The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Governments around the world are collaborating to focus on addressing Climate Change and Global Warming. The Paris Climate Accord adopted numerous measures to "limit a global temperature rise this century below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels". Although there are many things that can be done to address climate change, the most meaningful and obvious is to use cleaner forms of energy and transportation. Alaska has shown the world how energy resources can be...
In 2017 Alaska’s mineral exploration industry saw its first up-tick in exploration spending since 2011, an increase that S&P Global Market Intelligence’s “World Exploration Trends” indicates was mirrored on the world-wide level. According to S&P’s data, the worldwide exploration industry spent $8.4 billion in 2017, the first such increase in spending since 2012. S&P also forecast a 15-20 percent increase in exploration spending for 2018 as well. The study also showed that dema...
Born from an idea to create a vehicle that could provide Alaska businesses lower interest rates offered by tax-exempt financing, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, has been doing its part to create jobs and bolster Alaska's economy for five decades. "Fifty years ago, the Alaska State Legislature created the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, to develop, encourage, and improve the economic potential and welfare of the people of...
Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, Feb. 19 introduced Senate Bill 203, legislation that would allow the Alaska Industrial Development Export Authority (AIDEA) to issue up to US$80 million in bonds to finance infrastructure and construction costs of the Graphite Creek graphite project on the Seward Peninsula. Located about 35 miles north of Nome, the Graphite Creek hosts 744,000 metric tons of graphite in 10.32 million metric tons of indicated resource grading 7.2 percent graphitic c...
Before color televisions hit the markets in the 1960s, rare earths where a curious group of elements that had the distinction of occupying their own separate section at the bottom of the periodic table but had very few practical applications. Over the ensuing 50 years, however, this group of 15 lanthanides plus yttrium and scandium have been discovered to possess unique properties that make them key ingredients in a wide range of modern products such as terabyte hard-drives...
Graphite is among the 23 metals and minerals the U.S. Geological Survey deemed critical to "the national economy and national security of the United States" in a December report, "Critical Mineral Resources of the United States – Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply." One of the reasons the USGS considers graphite critical is the growing demand of this mineral as anode material in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles and a r...
Graphite One Resources announced Inc. Dec. 29 that it has appointed noted Alaska placer gold miners Kevin Greenfield and Jerry Birch to its advisory board. Co-owners and senior executives of Taiga Mining Company, Greenfield and Birch each bring nearly three decades of developing, permitting and operating Alaska mining projects to Graphite One. In early December, Taiga Mining participated in a C$707,185 Graphite One financing, becoming a strategic investor in the owner of the Graphite Creek project in western Alaska....
Graphite One Resources Inc. Dec. 21 said a U.S. Geological Survey report on critical minerals of the United States and an executive order to develop a federal critical mineral's strategy highlights the importance of the company's Graphite Creek project in western Alaska. The USGS report lists graphite among the 23 metals and minerals critical to "the national economy and national security of the United States." Additionally, Graphite is one of just four critical minerals on...
The Trump Administration's focus on securing domestic sources of critical minerals could help re-invigorate mineral exploration and mine development in Alaska. At least 15 of the 23 critical minerals identified by the U.S. Geological Survey – antimony, barite, beryllium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, rhenium, tantalum, tellurium, tin and vanadium – are found across the Far North state. Working alo...
Graphite One Resources Inc. May 17 announced that it has received a report from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority that assess potential locations for a facility to refine graphite from its Graphite Creek deposit in western Alaska into advanced-materials such as coated spherical graphite used as an anode in lithium-ion batteries. In its report, AIDEA identified Homer, Kenai, Port Mackenzie and Seward as potential Alaska-based sites for the graphite...
Reuters recently reported that the 10 largest gold-producing companies worldwide have steadily increased their near-mine exploration budgets over the past few years to 56 percent in 2015 from 45 percent in 2013. They also reduced their higher-risk greenfields exploration budgets to 21 percent from 25 percent in the same time period. This retrenchment of exploration by the larger producers is occurring, while global gold output is declining with an expected reduction of 9...
Graphite One Resources Inc. Aug. 23 has raised C$1.3 million that involved the issuance of 16.25 million units at C8 cents per unit. Each unit includes one share and one transferable warrant that entitles the holder to purchase a share for C12 cents for two years. In the event that Graphite One shares trade at or above C21 cents on the TSXV Venture Exchange or the Toronto Stock Exchange for 10 consecutive days, the company has the option to provide notice for the expiry of the warrants in 45 days. The net proceeds of this...
As a follow-up to last month's realization that once again "the game is afoot" in the mining industry, major gold producer Goldcorp recently presented some arresting statistics at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Metals, Mining and Steel Conference. The presentation showed gold discovery and production information for the global mining industry that indicated that peak gold discovery occurred in 1995, this despite three periods between 1995 and 2015 when exploration...
Graphite One Resources Inc. Nov. 9 announced the completion of a C$812,000 non-brokered private placement offering that involved the issuance of 10.15 million units at C8 cents per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one transferable warrant that entitle the holder to purchase one full share for C12 cents. The shares are exercisable for two years but are subject to early expiry if the company's shares trade for C21 cents or more for 10 consecutive days on the TSXV Venture Exchange. The net proceeds of the...
Graphite One Resources Inc. Dec. 7 reported that it is nearing the completion of a preliminary economic assessment for its Graphite Creek project near Nome, Alaska. Raising more than C$2.8 million, the company has achieved a number of major milestones in 2016. These milestones were reached during a comprehensive product development program managed by TRU Group Inc., a technology metals consultant with expertise along the entire graphite-graphene supply chain. This program produced purified graphite from Graphite Creek...
According to the United States Geological Survey’s annual report, “Mineral Commodity Summaries 2017,” the value of non-fuel minerals produced in the United States and Alaska during 2016 remained at similar levels to 2015. Alaska mines produced roughly US$3.09 billion worth of minerals, excluding petroleum and coal, marking the seventh year straight that output from Alaska mines have topped US$3 billion. Gold and zinc account for roughly 80 percent of Alaska’s mineral productio...
After eight years of battling anti-mining policies being promulgated by the Obama Administration, the National Mining Association is cautiously optimistic about the positive change in the tone and substance of U.S. resource development policies since Donald Trump has moved into the White House. “The November election ushered in a surprisingly swift and dramatic change, particularly in the way people in Washington D.C. view natural resources,” NMA President and CEO Hal Quinn said during a June 28 keynote speech at the Res...
Graphite One Resources Inc. Feb. 16 said it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority to explore opportunities to collaborate on the development of the Graphite One project, a plan outlined in a recent preliminary economic assessment for developing a mine and initial processing facility at the company's Graphite Creek project in western Alaska and a separate manufacturing facility that would produce high-grade coated spherical graphite primarily for lithium-ion...
With winter programs winding down and summer efforts rapidly ramping up, it is becoming clear that 2017 will be a much more vigorous year for the Alaska mining industry than the 2013 to 2016 period. For example, my internal estimates are already pushing $75 million for exploration activity alone and a significant number of projects that have announced exploration plans have not yet announced budgets for 2017, so that number is likely to rise. Compare this to estimates of less...
The year just past was many things for the mining industry, but one of the bright spots came from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, an agency not known for awarding happy faces or gold stars. In 2016, the mining industry experienced only 25 deaths in U.S. mines, the lowest level ever recorded. This, despite the industry having more than 330,000 miners working in 13,000 mines across the country. The leading cause of death in both coal and metal/nonmetal mines was...
If there is anyone still on the fence wondering if the minerals industry has started a recovery from the doldrums of the past four years, this month’s mineral industry activity in Alaska should settle the question with authority. During the past month, we have seen two merger/acquisitions occur, one by Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp., which acquired Zazu Metals Corp. and its interest in the Lik lead-zinc-silver deposit. Then we also had Coventry Resources acquire V...
U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources sought input on how to foster a more robust domestic mining sector during a July 20 hearing, "Seeking Innovative Solutions for the Future of Hardrock Mining." "Hardrock mining on federal land in the United States has a storied past, a challenging present and multiple needs for reform," Subcommittee Chairman Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, said. "From rocks to roads, rare earths to green technologies, and iron ore to wind farms,...
Graphite One Resources Inc. Jan. 25 published the results of a preliminary economic assessment, or PEA, for the development of its Graphite One project in western Alaska. Formerly referred to as Graphite Creek, the project is conceived as a vertically integrated manufacturer of high grade coated spherical graphite with mining and processing facilities near Nome and an advanced material processing facility outside of Alaska. Due to its maritime links to Alaska, low-cost power a...
As the Alaska mining industry prepares for and kicks off exploration, development and production activities for 2017, the question on everyone’s lips at the recent Cordilleran Roundup mining convention in Vancouver, B. C., was the same: “Have we seen the bottom of this down cycle?” While signs of life were seen for short periods during the 2008 to 2015 period, the reality was an overall downward spiral of commodities prices and global demand. However, in a recent editi...
Alaska is rich in mineral potential but poor in the critical infrastructure needed to fully realize this potential, that was the message Alaska Division of Geological and Geological Surveys Director Steve Masterman delivered to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. During a March 30 hearing, Masterman informed member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that Alaska could be the answer to the United States growing dependence on foreign suppliers for minerals....
