The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 185
From the enormous Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project to grassroots gold and copper discoveries, the Kahiltna Terrane of Southwest Alaska is becoming a hot destination for mining companies seeking the mineral wealth of this rugged and underexplored region. The Kahiltna assemblage was formed when an arc of islands known as Wrangellia thrust up the ocean floor as it collided with North America. This bulldozed seabed created much of the spectacular mountains of the Alaska...
There are some new stats out regarding mining's impact on Alaska that the McDowell Group Inc. produced for the State of Alaska. For 2010, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 3,500 direct jobs and 5,500 indirect jobs. The industry paid US$350 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$95,000 per year, which is double the statewide average for all sectors. Mining salaries were higher than all other sectors except for the oil and gas sector. The industry paid...
Brixton Metals Corp., the newest explorer and among the largest landowners in the Kahiltna Terrane region of Southwest Alaska, is on a mission to acquire large-scale precious metals properties and advance them to feasibility. To this end, the company has cut exploration deals to explore Millrock Resources Inc.'s Cristo gold-copper property in Southwest Alaska and Kiska Metals Corp.'s Thorn gold-silver-copper project in Northern British Columbia. "Brixton's vision is to focus o...
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...
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...
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...
Since its inception in 2007, Millrock Resources Inc.'s modus operandi is to seek out early-stage mineral prospects in Alaska and Arizona, complete initial exploration and then joint venture the projects to other industry players. Utilizing this project generator model the junior has amassed a portfolio of 10 gold and copper projects, seven of which received partner-funded exploration in 2010. Estelle, Millrock's flagship gold property in Alaska, had been the one caveat to the...
TSX: TCK.A, TCK.B and NYSE: TCK Chairman: Norman Keevil President and CEO: Donald Lindsay Vice President, Exploration: Fred Daley Teck Resources Ltd. is looking forward to 20 more years of high-grade zinc-lead-silver production at its Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska. Early in 2010, it was unclear whether the company would continue operations at Red Dog or shutter the mine until issues surrounding its water discharge permits were resolved. After lengthy discussions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a...
The annual Fraser Institute "Report on Mining Companies, 2009-2010" was recently released to a thundering silence. Several oddball items may help explain the lackluster response, but Alaska fared well in the survey of 333 companies working in 72 jurisdictions worldwide. Alaska ranked 18th out of 72 under the policy potential index, which measures the regulatory attractiveness of a jurisdiction. Not unreasonably, Alaska was beaten by some mining heavyweights like Chile, Quebec,...
When the financial storm of late 2008 wreaked havoc on global markets, Millrock Resources Inc. refrained from splurging its precious cash on expensive drill campaigns. But it didn't it sit idly by waiting for better economic times either. Instead, the Vancouver, B.C.-based junior invested its wealth of geological experience in identifying promising grassroots gold and copper projects. Millrock also formed key alliances with financially stable miners wanting to invest in projec...
Eager to discover whether Rio Tinto Ltd. subsidiary Kennecott Exploration Inc. will exercise its right to buy back a 60 percent stake in the Whistler gold-copper project, Kiska Metals Corp. has launched a 15-hole drill campaign and corresponding 3-D-induced polarization survey to explore the larger potential of the 173-square-mile, or 448-square-kilometer, central Alaska property. The largest portion of the drill program, which began in mid-March, is testing targets within...
The Alaska Miners Association recently released an economic benefits summary of the Alaska mining industry. This summary indicated that in 2009 the Alaska mining industry provided 3,300 direct jobs along with 5,200 indirect jobs in 120 communities in Alaska with a combined payroll of US$320 million. Average industry jobs came in at US$83,000 per year, which is 85 percent higher than the average Alaska wage and second only to wages in the oil and gas industry. The industry...
Geologically, Alaska is a terrane wreck, with multiple tectonic plates dumping their mineral payloads over the landscape. Geologists are still sifting through the wreckage in many places across the state to determine which mineral deposits were dumped by which terranes and when - a task not always easily accomplished as pileups have resulted, in many cases, from multiple mineralization events happening in the same geographical regions over time. A terrane is a series of...
Although commodities prices have improved for the mining industry over the past year, 2009 has been the kind of year most of us hope not to repeat. The best analogy I can come up with is the one that says "All boats rise and fall with the tide." Under this scenario, company fortunes fell as the general market declined. Unfortunately, not all boats (companies) rise when the tide goes back up. Some get holed on the rocks of economic misfortune and remain on the bottom....
Kiska Metals Corp. cut long intercepts of gold-rich mineralization in two of the five holes that it drilled during the newly formed company's fall 2009 exploration program. These intercepts indicate that the 173-square-mile, or 448-square-kilometer, Whistler property encompasses multiple metal-rich zones. Kiska Metals, formed in August as a result of a merger between Rimfire Minerals Corp. and Geoinformatics Exploration Inc., began drilling the property in September....
Metals markets continue to climb out of the basement as the world demand for metals resumes its upward trend. Fueled by this growing demand, numerous Alaska precious, base and rare metal projects reported results of their 2009 exploration, development and production programs. The recent Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage felt this surge of interest with the highest attendance in more than a decade. The atmosphere at the conference was charged with optimism, a co...
Kinross Gold Corp. - operator of the largest gold mine in the Tintina Gold Belt - has embarked on a treasure hunt in hopes of identifying another Fort Knox-like deposit in this gold-rich province. The Tintina belt is a boomerang-shaped swath of land that spans the breadth of Alaska, through the Yukon Territory and into northern British Columbia. While Kinross works to extend the mine life of Fort Knox after 13 years of production through drilling, the Toronto-based miner is also investing in junior explorers with promising pr...
When Greg Beischer and Phil St. George teamed up to form Millrock Resources Inc. early in 2007, they set out to make big discoveries that would attract the interest of the world's mining giants. The Millrock team has the background to know what global mining companies are looking for and the geological expertise to find it. Beischer, the Vancouver B.C.-based junior's president and CEO, spent two decades working for Inco Ltd., now a subsidiary of global mining giant Companhia...
Built on a project generator model, Millrock Resources Inc. has teamed up with Kinross Gold Corp., Altius Resources Inc. and Vale Exploration Canada to seek out and explore new large gold and copper projects in Alaska and Arizona during a tough financial market. "Millrock continues to march steadily forward, meeting corporate milestones in a timely manner despite challenging market conditions," Millrock President and CEO Gregory Beischer said. "The company has acquired an...
The Alaska summer is in full swing but news is slow in arriving from new field programs and mining operations around the state. The biggest news in the past month was the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of Coeur d'Alene Mines' tailing disposal permits at its Kensington deposit north of Juneau. The longstanding stalemate, dating back to late 2006, clears the way (hopefully) for completion of the construction at the Slate Lake tailings facility and commencement of mining...
Kinross Gold Corp. - operator of the largest gold mine in the Tintina Gold Belt - has embarked on a treasure hunt in hopes of identifying another Fort Knox-like deposit in this gold-rich province. The Tintina belt is a boomerang-shaped swath of land that spans the breadth of Alaska, through the Yukon Territory and into northern British Columbia. While Kinross works to extend the mine life of Fort Knox after 13 years of production through drilling, the Toronto-based miner is...
The Alaska mining industry was relatively quiet over the last month with most of the news coming from programs completed in 2008. In addition, some programs have already started in 2009 but details are not ready for prime time gossip. A couple items that did catch my eye from the bigger world markets underscore the fact that opportunities still exist in this depressed economic climate and serve to magnify the pitfalls of government intervention in the private sector. The...
Alaska saw robust mining activity in 2008 across the full spectrum of the industry, from small placer operations to major producers, and from exploration programs to advanced development projects. Here is a look at companies reporting significant progress during the year. Placer mining Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. has recovered 26,879 ounces of placer gold from channel and bench deposits in the Nolan Valley through 2007. The largest nugget recovered from the property, located about 280 miles north of Fairbanks, weighed 41.35...
When Greg Beischer and Phil St. George teamed up to form Millrock Resources Inc. nearly two years ago, they set out to make big discoveries that would attract the interest of the world's mining giants. These two exploration geologists now think the Estelle high-grade gold property in Alaska's Rainy Pass district, about 160 kilometers, or 100 miles, northwest of Anchorage could be one such property. The Millrock team has the background to know what global mining companies are...
Let me start this month's mining update by saying I am not a chartist nor do I believe economic cycles are controlled by cosmic forces known only to the mystics. That said, I do believe in cycles because I have lived and worked through more cycles in the mining industry than I care to remember. So a couple of observations seem in order as we plummet down the slope off another peak into what looks to be a pretty deep, chilly valley. First off, what goes up, must come down with...
