The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 332
Gold dominates Alaska mineral exploration, but a critical shift arises. Since the discovery of gold in what is now the Alaska capital city of Juneau, prospectors, geologists, and fortune seekers have spent more than 140 consecutive summer seasons exploring The Last Frontier's golden potential. With these endeavors turning up rich aurum lodes in every corner of the state, except for the oil-rich North Slope, the nearly century-and-a-half tradition of seeking and discovering wor...
Could top 17M oz during 2023 with contribution from Keno Hill Mine. With consistently strong production at its Greens Creek Mine in Alaska and a surge at its Lucky Friday Mine in Idaho, Hecla Mining Company shot through the top of its 2022 silver production guidance to 14.2 million ounces of this precious metal that is in high demand for clean energy technologies. "Hecla is the fastest growing silver producer with a 40% increase in production since 2018. This sustainable...
With the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska exceeding expectations, along with continued strong output from the Lucky Friday silver mine in Idaho and Casa Berardi gold mine in Quebec, Hecla Mining Company has raised its outlook for the production of both silver and gold during 2022. "Hecla reported another strong quarter of operational performance from all three mines as Greens Creek achieved record throughput for the quarter, Lucky Friday's quarterly production continued to exceed...
Hecla Mining Company July 12 reported that its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 2.4 million ounces of silver and 12,413 oz of gold during the second quarter of 2022. The second quarter silver output at the underground operation near Juneau, Alaska, is roughly 8% lower than the 2.6 million oz produced during the same period of 2021 and roughly equivalent to the first quarter of this year. The second quarter gold production, however, is only around 3% lower than...
Gains ownership of historic Keno Hill Silver Mine in Canada's Yukon With the Sept. 7 purchase of Alexco Resource Corp., Hecla Mining Company is poised to become Canada's largest silver producer by unlocking the enormous high-grade potential of its new Keno Hill Silver District project in the Yukon. The 242-square-kilometer (93 square miles) Keno Hill property covers one of the highest-grade silver districts in the world. Between 1913 and 1989, more than 200 million ounces of...
Already the largest silver producer in the United States, Hecla Mining Company is poised to become the largest silver producer in Canada with the purchase of Alexco Resource Corp., owner of the Keno Hill Silver District project, Yukon. Alexco's 242-square-kilometer (93 square miles) Keno Hill property covers one of the highest-grade silver districts in the world. Between 1913 and 1989, more than 200 million ounces of silver from ore averaging 44 oz per ton, making this Yukon...
Since World War II there may not be a more urgent time to produce Alaska's rich mineral resources. Our nation's immediate defense needs and commitment to clean energy all require a healthy, vibrant mining industry to give our country the security of domestic critical mineral production and the bridge to future clean energy technologies. Crisis brings clarity, and quickly subordinates ideology to real-world practicality. Today we see our globe reeling under the actions of...
Hecla Mining Company April 12 reported that its Greens Creek Mine produced 2.4 million ounces of silver and 10,299 oz of gold during the first three months of 2022. The Southeast Alaska operation's first-quarter silver output is down nearly 8% from the 2.6 million oz produced during the same period last year but up by about 4% from the previous quarter. Likewise, first-quarter gold production is about 22% lower than the first three months of 2021 but more than 11% higher than...
Thanks in large part to significant growth at its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska, Hecla Mining Company reports the second largest silver reserves in its 130-year history. Going into 2022, Hecla's three currently operating mines – Greens Creek, Lucky Friday (Idaho), and Casa Berardi (Quebec) host a combined 37.3 million tons of reserves containing 200 million ounces of silver, 2.73 million oz of gold, 1.81 billion pounds of zinc, and 1.47 billion lb of lead. "Since 2...
Hecla Mining Company Jan. 13 reported that its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 9.2 million ounces of silver during 2021, a 12% drop from the 10.5 million oz produced the prior year. This drop was largely due to mining easier to access but lower-grade ore because of manpower challenges around mid-year. Despite the challenges and major jump in production at Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine in Idaho, Greens Creek accounted for 71% of the company's silver production...
Following a year that saw Hecla Mining Company scale back exploration as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Idaho-based silver miner is beginning to get back to its tradition of adding more ore to reserves than is processed through the mills at its mines in the United States and Canada. "While focused, our exploration efforts have spanned our three operating mines and eight of our exploration properties," Hecla Mining President and CEO Phillips Baker Jr. said...
While copper may be the new oil of the green energy revolution, a wide variety of industrial minerals and metals found in abundance in Alaska will be needed to build the envisioned low-carbon future. In a 2021 report on the minerals and metals critical to low-carbon energy and transportation, the International Energy Agency estimates that a typical passenger electric vehicle requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional internal combustion engine car and an onshore...
Seeking economic and cultural prosperity for its more than 23,000 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian shareholders while also looking to provide even greater benefits for future generations, Sealaska takes a balanced approach to developing the resources growing above and stored beneath its lands in Southeast Alaska. This does not mean the Southeast Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation shuns mining or other resource development in its region, a nearly 600-mile...
Hecla Mining Company Oct. 12 reported that its Greens Creek Mine produced 1.8 million ounces of silver and 9,735 oz of gold during the third quarter of 2021, easing off the 10-million-oz-per-year pace set at the Southeast Alaska operation during the first half of 2021. Greens Creek's third-quarter silver output is down about 30% from the 2.6 million oz produced during the same period last year. The quarterly gold production was down by 24% from the 12,833 oz produced during...
Typically thought of as a precious metal used to make coins, jewelry, tableware, and other glimmery objects, silver's true value lies in more industrious properties that make it invaluable to high-tech applications such as solar panels, electric vehicles, and 5G networks. Roughly 28% of the 8,000 metric tons (257.2 million ounces) of silver used in the United States during 2020 went into electrical and electronics devices; 26% into jewelry and silverware; 19% for coins and...
Hecla Mining Company Sept. 14 announced that drilling at its Greens Creek silver mine in Southeast Alaska is on track to replenish the roughly 10 million ounces of silver expected to be mined from reserves this year and is confirming growth areas well beyond the deposit. "At Greens Creek, both underground and surface drilling are giving results that should lead to reserve replacement and additional drilling in the Lil'Sore area," said Hecla Mining President and CEO Phillips Ba...
Southeast Alaska is at a unique crossroads in its management of the Tongass National Forest. How will reimposition of the 2001 Roadless Rule impact development of natural resources like geothermal, hydroelectric, and mineral resources? As stewards of these public lands, we need deliberative and balanced Forest Service consideration of the best use of and access to these resources to protect and sustain Southeast communities and their economic future. The Forest Service needs...
Hecla Mining Company Aug. 5 reported that the gold, zinc, and lead produced at Greens Creek generated more than enough cash to pay the costs to produce the 5.14 million ounces of silver during the first six months of 2021. After calculating in byproduct credits, the cash cost to produce an ounce of silver at Greens Creek during the first half of the year was negative $1.65. This means that every ounce of silver produced at the underground mine earned Hecla $28.10, which...
Hecla Greens Creek Mining Company is the recipient of Alaska Chamber's Rita Sholton Large Business of the Year award, which pays tribute to businesses that exemplify leadership, ethics, and organization. Alaska Miners Association Executive Director Deantha Skibinski, who nominated the Southeast Alaska silver mine for the prestigious honor, wrote, "Hecla Greens Creek exemplifies special involvement in Alaska's communities through an excellent business reputation, long-term comm...
Hecla Mining Company July 13 reported that its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 5.14 million ounces of silver and 25,377 oz of gold through the first half of 2021. This accounts for more than 73% of the 6.98 million oz of silver and nearly 23% of the 111,143 oz of gold produced at Hecla mines so far this year. During the second quarter, Greens Creek produced 2.56 million oz of silver and 12,859 oz of gold. The silver output is roughly par with the first quarter b...
From a world-class graphite deposit in the Northwest to rare earths on the Southeast Panhandle, Alaska has the potential to offer a sustainable and secure supply to meet the coming explosive demand for the minerals and metals crucial to the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors in North America and around the globe. International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group, estimates that this shift to low-carbon energy and electric mobility will create nearly...
Hecla Mining Company April 8 reported that its Greens Creek Mine produced 2.6 million ounces of silver and 13,266 oz of gold during the first three months of 2021. The Southeast Alaska mine's first quarter silver output is down about 7% from the 2.8 million oz produced during the same period last year. The quarterly gold production, however, increased by about 8% over the 12,273 oz produced during the first three months of 2020. Hecla says ore grades, lower for silver and...
Mining and mineral exploration helped to bolster an Alaskan economy plagued by COVID-19 during 2020. According to a report prepared by the McKinley Research Group, a renowned Alaska-based research and consulting firm formerly known as McDowell Group, Alaska's mining industry injected roughly $2 billion into the Alaska economy last year. Commissioned by the Alaska Miners Association and Council of Alaska Producers, "The economic benefits of Alaska's mining industry" report...
Hecla Mining Company Jan. 13 reported that its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 10.5 million ounces of silver in 2020, a 6% increase over the 9.9 million oz produced the prior year and the highest annual production since the Idaho-based company bought full ownership of the operation in 2008. Greens Creek attributed 77% of the 13.5 million oz of silver produced at all of Hecla's operations during 2020. This helped to push companywide silver production well above...
Continuing a tradition of growth, Hecla Mining Company entered 2020 with 37.08 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 212.2 million ounces of silver, 2 billion pounds of zinc, 1.6 billion lb of lead and 2.71 million oz of gold – historic levels of silver reserves for the 129-year-old mining company. This is an 11% increase in silver reserves, even after replacing the 15.4 million oz of silver mined (12.6 million oz produced) during 2019, despite using a...
