frontier, as Alaska has long been labeled, is as applicable a moniker today as it was to prospectors who ventured to the territory at the end of the 19th century. Alaska is considered one of the most mineralized provinces on Earth, but due to an inter-related combination of Arctic weather, rugged terrain, limited infrastructure and high exploration costs, the state's vast mineral potential remains at the edge of exploratory expansion. Though the Far North state...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. kicked off 2010 by presenting a debut resource estimate for its Palmer copper-zinc-gold-silver project in Southeast Alaska. Based on 32 holes drilled into the RW and South Wall zones of the property's Glacier Creek prospect through 2009, an inferred resource of 4.12 million metric tons grading 2.01 percent copper, 4.79 percent zinc, 0.30 grams per metric ton gold and 31 g/t silver (using an NSR cut-off of US$75/t) has been calculated for the...
Efforts to build an electricity transmission line critical to economic development of northwestern British Columbia moved closer to reality in 2010. Cheered by the prospect of access to cheap power, scores of miners flocked to the region to re-activate dormant projects and scour the mountainous terrain for new discoveries. The Canadian government allocated C$130 million in funding for construction of the Northwest Transmission Line in September 2009, providing critical funding for the estimated C$404 million needed to build...
Heatherdale Resources Ltd., a subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson Inc., (see Hunter Dickinson Inc.) is living up to its pledge to aggressively explore the Niblack copper-gold-silver-zinc project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. Some 23,000 meters of drilling completed by the junior over the past year traced nearly 1,000 meters of precious metal-rich volcanic massive sulfide mineralization under Lookout Mountain. Heatherdale optioned Niblack from CBR Gold Corp. (see...
When Rimfire Minerals Corp. and Geoinformatics Exploration Inc. joined forces to form Kiska Metals Corp. in the fall of 2009, the primary objective of the amalgamated junior was to resolve the tenure of the Whistler Project. A year later the junior explorer achieved this goal, gaining sole-ownership of the expansive gold-copper property in Alaska. Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott Exploration Co., which optioned Whistler to Geoinformatics in 2007, had the right to buy back a...
CED: TSX-V President, Chairman and CEO: Charles Chebry Vice President, Exploration: David Clarke Cedar Mountain Exploration Inc. is focused on seeking a near-surface, bulk tonnage sedimentary gold deposit at its Kelly Creek gold project located about 90 miles, or 145 kilometers, north of Nome. After cutting a deal with Greatland Exploration on the Kelly Creek gold property early in 2010, Cedar Mountain augmented its land position on Alaska's Seward Peninsula by staking an additional 147 State of Alaska mining claims...
Primed for booming exploration for several years, the Yukon Territory appears to have hit big in 2010, both literally and figuratively. Emerging as one of the world's mining hot spots, the Northwest Canada jurisdiction is reporting industry investment exceeding C$120 million. Propelled by record gold prices and key gold discoveries, as well as surging demand in Asia for base metals and a mining friendly government, miners flocked to the territory in growing numbers, bringing generous exploration budgets and fresh theories...
NIB: TSX-V President and CEO: John Williamson Chairman: John Robins Vice President, Exploration: Peter Kleespies The principle asset of Niblack Mineral Development Inc. (formerly CBR Gold Corp) is the Niblack copper-gold-zinc-silver project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. Heatherdale Resources Ltd., (see Heatherdale Resources) a subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson Inc. (see Hunter Dickinson), joined Niblack Mineral Development in 2009 to advance exploration at the precious metals-rich volcanic massive sulfide...
TON: ASX Chairman: John Loney Chief Executive Officer: Allen Lance Govey Principal Geologist: Carl Young Triton Gold Ltd., formerly Australian Mineral Fields Inc., is seeking deep high-grade gold below the bulk-tonnage target at its Tushtena gold project located about 20 miles, or 32 kilometers, east of Tok in Interior Alaska. In July Western Australia nickel producer Panoramic Resources Ltd. agreed to fund US$2.6 million of drilling at Tushtena over three years and pay Triton US$300,000 in order to earn a 51 percent...
VAZ: TSX-V President and CEO: Michael Skead Valdez Gold Inc. has turned north to seek gold near the legendary mining towns of Dawson City and Nome. In January 2010, the Toronto-based junior signed an option to earn up to a 75 percent stake in Valley High Ventures Ltd.'s Flume Property in the White Gold District of Yukon Territory. Valdez earns an initial 51 percent interest in Flume by spending C$1.5 million on the property and paying Valley High C$500,00 over a four year period. The 3,900-hectare Flume property is located...
Dozens of small explorers mounted exploration campaigns in 2010 in and around the historic Stewart Gold Camp in northwestern British Columbia, and as assays trickle in from samples and core sent to labs this spring and summer, many of them are reporting encouraging results. The Stewart Gold Camp, located about 20 miles, or 35 kilometers, from the B.C./Alaska border, is an emerging, world-class mining district that continues to offer discovery opportunities for major gold-copper and precious metal polymetallic deposits. The...
Japan is an important player in Alaska's mining industry. The island nation imports more than US$125 million in minerals from the Far North state annually and Tokyo-based businesses own the Pogo gold mine and are making significant investments in other mining projects across the state. To further strengthen this mutually beneficial bond, Alaska accepted an invitation by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. to update the country's minerals business community about the state...
In the last month, several of Alaska's major metal mines reported strong operating numbers; one company released a preliminary economic assessment and three new mineral exploration companies acquired exploration interests in Alaska. While the functions of explorers and producers are quite different, the symbiotic relationship between the two ends of the mining cycle is unequivocal: exploration would not exist without production and production would eventually cease without...
DAWSON, Yukon Territory - Hardrock mining explorers are capitalizing on unprecedented investor interest and going after paying gold, silver, copper-rich porphyry, lead-zinc and other metal deposits here with uncommon gusto this summer. A few years ago, a multimillion-dollar, single-season exploration program would have been a rare commodity in the Yukon. But this year, at least a half-dozen juniors have joined one major, Kinross Gold Corp., and the Yukon's only producer, Capstone Mining Corp., in forking over megabucks to...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd.'s 7,500-meter drill program continues to unravel the complex geology of Glacier Creek Prospect at the Palmer copper-zinc-gold-silver project in Southeast Alaska. The South Wall and RW zones at Glacier Creek has been the focus of Constantine's drilling since the junior began exploring Palmer in 2006. With 32 holes drilled into the prospect through 2009, the junior released an initial inferred resource of 4.12 million metric tons grading 2.01...