The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Fortune Minerals Ltd. reported Dec. 4 the startup of a $3.8 million pilot plant last month at SGS Lakefield Research Limited in Ontario for its Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth deposit in the Northwest Territories. Fortune aims to confirm the economic feasibility of producing precious and base metals from NICO. A total of 180 metric tons of ore mined from the Nico deposit during the 2006 and 2007 underground test mining programs will be processed by May, the company said. Underground mining tests conducted at Nico produced about...
The Northwest Territories has been closely linked with the mining industry ever since B.A. Blakeney, a prospector on his way to the Klondike, staked the first gold mining claim here in 1898. And although the focus has shifted from gold to diamonds, the industry remains at the forefront of any discussion regarding the NWT's economic well-being: the territory produced over C$2 billion in total mineral shipments in 2011, a staggering total for a jurisdiction which has a population that barely exceeds 40,000 residents. Although...
Northwest Territories, a vast expanse of mountains, forests and tundra, has been slower to experience the surge in mineral exploration and development activities that has swept across Yukon Territory and Nunavut in recent years. But the mining industry is turning its attention to the 1.17 million square kilometers (431,162 square miles) Arctic land - roughly two-thirds the size of Alaska - that lies in between. Permits have been issued for new areas of exploration and claims are being staked in places where such activity has...
Is the "Yukon Gold Rush" about to spill into Alaska? Since the 1896 discovery of gold on the aptly named Bonanza Creek sparked a stampede of fortune seekers to the rivers and streams of the Klondike, these world-class mining jurisdictions that share a common geological and mineralization history have been engaged in a cross-border rivalry of drawing prospectors and miners to their mineral-rich deposits. While 19th Century miners seeking their fortunes in Alaska's Fortymile...
The vast landscape of the Northwest Territories is blessed with an abundance of resources. It is a land filled with opportunity, and much of the mineral wealth remains untapped. Mineral explorers and producers are making best efforts to unlock this potential and seizing the opportunities that await them. The Government of the Northwest Territories strongly supports responsible and sustainable mineral development that yields substantial economic benefits to NWT residents, communities and businesses. Four mines are operational...
Thanks to rising revenue, exports, production and prices, the mining industry in British Columbia is racing toward a potential record year for exploration, development and production activity. The province's mining boom is being fueled by the global recovery in manufacturing, and in particular the strong demand for raw materials in Asia, according to B.C. officials. In 2010, the price of metallurgical coal rose by 70 percent, while prices for copper climbed 45 percent, silver by 37 percent and gold by 25 percent from 2009....
When I wrote a first editorial for Mining Explorers last year, it was on the occasion of Nunavut celebrating its first 10 years as a separate territory, and so it was fitting to review some of the accomplishments of the decade. Now, as we enter into a second decade, many of the fruits of those labors are coming to bear. That first decade, 1999-2009, wasn't, of course, without its share of both accomplishments and setbacks. Early in Nunavut's short life around 2002, three long-producing mines closed: the Polaris and Nanisivik...
Diamonds continued to dominate mining production in Northwest Territories in 2010, but other hardrock mineral projects led most of the mineral exploration activity during the year. Yet 2010 is shaping up to be a year of recovery for nearly all of the territory's miners. Rough diamond production from Harry Winston's 40 percent share of the Diavik Mine totaled 650,000 carats in the second quarter, up significantly from 570,000 carats a year earlier. Rio Tinto plc controls 60 percent interest in Diavik, Canada's largest diamond...
FT: TSX President and CEO: Robin E. Goad, M. Sc., P.Geo. Vice President, Finance and CFO: Julian Kemp, B.B.A., C.A. Vice President, Operations: Tom Rinaldi Fortune Minerals is a diversified natural resource company with several mineral deposits and a number of advanced exploration and development projects, all located in Canada. The company's projects include the Mount Klappan anthracite coal deposits located 150 kilometers, or 97 miles, northeast of the port of Stewart in British Columbia; the Nico gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper...
Though most of the gold fever sweeping northern Canada these days is focused on Yukon Territory's White Gold district to the west and near Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.'s new Meadowbank Mine to the east in Nunavut, a growing number of explorers are trekking to the territory in between. Mining companies are returning to the Northwest Territories as gold prices set records, including a recent high of US$1,260 per ounce. But most of these explorers are targeting known deposits or previously identified mineralization rather than...
Chinese companies are doing their homework and investing in base metals projects in northern and western Canada to take advantage of rising prices and to secure a future supply of the minerals for their operations back home. First on the scene were private Chinese companies, Jinduicheng Molybdenum Group and Northwest Nonferrous International Investment Co. In the summer of 2008, they purchased a 100 percent interest in Yukon Zinc Corp., which owns the Wolverine Project and other mineral assets in the Finlayson District of...
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...
Fortune Minerals Ltd. has identified a site in Saskatchewan for a processing facility for its Nico Project located 160 kilometers, or 99 miles, northwest of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The junior said Nov. 3 that it entered into an agreement to purchase land near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where it aims to build its southern hydrometallurgical facility for the Nico gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project in Northwest Territories. Fortune wants to start a vertically integrated mining operation at Nico by 2012, assuming it...
FT: TSX President and CEO: Robin E. Goad Vice President, Finance & CFO: Julian Kemp Vice President, Operations: Tom Rinaldi Fortune Minerals is a diversified natural resource company with several mineral deposits and a number of advanced exploration and development projects, all located in Canada. The company's projects include the Mount Klappan anthracite coal deposits located 150 kilometers, or 97 miles, northeast of the port of Stewart in British Columbia; the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit, located 160...
Hampered by a recession-driven drought in capital markets, mineral explorers in the Northwest Territories met the challenges of 2009 with a variety of survival strategies. With significant diamond, precious and base metal projects and prospects at stake, some companies entered a holding pattern in hopes of waiting out the economic storm, while other forged ahead, adjusting to the new cash-strapped environment as the year progressed. Thanks to record commodity prices, the economy of the Northwest Territories has outpaced the...
Fortune Minerals Ltd. is taking the lemons it has encountered in developing the Nico Project in Northwest Territories and making lemonade. The London, Ont.-based junior recently reported substantial progress in overcoming major obstacles to building a vertically integrated mining operation at Nico, which is located 160 kilometers, or 99 miles, northwest of Yellowknife. Fortune Minerals discovered Nico, the largest known IOCG (Olympic Dam-type) deposit in Canada, in 1996. The deposit contains proven and probable mineral...
The Northwest Territories has four operating mines: three diamond producers and one long-running tungsten operation. Exploration and development activity was brisk in 2008 with the most advanced projects located in the Slave Province. Here's a look at mining companies active during 2008 in the Northwest Territories: Producing mines BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. (80 percent) and partners C. Fipke (10 percent) and S. Blusson (10 percent) produced about 3.5 million carats of rough diamonds at the Ekati diamond mine in 2008, making...
Producing mines Thompson Creek Metals Co. operates the Endako Mine, a molybdenum producer for more than 40 years. Located near Fraser Lake in northern British Columbia, Endako includes three open pits, a mill and a roasting facility, and is operated as a joint venture, with Thompson Creek holding a 75 percent interest and Japan-based Sojitz Corp. having the remaining 25 percent. The miner produced 25 million to 26 million pounds of moly in 2008. Due to a sharp drop in molybdenum prices last year, Thompson Creek decided...
The Northwest Transmission Line along Highway 37 is once again on the front burner in British Columbia, and development of the 517-kilometer-long, or 321-mile-long, power line could provide easier access to Lower 48 markets for power generated in Alaska. British Columbia has resumed the environmental assessment process and First Nations consultation required for the project, following an announcement by the Canadian province's Premier Gordon Campbell Sept. 26 that the power project was back on track. The B.C. government...
The financial markets haven't been kind to junior mining and exploration stocks lately. During the past six months, five of Alaska's junior explorers have lost more than three-quarters of their average stock values. This decimation of junior stocks is not isolated to companies doing business in Alaska and northern Canada, but sweeps the industry across the board. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index, which represents about 40 percent of mining companies worldwide, has declined...
Mining exploration appears to be hotter than ever this season in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, but the Canadian Arctic region's few producers are getting hammered by the strong Canadian dollar. The discrepancy was particularly evident in the territories' mining production. The total value of metal and diamond shipments from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Territory decreased to C$1.53 billion during the calendar year 2007 for the second consecutive year, down from C$1.63 billion in 2006 and C$1.79 billion in...
When Anglo American plc. CEO Cynthia Carroll spoke to Alaska business leaders during a visit to Anchorage in October she vowed that the partnership between her company and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. would recruit first in Alaska before looking elsewhere to find professionals to manage, run and work their massive Pebble Project. The Pebble Partnership didn't have to look far. John Wood fits the bill perfectly. Not only does Wood offer more than 35 years in civil and mining...
Two of Canada's westernmost governments are moving forward with power transmission projects aimed at bringing lower cost energy and jobs to rural residents while spurring mine development in remote areas. British Columbia and Yukon Territory announced progress in October on separate public-private partnerships pursuing the power projects. B.C. government said Oct. 1 it would pursue the Northwest Transmission Line project, a C$400-million extension of B.C.'s electrical grid into the remote northwest region of the province...
Proponents of an Alaska-Canada rail link are thinking big. In a phase 1 feasibility study commissioned by the State of Alaska and the Yukon government and published in June, they estimate that the project would generate 3,000 direct jobs in Alaska's mining sector and 2,300 additional new jobs in other industries. At least 8.8 billion tons of mineral concentrates could be developed in the rail corridor in Alaska over a 30-year period, with a gross metal value of $16.9 billion, according to the study. To illustrate the scale...
More junior mining companies than ever appear to be seeking their fortunes in precious metals and gems in the wilds of northwestern Canada these days and more seem to be joining the throng every day. Still, few of these modern-day explorers are drawn to the Far North by the allure of high-rank coal and metallurgical minerals such as cobalt and bismuth. But Fortune Minerals of London, Ontario, is one such firm. Founded in 1988, Fortune Minerals went public a year later. In the 18 years since, the company has gotten lucky more...
