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 171
I recently attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto where a buoyant, project-hungry crowd of 22,000 created enough of its own hot air to start the Greenland Icecap melting. In a clear case of anthropogenic global warming, representatives of companies, governments and agencies rolled out their projects in efforts to see and be seen. Alaska was well represented at the conference and should see some new investment interest coming from...
Alix Resources Corp. geologists spent the summer investigating the junior's two new gold properties in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Joining the 2009 gold rush to the White District south of Dawson City, Alix purchased lode quartz mineral claims six kilometers, or nearly 4 miles, east and slightly north of the White Gold Project where Underworld Resources Ltd. made a significant gold discovery in the Golden Saddle zone in 2008. Alix said its 500-plus-hectare, or about 1,205-...
They say when it rains, it pours, and that is just what is happening with news from field programs all over Alaska. Results from summer 2009 programs are pouring in from the Brooks Range to Prince of Wales Island, from Eastern Interior Alaska to Southwestern Alaska. Commodities of interest range from the expected gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc to the nearly unpronounceable, including praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, thulium, lutetium and yttrium. Go ahead, drop a...
The recession is taking its toll among mining companies with properties in Alaska and northwestern Canada as mergers and acquisitions surged in this sector during the second quarter, in step with a global industry trend. Companies across the exploration and development spectrum from mining giants to the smallest juniors closed on deals with firms that are struggling to survive the recent cash crunch as independent entities. The Wall Street Journal reported in early August that according to data provider Dealogic, value of...
I have been reading the tea leaves and think there is an extremely important sequence of events unfolding that represents a golden opportunity for Alaska. Please bear with me as I try to wade through the logic of this and you can tell me what you think. About two months ago, Brent Cook, a well-known mining analyst and owner of Exploration Insights, published a rather illuminating article entitled "Where Have All the Gold Mines Gone?" The upshot of his article was that most...
If it were entirely up to Copper Ridge Explorations Inc., the project generator would explore most of its mineral properties in Yukon Territory, northern British Columbia and Alaska this summer. But tough economic times have forced the Vancouver, B.C.-based junior to pick and choose among its 12 key projects, betting precious dollars on a handful of ideas that could pay off with additional exploration by catching the eye of future partners or investors. Fortunately, some of Copper Ridge's projects have already hit that magic...
Copper Ridge Exploration Inc. got its start 10 years ago when Gerald Carlson and Mark Fields organized the company. Prior to forming Copper Ridge in 1999, Carlson was president and CEO of La Teko Resources Ltd., which held gold claims near the Fort Knox Mine in Interior Alaska. Fields also worked for La Teko until Fort Knox owner Kinross Gold Corp. acquired that junior. The geologist also was involved in the acquisition and development of the Diavik diamond mine for Rio Tinto Ltd., and has since moved on to other ventures....
As 2008 winds inexorably to a close, I found myself looking for words adequate to describe what will go down in history as one of the most memorable years in many a moon. Words like tumultuous, unpredictable, singular, turbulent, chaotic, confusing, and unsettling hardly do justice to the past year's events. As usual, the mining industry played its small but vital role in the scheme of world events. The first half of the year brought stratospheric commodity prices, while the...
One of the techniques that miners use to effectively and quickly mount a mining exploration program in the wilds of Alaska and Northwestern Canada is to hire out to knowledgeable contractors much of the work involved, including the actual exploring and decision-making. But it takes a very special kind of temp agency to fulfill such demanding job requirements. Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd. is one firm that has met this need for 20 years. The Vancouver, B.C.-based consultant has racked up considerable international...
With termination dust settling ever lower throughout Alaska, the bulk of the 2008 exploration season has been completed, but lots of results are still pending from projects around the state. As the exploration industry winds down, the Rock Creek gold mine started production bringing owner and operator NovaGold Resources Inc. its first operating mine and bringing Nome its first modern lode gold mine. While this was going on in our backyard, the financial markets were starting...
Several drilling programs started in the last month and several others began reporting initial results from programs commenced earlier in the summer. Two of Alaska's operating mines reported strong operating results and two new mineral resource estimates have been released. Alaska's seasonal exploration efforts are entering the second half of the season, while commodities prices continue to slide, inflation rates increase and operating costs increase. While nobody likes to admit it, there is mounting evidence that the mining...
Freegold Ventures Ltd. is returning to explore the gold-rich hills of the Goodpaster Mining District this summer and follow up on its quest for mineral riches near Fort Knox. The busy miner outlined its 2008 exploration program March 31 for the Rob gold property in Interior Alaska about 110 miles southeast of Fairbanks as well as plans for its Golden Summit property north of Fairbanks. The 2008 program will include ground geophysics, geologic mapping and additional core drilli...
Since agreeing to acquire the Alaska portfolio of South Africa major AngloGold Ashanti in August 2006, International Tower Hill Mines of Vancouver, B.C., has been exploring the state and expanding its claims as it goes. A total of nine properties were involved in the junior exploration company's agreement with AngloGold. In the 15 months since, International Tower Hill has purchased 100 percent interest in seven of the properties and entered into joint ventures with AngloGold...
The results from Alaska's summer field campaigns continue to pour in from all over the state, while field crews wind down their summer work and kick off their winter programs. If the results released this month are any indication of what is yet to come, 2008 is fixing to be one heck of a year! Western Alaska NovaGold Resources announced that initial testing of their crushing circuit had commenced at their commissioning Rock Creek gold mine near Nome. The operation is...
Even though the concept of global warming is a welcome idea to many companies working in Alaska, its effects are not being felt fast enough to allow companies to complete all of the work they had hoped to finish in 2007. Drills are still turning all over the state, but the first signs of "termination dust" are showing on the higher peaks and the smell of fermenting berries fills the air, giving us all a not-so gentle prod to get ready for winter. Western Alaska Teck Cominco...
Vancouver-based Freegold Ventures is exploring claims in three Alaska locations this season - Golden Summit near Fairbanks, Rob in the Goodpaster Mining District, and Vinasale near McGrath, the company's latest venture in the state. At Golden Summit, Freegold has finished setting up a gravity-based processing plant, which will process 28,000 tons or more of material before winter sets in, Freegold President and CEO Steve Manz told Mining News in a recent interview. At Rob,...
As the late, great Phil Rizutto used to say when something amazing happened on the baseball field: "Holy Cow!" The last month has seen an explosion of activity across Alaska with companies working in virtually every region on a diverse package of metals including gold, platinum group elements, silver, molybdenum, lead, zinc, copper and nickel. Several new companies have entered the exploration field in Alaska and several new partners have joined forces with previously active...
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,...
A recent piece in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newspaper indicated that the U.S. Department of Labor has determined that mining employment has hit a 4-year low in Alaska. I'm not sure who the Department of Labor was talking to but the world I live in happens to be drastically short of qualified manpower with no immediate relief anywhere in sight that might affect this demand surplus and supply shortfall. When you ask mining companies what they are up to, the most common resp...
The trials and tribulations of Alaska's mining industry continued in the last month with one challenged mine given the green light to proceed, the other halted in midstride by the same legal system. In the background, exploration programs quietly began at several locations across the state as the busy 2007 mining season started in earnest. Alaska's global rank dropped from 13th to 24th position in the most recent Fraser Institute survey of mining jurisdictions worldwide. At...
Ahhhh, the calm before the storm! Over the last month the industry slowed and took a collective breath to enjoy friends, family and the holidays in anticipation of another busy year in the Alaska mineral industry. The last month has already seen another new player enter the Alaska mining scene and behind closed doors drilling, helicopter and personnel contracts are being negotiated. The annual Cordilleran Roundup mining convention in Vancouver is right around the corner and promises to be the most exciting conference in over...
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...
By most years' standards, the last month has been a barn burner for mining news. By 2006 standards it hardly measures on the Mining Industry Care-O-Meter, a highly subjective, totally unscientific measurement of what is happening in Alaska's mineral industry. In the last month we have seen the state's largest primary gold deposit resources increase to a mind-boggling 32 million ounces, we've seen one new mine begin commercial construction, we've seen one mine under construction receive a partial injunction against part of...
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...
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:...
