The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 51 - 66 of 66
As mining heats up in Yukon Territory, professionals from around the globe are finding new roles in the region and employing a host of unique experiences and perspectives in pursuit of exploration, development and production of the territory's minerals. This growing international contingent covers the industry spectrum and hails from around the globe. Their presence is most evident in exploration camps scattered across the Yukon; however, the new manager of Yukon's sole producer, Capstone Mining Corp.'s Minto Mine, is a...
NIXON FORK - Flying more than 200 miles, or 320 kilometers, northwest from Anchorage, on a route that roughly parallels the legendary Iditarod trail, Fire River Gold Corp.'s Nixon Fork Mine looms on the horizon. The 4,000-foot airstrip and array of buildings resting atop a gold-veined ridge is an island of productivity in this vast expanse of Interior Alaska. "You might look at the site and say, 'It would never be built today.' If this was just a hillside and trees and we were...
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...
Results rolling in from Fire River Gold Corp.'s multifaceted evaluation of Nixon Fork bode well for a near-term startup and the long-term potential of the high-grade gold mine in Interior Alaska. Richard Goodwin, who was named Nixon Fork project manager in March, is leading a geological and engineering team that is studying the viability of reprocessing gold-laden tailings through a carbon-in-leach circuit at the mine. Goodwin is a mining engineer with more than 25 years of...
NovaGold Resources Inc. Jan. 16 announced the appointment of new senior managers for the Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project that it owns jointly with Teck Cominco Ltd. in northwestern British Columbia as the partners launch an effort to re-evaluate and optimize development of the property. The companies suspended construction activities at Galore Creek in November when an independent engineering firm estimated that capital costs for developing a proposed 65,000-metric-tons-per-day mine could climb to $5 billion, more...
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,...
As all miners know, if you do some digging, there's a chance you'll strike it big. Barry Kibler of California dug out his grandfather's diaries and found a treasure trove of stories about his stints working at the Treadwell gold mines in Douglas, near Juneau, in 1903-04. Kibler, a retired truck driver, recently finished transcribing the diaries of Edwin Warren and hopes to find a publisher for them. Warren himself set out for Alaska by bicycle, train and steamer, hoping to study birds and save money for his tuition at...
As the mining industry booms and companies rush to develop new properties, there is often one major snag in remote northern regions: inadequate infrastructure. This is the case with the Red Chris property in British Columbia, which completed the province's environmental assessment process last August. Vancouver-based bcMetals is champing at the bit to obtain permits and start construction of its proposed copper-gold mine, but everything hinges on whether or not the British Columbia government will build a 37.5-megawatt power...
Alaska's newest large mines, such as Pogo, will benefit from some of the most advanced equipment on the market, including drill rigs with computer consoles and rock bolts that expand to the right strength whether they are in an ore body or waste rock. Much of this equipment is being provided by a distributor with branches across the state, Construction Machinery International. Ken and Chad Gerondale of CMI gave details at a presentation to the Alaska Miners Association in Anchorage Dec. 14. CMI represents major manufacturers...
Some of Alaska's mines are taking full advantage of Gov. Frank Murkowski's Roads to Resources program. But for others, building a private road may be more economical than letting the state take care of the infrastructure. With public roads, mines not only have to deal with the issue of public access, they must also pay additional taxes and comply with numerous regulations that restrict the size and weight of vehicles. Northern Dynasty is weighing up the options for its Pebble project in southwest Alaska. The Vancouver-based c...
Kensington General Manager Tim Arnold has at last been able to update his presentation to report on real construction. Until now the talk was all about planned timelines, but with all the permits in the bag for Coeur d'Alene's gold project near Juneau, things are happening. Since work began in late June, logging on the mill and camp sites has been completed, the widening of the main access road is well under way and the temporary dock facility has been installed. "I'm not actually a construction guy," Arnold told the...
Sawson City, Yukon epitomizes the romance of the Gold Rush, so it was a little surprising that the first field trip arranged as part of this year's Northern Latitudes Reclamation Workshop was to an extremely unglamorous site: the former asbestos mine at Clinton Creek. Quite apart from the lack of allure of its toxic ore, the mine probably doesn't see too many visitors. To reach it from Dawson you have to cross the Yukon on a ferry, drive for almost an hour up the winding Top of the World highway, drive for another hour down...
While KFx struggles to prove that its K-Fuel process can dry Alaska's sub-bituminous coal in an economical manner, another company wants to convert the coal into liquid fuel. Like KFx, Vancouver-based Silverado Gold Mines has a checkered history and is having trouble bringing its ambitious project to fruition. Silverado has previously been involved in placer gold mining on its Nolan properties, north of the Arctic Circle. With little to show for that, the company is now enthusiastically promoting its "green fuel" process. Sil...
After seeing his daughter Lisa elected to the U.S. Senate, the first place Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski headed to on Nov. 3 was the Alaska Miners Association convention in Anchorage. Perhaps because of his good mood, Gov. Murkowski promised to request a $700,000 addition to next year's budget for enhanced airborne geophysical surveys. In a speech to the convention two days later, Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin confirmed the state's enthusiasm for the mining industry. "Men and women of the Alaska...
The future looks bright for the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum project near Iliamna in southwestern Alaska. Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. President and CEO Ronald W. Thiessen said a preliminary assessment of the project indicates excellent potential for a long-life mine, having large-scale, low cost metal production. The company said it undertook the assessment to quantify the Pebble project's cost parameters and to provide guidance for on-going engineering work to define the optimal scale of production. Preliminary...
An experienced geologist in Alaska himself, Charles Caldwell "Chuck" Hawley has compiled a well-documented and compelling story about one of Alaska's pioneer prospectors and mining engineers, Wesley Earl Dunkle. An economic geologist who prospected many mineral occurrences and developed several mines in Alaska in the early to mid-1900s, Dunkle's career and life story weave together many interesting aspects about the history of the Last Frontier. Alaska historians, explorers, aviators, prospectors and miners will find this boo...
