The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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One of the most common complaints I hear from companies and individuals working in the mineral industry in Alaska is our deplorable lack of modern, usable-scale digital geophysical and geologic maps. How bad is it? Consider this: the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that less than 2 percent of Alaska has acceptable geophysical data coverage, and less than 20 percent has been geologically mapped at a scale useful to evaluate the state's mineral resources. Nobody will deny... Full story
Cobalt is an essential ingredient to optimizing the performance of batteries in the growing number of electric vehicles on global highways, yet essentially none of this battery metal is mined in the United States. With at least one advanced stage exploration project in Alaska looking into the potential of producing cobalt alongside its copper, America's 49th State could provide a domestic source for this critical metal. In its annual report, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2018,...
Hecla Mining Company May 8 said first quarter exploration drilling continues to expand high-grade silver resources along the East Ore, Upper Plate, Deep 200 South and Deep Southwest mineralized trends at its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska. "(D)rilling at Greens Creek continues to discover high-grade mineralization that could enhance the already exceptional mine economics and mine life," said Hecla President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. Hecla said the high-grade...
An early spring coupled with low snow fall in many parts of Alaska have combined to enable companies large and small to start their summer field programs early this year. As expected, competition is stiff for people, drills, helicopters, heavy equipment and related services, awarding those who committed budgets early and penalizing those who did not or could not commit early. For the first time in half a decade, projects with money at hand may not be able to get the services t... Full story
Hecla Mining Company April 11 reported that its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 1.91 million ounces of silver and 13,118 oz of gold during the first quarter of 2018, down slightly from the 1.93 million oz of silver and 14,022 oz gold produced during the first three months of last year. The Idaho-based mining company attributes the slight drop in precious metals production at Greens Creek to lower ore grades due to mine sequencing, partially offset by higher...
Seven days of near-continuous rain did nothing to dampen the mood at the recently concluded Cordilleran Roundup Convention in Vancouver. The event was buoyed by a realistic optimism we have not seen in over five years. This change from half-empty to half-full glasses is due to a number of things including strong commodities prices, increasing global demand for metals and current or looming supply shortfalls in many of the metals produced by this industry. The event was... Full story
Hecla Mining Company Jan. 12 reported that drilling at Greens Creek continues to tap the high-grade mineralization that will help ensure a long and robust life for this silver mine in Southeast Alaska. "(D)rilling at Greens Creek discovered high-grade mineralization in the central part of the mine that could enhance Greens Creek's already exceptional mine economics and mine life," said Hecla President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. The fourth quarter drilling at Greens Creek targ...
Hecla Mining Company Feb. 7 reported the highest silver, gold and lead reserves in the Idaho-based miner's 127-year history, as well as the highest zinc reserve in the last five years. The company went into 2018 with 2.3 million ounces of gold in reserves, a 12 percent increase from the beginning of 2017; 177 million oz of silver, an increase of 3 percent; 737,290 tons of zinc, an 8 percent increase; and 840,870 tons of zinc, a 15 percent increase in reserves. "It is a...
As we transition from 2017 into 2018, the weight of evidence pointing to a long-awaited mining industry up-tick is being trumpeted from every financial institution, brokerage house and mining pundit across the globe. For example, RBC Capital Markets' newly released "2018 New Year Preview" has this to say: "We are in the mid-stages of a stock market recovery and the early stages of an economic cycle recovery. Gold is already in a phase where it out-performs other financial... Full story
Hecla Mining Company Jan. 10 reported that its Greens Creek Mine produced 8.4 million ounces of silver and 50,855 oz of gold in 2017. The mill operated at an average of 2,300 tons per day in 2017, a record which is about 15 percent higher than the throughput when Hecla became operator of the underground mine in 2008. Overall, Hecla's four mines – Greens Creek, San Sebastian (Mexico), Casa Berardi (Quebec) and Lucky Friday (Idaho) – produced 12.5 million oz of silver, 232...
With the price for an ounce of gold pushing back above US$1,300 to ring in the new year – along with zinc and copper selling at multi-year highs and trending higher – 2018 is shaping up to be a good year for Alaska's mining sector. Together, zinc and gold account for more than 80 percent of the value of metals mined in Alaska – silver and lead account for most of the balance. While there is currently no significant copper production in Alaska, the Far North state hosts signi... Full story
From wide zones of high-grade copper and zinc in resource expansion drilling to a discovery hole with grades worthy of being compared to Greens Creek, Constantine Metals Resource and Dowa Metals & Mining's 2017 drill program at the Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Southeast Alaska is off to a great start. After investing US$22 million into Palmer over the previous four years, Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska Ltd. earned a 49 percent joint venture interest in the... Full story
Hecla Mining Company Oct. 12 reported that its Greens Creek Mine produced 2.3 million ounces of silver and 12,563 oz of gold during the third quarter of this year. This Southeast Alaska operation produced 6.2 million oz of silver through the first nine months of 2017, putting it on pace to produce around 8.5 oz for the year. Mill throughput at Greens Creek averaged 2,391 tons per day during the third quarter, the highest since the mine went into operation in 1989. Overall, Hecla’s four mines – Greens Creek, San Sebastian (Me...
Alaska’s current fiscal crisis has highlighted the need to diversify the state’s economy and being one of the richest minerals jurisdictions on the planet, mining is an industry that could play a major role in future wealth creation in the Last Frontier. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker touched on mining’s role in the state’s future during a Nov. 15 address at the Alaska Resource Conference. “We have six large scale mines in Alaska, we would like to have 12,” he told the business le... Full story
Hecla Mining Company has a long-running practice of replacing reserves it mines each year at the Greens Creek Mine, a tradition it continued in 2016 despite producing a record 9.3 million ounces of silver at this high-grade underground operation in Southeast Alaska. Going into 2017, Greens Creek had 7.6 million tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 11.7 oz per ton (88.9 million oz) silver; 0.09 oz/t (673,000 oz) gold; 7.6 percent (576,130 tons) zinc; and 2.9 percent (...
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. continued to expand deposits of high-grade silver at its Dolly Varden project during 2017. The deposits identified on this property exhibit both Eskay-like volcanogenic massive sulfide and Brucejack-like epithermal mineralization styles. In 2015, Dolly Varden published a maiden indicated resource of 3.07 million metric tons averaging 321.6 grams per metric ton (31.8 million ounces) silver in four zones - Dolly Varden, North Star, Torbrit and Wolf....
With world-class mineral deposits, paved roads and commercial power, northern British Columbia is considered by many as a great place to achieve a mining explorer's ultimate goal – find a mine. "The geology has been great up there for 100 million years, but it has only been the last five that we have had run-of-river (hydro-electric) projects, dams – literally billions of dollars of new infrastructure," said Colorado Resources Ltd. President and CEO Adam Travis. The start of... Full story
Alaska's minerals exploration sector is on an upswing, thanks to Australian mining explorers looking north and mining majors upping their activities in the state. South32 Ltd., a Perth, Australia-based miner spun out of BHP Billiton Plc, is the largest mining company from Down Under to express an interest in Alaska's mineral potential this year. South32, which has eight operating mines in the Southern Hemisphere, secured an option to acquire a 50 percent interest in Trilogy... Full story
After nearly three decades of operation, Hecla Mining Company's Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska continues to rank among the largest and lowest cost primary silver mines on Earth. On pace to produce between 7.5 and 8 million ounces of silver at a cost of around US$2.50/oz during 2017, Greens Creek is also the cash generating engine that powers Hecla. "Greens Creek continues to be the dominant source of revenue," said Hecla Mining CFO Lindsay Hall, during an Aug. 3...
Hecla Mining Company Nov. 7 said the zinc, lead and gold produced at Greens Creek more than paid for the production costs at the Southeast Alaska mine during the third quarter. As a result, the cost to produce an ounce of silver at Greens Creek was negative US15 cents from July through September. This compares to US$4.80/oz during the same period last year. The all in sustaining costs to produce and ounce of silver at Greens Creek, after by-product credits, was US$4.47/oz...
Hecla Mining Company Aug. 31 donated another US$300,000 to the University of Alaska Southeast as part of the Greens Creek Mine owner's ongoing support of the campus' "Pathways to Mining Careers" program. This program was created in 2011, when Hecla made an inaugural US$300,000 donation to develop a unique approach to engage local high school students and to educate and train them for future employment in the mining industry. Since that time, the program has been expanded to include adults new to mining. The program takes...
Coeur Mining Inc. has cut a deal to buy the high-grade Silvertip Mine in northern British Columbia, an acquisition that will add the first Canadian operation to the Chicago-based miner's portfolio of gold and silver mines. Located about 10 miles south of the Yukon border and roughly 150 miles east of Coeur's Kensington gold mine in Southeast Alaska, Silvertip hosts 2.35 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 352 g/t silver, 9.4 percent zinc and 6.7 percent lead;...
For the first time in five long years, the mood at the recently held Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage was buoyant, the result of a slow but steady turnaround on mineral investments in the state. Additional new corporate interest in the state emerged during the past 30 days, and sources of exploration funds coming to Alaska continue to shift, with estimates for 2017 suggesting that 62 percent of this financing comes from Canadian concerns, 18 percent from... Full story
In early November, the Alaska Miners Association will hold its annual convention in Anchorage. Unlike the past four or five years, the excitement surrounding the convention this year is palpable due to the steady increase in exploration, development and production activities in Alaska in 2017. Clear signs of the industry's long-awaited revival include the fact that 11 new project acquisitions have taken place in 2017, half of which involve companies that are newcomers to the...
As the first snows of the coming winter began to fall at high elevations across Alaska, results of summer programs likewise began to trickle in from far-flung areas of the state. Meanwhile, second- and third-quarter production data began to show up and mining industry analysts released a series of reports covering a wide range of industry-wide trends. For example, SNL Metals and Mining Research released information on how long it takes to move a new discovery to production.... Full story
