The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 185
Slipping metals prices and investors' ongoing reluctance to risk venture capital in the junior mining sector is hitting Alaska's mineral exploration sector hard; and the Far North state is not the only mining jurisdiction reeling from this one-two punch. "After another year of strong headwinds in 2014, and with lower demand and overproduction continuing to depress metals prices, the mining industry's outlook for 2015 is unpromising at best," SNL Metals & Mining wrote recently...
Since buying out its mining rival Inmet Mining Corp. in early 2013, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has shown a keen interest in Alaska's copper potential. With seven mines in operation and five mineral projects under development, First Quantum is a growing, diversified miner with a particular focus on copper. Its operating mines and development projects are located in Africa, Australia, Finland, Spain, Turkey and Latin America. Yet the company has no foothold in North America....
MRO: TSX.V President and CEO: Gregory Beischer Chief Exploration Officer: Philip St. George Executive Vice President: Sarah Whicker Millrock Resources Inc. identifies and acquires grassroots mineral prospects and then seeks joint venture partners to help fund the exploration. This project generator model lessens the company's need to raise money in the markets, minimizes the risks involved with grassroots exploration and exposes shareholders to a large amount of exploration expenditure per dollar invested. Since its...
TCK: NYSE / TCK.B: TSX Chairman: Norman Keevil President and CEO: Don Lindsay Vice President, Exploration: Alex Christopher Teck Resources Ltd. continued robust zinc exploration in Alaska and British Columbia, while dialing back expenditures at many of its copper exploration and development projects during 2014. The discovery and delineation of high-grade deposits near its Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska continues to be a primary focus of Teck's zinc exploration. Going into 2014, Red Dog had 45.4 million metric tons of ore...
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...
MRO: TSX-V President and CEO: Gregory Beischer Chief Exploration Officer: Philip St. George Chief Operating Officer: Sarah Whicker Millrock Resources Inc., which has become one of the one of the more prolific Alaska exploration companies since adopting the project generator model in 2009, is tightening its belt in 2013. As a project generator, Millrock relies on joint venture partners to do most of the heavy financial lifting on its portfolio of properties in Alaska and Arizona. This model diminishes the company's need to rai...
TCK: NYSE/ TCK.B: TSX Chairman: Norman Keevil President and CEO: Don Lindsay Vice President of Exploration: Alex Christopher From grassroots discoveries to brownfields expansions, Teck Resources Ltd. is involved in a broad spectrum of exploration across Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon Territory. The Vancouver, B.C.-based mining company had drills turning at three copper-gold exploration projects in northwestern British Columbia during 2013. Galore Creek Mining Company, a 50-50 partnership between Teck and NovaGold...
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...
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...
TSX-V: MRO President and CEO: Gregory Beischer Chief Exploration Officer: Philip St. George Chief Operating Officer: Sarah Whicker Properties with mineral(s) explored - Gold - Estelle, Alaska Gold-Copper - Humble, Alaska Gold - Council, Alaska Gold-Copper - Audn, Alaska Gold - Bluff, Alaska Gold-Copper - Cristo Claim Group Gold - Uncle Sam, Alaska Gold - Revelation, Alaska Gold - Fortymile, Alaska Gold-Copper - Stellar, Alaska Copper-Gold - Distin, Alaska Copper-Gold - Renegade, Alaska Copper-Gold - Galiuro, Arizona...
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...
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...
In a long overdue step to bring Alaska into the 21st Century, state and federal agencies met in late June to discuss collaborative funding strategies for Alaska's Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative, an enterprise designed to create Alaska's first high-quality digital topographic map. The roundtable was convened by Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell and the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of Interior. Alaska remains the only state in the United States...
While most juniors are cinching their belts and scaling back programs, Millrock Resources Inc. has C$7.5 million of exploration slated for its array of gold and copper-gold properties in Alaska in 2012, not to mention a healthy C$4.5 million budget for its copper-gold prospects in Arizona. Millrock President and CEO Greg Beischer said the scarcity of venture capital available to the junior exploration sector was palpable at the Cambridge House World Resource Investment...
The winds of change are once again blowing across Alaska's mineral industry, not only because the industry is gearing up for another busy summer season, but also because the mining investment climate has turned from cautiously optimistic to decidedly undecided. The sea change occurred steadily and without a lot of fanfare between mid-January and mid-March. As is always the case, good projects continue to advance with those that are drilling and adding resources or moving throu...
I was tempted to make a few 2012 predictions now that 2011 is nearly gone, but I decided not to when I came across the following lines and was struck by how closely they mimic our current mining climate: "On a more local level, several old Alaska properties have been rejuvenated by new players to the Alaska mineral scene. Reserve announcements have touched off renewed land acquisitions and property negotiations. Contracts for technical personnel, drill rigs, helicopters and...
As a busy year in the Alaska and global mining industry starts to slide closer to its end, I figured now was a good time to gaze into my crystal ball (rutilated quartz, of course) to see what next year might bring. While strong metals prices promise another busy year for Alaska, a dose of global reality was provided by the financial giant Ernst & Young, who recently published a list of the top 10 business risks for the mining and metals industry for the coming year. Resource n...
Whether it is multimillion-ounce gold discoveries, copper deposits that measure in the billions of pounds or massive ore-bodies of 20 percent zinc, Alaska is renowned for its mammoth deposits. The prospect of finding another Donlin, Pebble or Red Dog continues to draw explorers to this vast and underexplored corner of the United States. In the Survey of Mining Companies: 2010/2011, conducted by the Fraser Institute, top executives from 494 mining and mineral exploration...
Kiska Metals Corp. is not only enduring Alaska's sometimes inclement winter weather but also embracing the ground-freezing conditions as a means to lower the costs of exploring the multitude of porphyry targets across its expansive Whistler copper-gold property about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Anchorage. "Although it is Alaska, winter is one of the most efficient times of the year for us to be working up there," Kiska Metals President and CEO Jason Weber...
Millrock Resources Inc. is artfully implementing the science of making grassroots gold and copper discoveries, proving the promise of these new finds and vending the prospects to other companies to do the heavy lifting of defining a deposit. This business model is paying off for the project generator. Some US$11 million is being spent on exploring its Alaska copper and gold prospects in 2011, with nearly US$10 million funded by its project partners. Senior miners Teck...
From deploying its own geologists to make grassroots discoveries to partnering with junior explorers with strong geological know-how and enticing projects, Teck Resources Ltd. is seeking new high-quality deposits of zinc, copper and gold across Alaska and Canada's North. "In terms of our overall exploration strategy, it has three parts to it: One is doing our own grassroots, regional exploration; the second arena we get involved with is joint ventures with junior companies; an...
Despite the abundance of good news from the Alaska mining industry this month, there is an unusual black cloud hanging over the industry that threatens to rain on our parade of projects. Domestic and international markets got a severe case of the jitters during the recent United States debt crisis. The resulting economic uncertainty contributed to significant metal price volatility. For example, the London gold price jumped 20 percent, from about US$1,480 to US$1,770 during the month prior to the debt deferral and has since d...
The last month has seen a massive transition in Alaska from planning to execution, from getting ready to go to the field to boots on the outcrop and drills in the ground. Each year the hustle and bustle of the Alaska summer exploration season subsumes virtually everything else (except the Stanley Cup) as field programs launch around the state. This year has been no different with base metal programs in the Brooks Range, gold programs in Interior Alaska and the Seward...
The mineral project generator model is paying dividends for Millrock Resources Inc. The junior anticipates exploration on its Alaska gold properties to top US$10 million in 2011, with more than US$9 million to be funded by project partners. Millrock has attracted senior miners Teck Resources Ltd. and Kinross Gold Corp. to some of the Alaska gold projects it has generated. Additionally, junior explorers Crescent Resources Corp., Brixton Metals Corp. and Ryan Gold Corp. also...
Kiska Metals Corp. is navigating exploration of the Whistler gold-copper project toward expanding targets identified during its 2009 and 2010 programs - which were driven largely by Kennecott Exploration Co.'s desire to look at the overall potential of the 203-square-mile, or 557-square-kilometer, property in order to evaluate its back-in rights. After spending the winter months transporting in supplies over a 110-mile, or 175-kilometer, ice road and relocating its camp next...
