The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 901 - 922 of 922
Neither the heat and smoke from wildfires, nor excruciatingly low winter temperatures could deter miners from expanding their operations in Alaska this past season. Representatives of several companies described their achievements in the "Development and Mine Operations" session at the Alaska Miners Association convention on Nov. 5. NovaGold Resources' Rock Creek John Odden from NovaGold Resources began with a presentation on Rock Creek, which is located on the Seward Peninsula, seven miles north of Nome. Part of it is on...
Calgary-based Golconda Resources Ltd., operator of the Shulin Lake diamond exploration joint venture, says it found micro-diamonds during its spring drilling program at the Southcentral Alaska property. The holes at the Shulin Lake project, which is about 25 miles due west of the Parks Highway and about 80 miles north of Anchorage, were drilled to test different areas of a circular structure visible on a satellite photo of the property. In an Oct. 6 statement, the company said 19 selected samples were sent to SGS Lakefield... Full story
It's still a few years off, but if NovaGold Resources Inc. turns the Ambler prospect into an operating mine, it could open up a mineral belt with a total of $12 billion in reserves - at 1982 prices. That $12 billion figure comes from a 1982 state report listing 10 major volcano-derived deposits in northwestern Alaska, from the operating Red Dog Mine all the way to the border of Gates of the Arctic National Park. Perhaps the biggest and richest concentration is the Arctic deposit 150 miles east of Kotzebue near the villages...
Despite the fact that winter has arrived over much of Alaska, exploration efforts continued at record pace throughout the state in October. Late summer programs are now competing for people and drills with early winter programs in a number of areas, a problem not normally encountered in Alaska. In a further sign of the strength of the rebound in the metals markets, a number of companies are already tying up people, drills, camp equipment, analytical services and helicopter... Full story
This summer's exploration, engineering and environmental baseline data work at the Pebble prospect in southwest Alaska is progressing "exceptionally well," according to a spokesman for the deposit's developer, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Northern Dynasty, a Hunter Dickinson-managed mine-development company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is on track to spend $25 million (C$33.5 million) this year on the Pebble project, a gold-copper-molybdenum deposit several miles north of Lake Iliamna, a little more than 200 miles...
NovaGold Resources appears to have hit another prospecting grand slam one year after optioning the Galore Creek project in a remote section of northwestern British Columbia. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based junior in August released "exceptional" drill results, the first from this summer's planned 20,000-meter (60,000-foot) program, and an economically positive scoping study for developing the large gold-silver-copper deposit as an open-pit mine. Four drill rigs were working on the property in late July, and a fifth was...
In his first season as the Alaska and Russia exploration manager for Kinross Gold, Rich Harris will be spending about $2.5 million on exploration in 2004, mostly for early-stage prospects neighboring the company's Fort Knox and True North mines northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. Final budgets for several projects, including three prospects neighboring True North and three others in the Fort Knox/Gil area, are still pending, Harris said in interviews June 1 and June 5. "Everything is being reevaluated locally. We're looking at...
Freegold Ventures and Pacific Northwest Capital announced plans June 1 to begin drilling mid-June at the company's Union Bay property about 35 miles northwest of Ketchikan, Alaska, a $1.2 million exploration program being funded by Lonmin Plc. "Exploration will commence immediately with a detailed geological mapping and sampling program and an airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey," the company said in its press release. Crews will complete 9,000 feet of drill samples during this summer's season, according to... Full story
A large portion of the 269-square mile MAN nickel, copper and PGE property on the south flank of the Alaska Range near Paxson, Alaska, will soon be assessed by proprietary geophysical technology used by Anglo American Exploration (Canada), a subsidiary of global mining giant Anglo American. Anglo signed a joint venture agreement in mid-March with the property's claim staker, Nevada Star Resource Corp., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based junior that has put together a substantial land position in the south Interior Alaska...
Calgary-based Golconda Resources Ltd., operator of the Shulin Lake diamond exploration joint venture, has concluded a spring drilling program conducted in March at the Southcentral Alaska property. About 25 miles due west of the Parks Highway and about 80 miles north of Anchorage, the Shulin Lake project is targeting a volcanic occurrence that has previously yielded micro-diamonds and diamond indicator minerals. It's the first known discovery of diamonds from a bedrock source in Alaska, according to joint venture partner...
Prospectors looking for valuable minerals in Alaska hit the ground hard in 2003, laying claim to 507 square miles of state and federally controlled land in the Last Frontier. That's about double the effort by claim stakers in 2002, said Dave Szumigala, a geologist with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, during a presentation at the March 2004 biennial conference of the Alaska Miners Association in Fairbanks. "It shows that Alaska is on people's radar screens worldwide," he said. Claim staking has conti...
Although the traditional Alaska field season has not really arrived yet, three significant developments occurred in March: Teck Cominco and Sumitomo Metal Mining received final permits for the Pogo gold project from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allowing construction to move ahead at flank speed, Anglo American acquired its first U.S. mineral property in years by signing a joint venture option on Nevada Star's MAN nickel-copper-platinum group element project and Nov... Full story
A surge in claim staking surrounding the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum deposit in southwestern Alaska has continued through the first three months of 2004. Anchorage-based geological consultant Bill Ellis, part owner of Alaska Earth Sciences, estimates a total of 512 square miles of land has been recently staked for mineral prospecting in an area surrounding the Pebble deposit. State records show that a total of 564 square miles, or 361,440 acres, is claimed by mineral prospectors in the Pebble area, according to Kerwin Kraus... Full story
In a 16-page report released in January, the Alaska Minerals Commission made 12 recommendations to the state Legislature and Governor on ways to mitigate constraints on mineral development in Alaska. In addition, the commission identified seven federal issues of concern and made suggestions that the state and/or the governor should pursue to rectify those issues. Recommendations include suggestions involving government regulatory reform, access and infrastructure development, state's rights issues, data acquisition, regional... Full story
As in past years, Canada's Fraser Institute (www.fraserinstitute.ca) has released the results of its annual mining investment attractiveness survey for 2003-2004. The survey represents responses from 132 junior mining companies and 27 senior mining companies who rated policy potential issues (regulatory and infrastructure), mineral potential and overall investment attractiveness in 53 political jurisdictions around the globe. The companies participating in the survey accounted for exploration budgets totaling US$642.4... Full story
Information continues to trickle in from 2002 exploration programs around the state with the final tally suggesting exploration expenditures for 2002 will come in at about the same or slightly higher levels as in 2001. As is most years, a few major projects expend the majority of the funds while many smaller projects move either forward toward increased funding or backward to the project bone yard. The big spenders in 2002 will be Donlin Creek, Pebble and Pogo while properties... Full story
The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that mining is one of the nation's safest occupations with a lower rate of illness and injury per 100 employees, 4.7, than manufacturing, 9, and construction, 8.3, and grocery stores, 8, hotels, 6.9, and retail sales, 5.9 As is usually the case, the Alaska summer season reached its peak in activity in August. As is always the case, some properties show promise of turning into Alaska's next operating mine while others have their names quietly scribed on the scroll of the dead. Several...
Drilling, trenching and prospecting results are pouring in from all over the state as the 2002 summer season hits its annual mid-point. The most active place in the states continues to be the Seward Peninsula although a number of other areas are seeing increased levels of interest and expenditure for the first time in five years. Tire kicking has increased across the board and new property acquisitions are expected to make their way to the public domain in August. Gold exploration has resurfaced after a long hiatus but base...
Spring is in everyone's step in the Alaska mining industry even if spring is not quite yet in the air here in Alaska. Buoyant spirits are related to surprisingly buoyant metals prices and positive economic news from the U.S. economy. Plans for 2002 are in progress and fieldwork on some projects already is under way. Exploration activities for gold in 2002 appear to be on the rise compared to 2001 as is exploration for base metals. The professional begging (money raising) season is in full swing for junior and intermediate siz... Full story
Results from the 2001 field season have begun to show up from around the state. At the same time, the number of rumors circulating via the Tundra Telegraph about results that have not been formally announced, has picked up. Fieldwork continues on a number of projects around the state but that early morning chill in the air is a harbinger of change in the near future. When the dust settles later this year, it will be clear that several new discoveries have been made in Alaska in 2001 and that several promising properties did... Full story
As is always the case this time of year, many of the season's exploration and development programs are completed or nearing completion and the results of those programs are trickling in. In addition, second quarter 2001 operating results are in for Alaska's major mines, all of which are doing well despite depressed prices for all of the metals they produce. The state's most active areas include the Seward Peninsula, Interior Alaska and southeast Alaska. Here is what's going on. Western Alaska Cominco American's Red Dog mine...
Alaska's "winter that wasn't" is nearing its end and with it the mining industry is gearing up for another summer season. This season promises to see less intense activity in the gold exploration sector, more polymetallic and platinum group element exploration along with continued development activities at Red Dog, Greens Creek, Fort Knox and the Pogo project. To underscore this recent shift away from gold and into other metals, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada recently awarded its prestigious Prospector...
