The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Strong markets and solid production powered hardrock mining companies with large operations and investments in Alaska to outstanding performances in 2006. Teck Cominco, operator of the Red Dog zinc-lead mine near Kotzebue and the Pogo gold mine in the eastern Interior near Delta Junction; Kinross Gold Corp., owner of the Fort Knox gold mine near Fairbanks, Hecla Mining Co., part owner of the Greens Creek silver mine in Southeast Alaska; and Coeur D'Alene Corp., developer of the Kensington Gold Project near Juneau, reported...
Ever since prospectors rushed to the Yukon seeking gold more than a century ago, miners have been guilty of extracting the mineral riches in the North and doing a vanishing act when the veins petered out or prices fell. These miners often left behind environmental messes that occasionally became regulatory nightmares. Now that modern-day prospectors are again venturing to the far North, many of them are seeking out old mining claims. But before new exploration can occur, the old mine sites often must be cleaned up. That's...
Research prepared for mining industry critic Earthworks claims that faulty water quality predictions, and mitigation and regulatory failures are responsible for hard rock mining-related water pollution, primarily in the West. The purpose of the studies, by consultant Jim Kuipers of Butte, Mont., and Boulder, Colo.-based geochemist Ann Maest, was to review the history and accuracy of water quality predictions in environmental impact statements for major U.S. hardrock mines, according to Earthworks. Kuipers and Maest found... Full story
Mining companies spent an all-time record $103.9 million on exploration in Alaska in 2005, a big jump from the $70.8 million that was spent the previous year, and a long way from the relatively modest $27.6 million in 2003. At least 16 projects had exploration expenditures of $1 million or more. The companies employed 303 people in exploration projects in 2005, up from 184 in 2004 and 88 in 2003, according to the state's Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. These impressive figures in Alaska reflected the story...
A newly expanded company is making Alaska its exploration target, and it's backed by a mining heavyweight. Vancouver-based International Tower Hill Mines was barely a glimmer on anyone's radar screens until last summer, when South African major AngloGold Ashanti purchased 19.99 percent of ITH's shares and gave the junior its North American exploration manager, Jeff Pontius, as president and CEO. Pontius led the team that acquired a group of Alaska properties for AngloGold, which now belong to ITH. "AngloGold was highly... Full story
A geologist at the Red Dog lead-zinc mine in northwest Alaska died in an accident Dec. 15. Jeffrey Huber, 51, was killed when a boulder fell from the side of an open pit, causing massive head and chest injuries. Huber was conducting routine grade control work at the time, approaching the rock that the mining equipment was extracting and directing where it should go - to the waste rock pile or to the mill, according to Red Dog's general manager, John Knapp. Huber, from Anchorage, had been working at Red Dog since early 2004, b...
Kinross Gold, the owner of Alaska's Fort Knox mine, will expand its operations in Russia and elsewhere in the world if a friendly acquisition of Bema Gold goes ahead. The boards of directors of the two Canadian companies unanimously approved the U.S. $3.1 billion transaction in early November, and they are now awaiting a vote by Bema shareholders, scheduled for January. Two-thirds of the smaller company's shareholders must give their approval of the deal for it to go ahead. After the acquisition, the remodeled Kinross would...
Over the last month the Alaska mineral industry continued to report results from 2006 exploration programs including new acquisitions of projects that have been on the back shelf for over 25 years. The industry watched as the American political scene was drastically changed at both the federal and state levels. And despite the fact that the end of the year is nearing, there is no end in sight yet for a number of exploration and development projects while at the same time contracts for work in 2007 already are being inked. If...
Out of an average 157,800 tons of rock, with the assistance of 30 tons of explosives, 6.7 tons of lime and 20,506 gallons of diesel fuel, Fort Knox mine produces 900 ounces of gold per day. Trucks with giant tires that cost $10,000 each carry 150 tons of ore to the crusher every three minutes. The ore comes out of a pit that is 1,100 feet deep and will be a mile long and half a mile wide by the time mining comes to an end in 2010. The mine operates 24/7, 365 days a year and its electricity bill is $1.9 million per month....
Nothing's been built yet, but Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty has already opened the floodgates to a torrent of discussion of the enormous dams the company proposes for the Pebble project. One of the tailings dams would reach an ultimate height of 740 feet and would be at least 4.3 miles long. The largest dam in North America, the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, is 550 feet tall and almost a mile long. Northern Dynasty had already come under fire before it submitted the proposal for five dams to Alaska's Department of... Full story
A former State of Alaska employee has submitted a proposal to the Board of Fisheries requesting it to designate the waters in the vicinity of the planned Pebble mine as a fish refuge. George Matz, who is now retired, but worked for the state for about 11 years as an analyst, is concerned that Gov. Frank Murkowski's policies have removed some of the checks and balances that would ensure fish are protected when a mine is developed. The seven-member Board of Fisheries is part of the Department of Fish and Game. The board...
Higher metals prices contributed to record earnings in the second quarter across the mining spectrum. Three companies heavily invested in Alaska, Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp., Hecla Mining Co. and Kinross Gold Corp., posted stronger financial results for the period and noted how their Alaska properties fared. Fort Knox battles escalating costs with high gold output Kinross, owner of the Fort Knox mine near Fairbanks, posted record earnings of $65.6 million, or 19 cents per share for the second quarter of 2006, compared with a...
Hang on to your hat, the data is beginning to roll in from Alaskan field programs and there are some hum dingers in this month's data and several others will be showing up next month. What's a "hum dinger"? How about an Alaska gold project at the center of a $1.5 billion corporate takeover by the world's largest gold producer? Or how about 75 feet grading more than 2 ounces of gold per ton? Or maybe silver production costs of a negative $2.28 per ounce? But wait, there's more...
The annual running of the bulls in Pamplona can't hold a candle to the statewide frenzy that is going on right now across the length and breadth of Alaska. Measure it any way you like - meters drilled, helicopter hours used, geologists or engineers on the payroll, gallons of fuel burned or gallons of peanut butter consumed - it all comes out the same. The Alaska mineral industry is running at or over capacity and there is no sign that that will change any time soon. The last month saw the start of multiple drilling programs...
Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc. is moving ahead with plans to build a heap leach facility at the Fort Knox gold mine that could reduce its gold ore processing costs by as much as two-thirds. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Alaska departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation released applications, draft permit, public notice and decisions June 29, relating to Fort Knox and the proposal for a 30-day public review and comment period. Fairbanks Gold is a subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corp. Fort Knox is an... Full story
After staking 25,600 additional acres in the Nyac Gold District earlier this year, Tonogold Resources Inc. has embarked on Alaska exploration it hopes will yield a big payoff. The California-based junior mining company began drilling June 7 at Bonanza Ridge, one of six gold prospects it aims to explore with a drill this summer. "We are very excited to begin drilling operations at Nyac. Our exploration activities of 2005 delineated extensive drilling targets with great mineralization and our 2006 exploration program calls for...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Alaska released a public notice and draft project authorizations June 1, relating to the NovaGold Resources Rock Creek mine project located eight miles outside Nome. A 30-day public review and comment period ends June 30. The Rock Creek project includes two locations, the Rock Creek mine and mill complex north of Nome in the Snake River watershed, and the Big Hurrah Mine east of Nome in the Solomon River watershed. According to its public notice, the Alaska Department of...
The game is afoot! The last month has seen the start of a number of field programs in Alaska, marking the beginning of the traditional "field season" in the Great Land. With demand for metals remaining extraordinarily high, Alaska's mining industry is operating at capacity but well below demand. An acute shortage of drills and drillers, geologists and engineers and helicopters to move them all around is affecting exploration, development and production plans around the state. For the first time in my career, money is not in...
Fort Knox workers poured the 3 millionth ounce of gold extracted from the Interior mine May 10 as gold prices soared to a 25-year-high, above $725 an ounce. Production at Fort Knox started in 1997, when the mine produced 366,223 troy ounces of gold. At startup, the mine's operating life was projected for 10 years, but discoveries of additional deposits have stretched that timeline. Fairbanks Mining Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Toronto-based Kinross Corp. operates Fort Knox. Mine officials now say production will... Full story
Kinross Gold Corp., owner of the Fort Knox gold mine 25 miles northeast of Fairbanks, posted a loss for 2005 of $216.0 million, including a $154.3 million deficit in the fourth quarter. The Toronto-based gold producer blamed the bulk of its fourth quarter loss on non-cash impairment charges of $147.2 million, including a charge of $141.8 million related to Fort Knox. During a thorough review of its assets and investments in 2005, Kinross said it examined the Fort Knox operation to determine the impact of higher operating...
A worldwide shortage of industrial tires is pushing up costs for Alaska's mining industry, just as soaring metal prices are fueling the sector's resurgence. The fast-growing economies of China and India combined with demand from the U.S. military and mining companies has led to a shortage of big tires, which costs tens of thousands of dollars. The shortage will likely continue for several years, vendors and mining executives said. Fort Knox, the state's largest gold mine, is wrapping chains around the giant tires its...
"Ready, aim, fire" is the traditional litany of any marksman hoping to hit his target. But critics of the Pebble mineral development have confused that sequence, firing aimless broadsides at the project even before a clear target has emerged. Recent efforts to inflame public opinion against the Pebble copper-gold deposit as an inevitable environmental catastrophe ignore two fundamental truths. First, Pebble is not a working mine, nor even a mine under construction. It's a mineral deposit whose owners, though certainly busy... Full story
The sound of boots, hammers, drills and helicopters is starting to drown out the sounds of "we are planning," "we hope to" and "later this year" that we've been hearing for the last few months. Despite a late spring through most of Alaska, a number of projects kicked off recently and more are gathering steam as the short, hectic Alaska summer season approaches. Companies counting on an early spring due to Global Warming have been disappointed and Plan B options are being formulated however, the end result will be the same:...
Alaska vendors reaped a share of $110 million spent last year to keep the open pit Fort Knox gold mine humming night and day, according to Lorna Shaw, community affairs director of mine owner Fairbanks Gold Mining, a subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corp. The money went primarily to buy labor, power, and fuel, Shaw said, adding that even the small items are essential - items like toilet paper, for instance. "We've got 400 people out there," Shaw said. "Consumable paper products - that's a lot of toilet paper; it can shut us down,... Full story
Kinross Gold Corp., owner of the Fort Knox gold mine near Fairbanks, reported a 27 percent jump in proven and probable reserves at year-end 2005 to 24.7 million ounces of gold. The year-over-year increase from 19.4 million ounces in 2004 marks the fifth consecutive year of reserves growth. Digging its way out of an accounting tangle that began nearly two years ago, Kinross posted the reserves figures in February along with financial results for the first nine months of 2005. The third-largest primary gold producer in North... Full story
