The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 101 - 120 of 120
Mineral exploration spending in Alaska will likely struggle to top US$80 million for 2014, a dramatic fall from the US$365.1 million pinnacle reached in 2011. "The din of mineral industry activity that is normally a part of the summer months in Alaska is decidedly muted this year as the global mining industry attempts to lift itself off the bottom of a plus-18-month-long slump," Avalon Development President Curt Freeman opined in a June column written for Mining News. Unlike 2...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. March 3 said that Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd. has approved a 2015 budget of US$5 million for the continued exploration of the Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. Dowa, which has the option to earn 49 percent in Palmer by investing US$22 million, had spent roughly US$10 million at the project through the end of 2014. This year's drilling will focus on extending volcanogenic massive sulfide mineralization encountered at the South Wall zone in...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Feb. 23 said it ended its fiscal year (Oct. 31) with C$587,481 in cash and working capital of C$470,841, compared with cash of C$181,557 and working capital of C$213,079 at the end of 2013. This increase is a result of the company generating more than C$663,000 from option earn-in and management fees, while reducing cash operating costs to about C$460,000. A record C$7.39 million was invested into Constantine's mineral exploration properties...
Amid the volatile metals markets that have become the norm in the past year, miners, developers, explorers, prospectors and investors met in Vancouver at the end of January for the annual Cordilleran Roundup mining convention. The mood was decidely positive, and having seen a lot of "whistling in the cemetary" at this convention in the past, I know the difference between false bravado and contagious optimism. Perhaps it was the stabilization of copper prices after a nine month...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Jan. 26 reported final drill results and summarized key advancements of the 2014 exploration program at its Palmer copper-zinc-gold-silver project in Southeast Alaska. Two of the newly reported holes, CMR14-64 and CMR14-65, intersected the massive sulfide electromagnetic plate target of the South Wall zone. Hole 64 cut 4.1 meters grading 0.55 percent copper, 4.98 percent zinc, 21.1 grams per metric ton silver, 0.16 g/t gold and hole 65 cut...
Like an iceberg, it appears the 4.75 million metric tons of massive sulfide mineralization outlined so far at the Glacier Creek deposit near the top of Mt. Morlan at Constantine Metal Resources' Palmer project in Southeast Alaska may be just a glimpse of the precious metals enriched copper-zinc mineralization that lies below. To find out, Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd. has agreed to invest US$6.2-million on a 2014 exploration program that included at least 10,000 meters of...
In an industry eager for even a scintilla of good news, a recent report from industry analyst SNL Metals & Mining recently gave the good-news-starved industry a bit of hope. SNL's article, titled, "Too early to start celebrating a recovery in the sector," indicated that although the downward trend in mineral exploration has not broken yet, the market has stopped down-grading mining equities, with a modest gain in market capitalization since its most recent low in mid-2013....
At the same time as the EPA is pushing forward on its planned precedent-setting, pre-emptive, pre-permit veto of the Pebble project and the tailings dam failure at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia, former Gold Fields Ltd. Chief Geologist Rael Lipson published an eye-opening summary of where porphyry copper-gold projects like Pebble, Mt. Polley and dozens of others around the world fit into the future of gold production. The article, appearing in the July 2014...
As a result of its timely partnership with Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd., Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. has launched the largest single-season exploration program ever carried out the Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide project near Haines in Southeast Alaska. At US$6.2-million, this year's exploration expenditures at the precious metals enriched copper-zinc project also ranks among the largest programs expected to be carried out in the 49th state during 2014. "The Palmer...
The din of mineral industry activity that is normally a part of the summer months in Alaska is decidedly muted this year as the global mining industry attempts to lift itself off the bottom of a plus-18-month-long slump. Some Alaska projects are moving forward but most field budgets are small with commensurately reduced goals attached. Larger mining companies, many under new management, are rapidly shedding non-core assets while revising budgets and timeframes for...
The over-all mood at the recent Cordilleran Roundup mining convention in Vancouver, B.C. was more restrained than in previous years, but also more realistic due in large part to the prolonged downturn in risk capital mining markets. It seems the industry has transitioned from the denial stage accompanying the declines of 2013 to an acceptance and determination stage that always precedes a return to market vitality. In a recent public release by financial giant Ernst and...
For those of you that could not attend, the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention and Trade Show was well-attended, with most people pleasantly surprised by the strong turnout. Compared to a year ago, more companies are planning to get back in the field with exploration and development programs in 2014, a sentiment making up one of the few bright spots in a recent IntierraRMG resource sector exploration summary. This report and a similar snapshot of the exploration...
The Alaska Miners Association's annual convention marks the changing of seasons for junior exploration companies with mineral projects in Alaska. As a blanket of snow hides outcropping rocks and the water needed for drilling crystalizes, geologists who have spent the long summer days investigating the vast mineral endowment across the Far North trade in their hammers, backpacks and hiking boots for suits, ties and PowerPoint presentations that show off the achievements of their latest field programs. While the 2013...
The ongoing scarcity of venture capital available to junior companies coupled with a retreat in metals prices has landed a one-two blow that sent mineral exploration spending in Alaska plunging for the second straight year. A handful of big-budget projects scattered across Alaska, though, is softening the hit to exploration spending across the Far North State during 2013. Mineral exploration expenditures in Alaska, which were a meager US$23.8 million in 2001, topped US$365...
CEM: TSX.V Chairman: Wayne Livingstone President and CEO: Garfield MacVeigh Vice President, Exploration: Darwin Green After two seasons of focusing its exploration efforts on gold properties in the Yukon Territory and Ontario, Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. returned to Southeast Alaska to expand Glacier Creek, a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit at its Palmer project. The renewed focus on its flagship property is largely attributable to US$22 million option and joint venture agreement that Constantine forged...
As I write this summary, the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention and Trade Show is right around the corner (Nov. 6-8). Despite the softening commodities prices and generally bearish sentiment expressed by the mining industry throughout the year, in the past month or so, I have seen a refreshing resurgence of that single-most important quality of the Alaska mining industry - optimism! Despite bankruptcies, mine closures, negative feasibility studies and the exodus from...
This month's mining news is a smorgasbord to delight the appetites of explorers, developers and miners alike. We had quarterly reports out from Teck, Kinross, Hecla and Coeur d'Alene discussing their respective results from operating mines around the state. We had one preliminary economic analysis by NovaCopper on its Arctic massive sulfide project and one feasibility study announced by International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. on its Livengood gold project. We had Freegold and...
Further proof that the mining industry is undergoing fundamental changes can be found in "Mine: A Confidence Crisis," the 10th edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers's annual report on the global mining industry. This recently released report indicates that in 2012 the top 40 global mining companies saw net profits plummet 49 percent to US$68 billion. To make matters worse, after a 25 percent decline in average mining stock value in 2011 and a slower but still downward trend in 201...
A US$22 million option and joint venture agreement forged with Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd. earlier this year is providing Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. with the ability to resume the expansion of a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit at its Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. In addition to a cash infusion during tight financial markets, Dowa brings 130 years of experience in the mining and smelting of VMS ores to its newly forged partnership at Palmer....
A recent letter distributed to the minerals industry by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development's Division of Economic Development is seeking faster and more efficient ways to gather, collate and publish Alaska's Annual Minerals Industry Report. The agencies are looking for feedback regarding what items the industry thinks is important to retain in the report, what items are not in the report that should be...
