The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 348
Caught between an updraft caused by dwindling supply and the gravity of slowing growth in global demand, zinc prices seem to have reached a cruising altitude above US$1 per pound. Recent closures of two large zinc mines - Century in Australia and Lisheen in Ireland - wiped out more than 600,000 metric tons of the world's annual supply of the galvanizing metal. Analysts expected these looming supply deficits to send zinc prices soaring well above US$1/lb. in 2015. While the...
Hecla Mining Co. Oct. 18 said it Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 2.4 million ounces of silver in the third quarter, accounting for more than half of the company's silver production for the period. This silver production is a 23 percent jump over the same period last year, thanks to higher grades. Gold production, however, dropped 17 percent to 14,376 oz. due to lower grades. Hecla estimates Greens Creek silver production to be 8.5 million oz. in 2016, significantly higher than the company's original guidance of...
Over the last month the inevitable termination dust has begun to show up across Alaska, bringing with it completion of mineral exploration programs and transition of development and production projects to winter operational modes. Explorers, developers and miners will soon be gathering to compare notes at the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage, an event that always overlaps national and local election night. Alaska's mineral industry outlook brightened...
Anniversary celebrations, golden milestones and rising metals prices are providing Alaska's metal miners with plenty to cheer about in 2016. Roughly 1 million ounces of gold will be mined in Alaska this year, when you tally the amount of the precious metal produced at four of Alaska's large metal mines – Fort Knox, Pogo, Kensington and Greens Creek – and the placer aurum produced at the family-scale operations across the state. Fortunately for all these miners, gold shot up...
Established in 1891, Hecla Mining Company has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression and numerous crests and troughs of a cyclical metals market that has sunk many of the silver miner's contemporaries over the past 125 years. Over this century-plus span, the Idaho-based miner has grown adept at navigating tumultuous markets in a way that enables the company to be well-positioned for smooth sailing in calm waters. "We have operated through many price cycles; from recessions and depressions to boom times, and it is a tes...
When judging the health of global mineral exploration, British Columbia seems to be the perfect model. In 2015, roughly C$272 million was invested in discovering and delineating mineral deposits in B.C., down some C$66 million from 2014. This 19.5 percent drop is in lockstep with the decline in global mineral exploration budgets for the same period, according SNL Metals & Mining's World Exploration Trends report. Likewise, B.C. exploration decreased about 60 percent from the...
Mineral exploration spending in Alaska hit an apex of US$365 million in 2011, but as venture capital for mining explorers dried these expenditures plummeted 78 percent to US$80 million in 2015. However, rising gold prices and a loosening of venture capital in 2016 seems to have marked an end to a painfully long bear market for mining explorers in Alaska. “After taking head shots for the past four years, the industry suddenly came to life over the past month, with new budgets,...
As tangible buoyancy returns to the mining industry, I began to wonder if any of the multitude of forecasters had actually predicted the recent return of stronger metals prices. Since most "forecasters" are actually "hindsighters," I was drawn to a November 2013 summary of gold mines by Roy Sebag of Natural Resource Holdings. The summary, entitled "Global Gold Mines & Deposits 2013 Ranking," indicated that we were nearing peak gold production because the total in-situ ounces...
Mining's contribution to Alaska's economy starts with the hefty paychecks being issued to the some 4,350 miners that work in the state, according to recent study completed by the Alaska Miners Association and McDowell Group. The report, "The economic benefits of Alaska's mining industry," found that the average miner working in Alaska during 2016 received a whopping US$108,000 for the year, about double the average income across all sectors in the state. That is nearly US$470...
Earlier in November, the Alaska Miners Association held its annual convention and trade show in Anchorage and as always, the well-attended convention overlapped with election Tuesday. While the lead up to, and results of, the national and state elections were hot topics throughout the week, one comment I heard from a colleague on the morning after the elections distilled the feelings of a lot of people at the conference. When asked what he thought of the election results, he...
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...
Hecla Mining Co. Jan. 10 reported that its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 9.25 million ounces of silver in 2016, the highest production since the Idaho-based miner bought full ownership of the operation in 2008. This strong performance helped push Hecla's total silver production to a record 17.2 million oz, 48 percent higher than 2015. In addition to the silver, Greens Creek produced 53,912 oz of gold, along with healthy quantities of zinc and lead. For the fourth quarter, 2.2 million oz of silver and 14,415...
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. Feb. 16 announced a C$3.5 million budget for its 2017 exploration program at the Dolly Varden silver property in northern British Columbia. This program is expected to include roughly 5,000 meters of drilling, with two-thirds allocated for resource expansion and the balance for testing outlying targets. The company also plans to carry out mapping, geophysical and geochemical surveys at the main Dolly Varden silver-zinc-lead project and the adjacent Big Bulk copper-gold project. To help finance this...
Hecla Mining Co. Feb. 22 reported that its 2016 exploration program successfully replaced the 11.9 million ounces of silver and 79,150 oz of gold mined at its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska last year, leaving reserves of both precious metals virtually unchanged. Greens Creek ended 2016 with 7.59 million tons of reserves averaging 11.7 oz/ton (88.87 million oz) silver; 0.09 oz/t (673,000 oz) gold; 7.6 percent (576,130 tons) zinc; and 2.9 percent (217,280 tons) lead. Roughly 8.3 million oz of silver and 46,500 oz of gold...
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...
Hecla Mining Company April 20 reported that its Greens Creek Mine produced 1.9 million ounces of silver and 14,022 oz of gold during the first quarter of this year. While this is down from the 2.5 million oz of silver and 15,891 oz of gold recovered at the Southeast Alaska operation during the first three months of 2016, it is higher than the company expected. This drop in metals production is primarily due to lower grades. Mill throughput at Greens Creek averaged about 2,190 tons per day during the first quarter of this...
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...
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...
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. March 27 said it is collaborating with Hecla Mining Co. to carry out an airborne geophysical survey covering Dolly Varden's Big Bulk copper-gold project and Hecla's neighboring Kinskuch silver project in northwestern British Columbia. Hecla will serve as operator for the geophysical survey. "Cooperative effort between companies working in a region is a good way to keep exploration costs down while still achieving the exploration goals," said Dolly...
Hecla Mining Company Dec. 6 recognizes its miners, past and present, on National Miner's Day. Established in 1891, Hecla has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression and numerous crests and troughs of the notoriously cyclical metals market. "I want to thank the more than 10,000 hardworking men and women who have been part of the Hecla team over the past 125 years on National Miner's Day," said Hecla President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. "Together, through good times and...
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. July 25 reported that the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission denied a request by Hecla Mining Company to stop Dolly Varden from completing a previously announced private placement financing. Hecla, which owned roughly 19.8 percent of Dolly Varden's shares on a partially diluted basis, has argued that the financing would be destructive to the junior's share value. In late June, Hecla made a bid to buy all of...
Hecla Mining Company July 11 said it produced 4.24 million ounces of silver and 62,965 oz. of gold during the second quarter of 2016, both significant increases compared with output during the same period last year. "Our strategy of accelerating growth has silver and gold production up 71 percent and 41 percent (respectively) over last year just as prices are starting to rise," said Hecla President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. "With increased production and higher prices we...
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. July 4 said a special committee of independent directors has been appointed to review and evaluate an unsolicited takeover bid by Hecla Mining Co. On June 27, Hecla announced plans to acquire all of the shares of Dolly Varden Silver that it does not already own at C69 cents per share, or roughly C$12 million to acquire full ownership of the junior with assets in northwestern British Columbia. The Dolly Varden special committee, comprised of Thomas...
Hecla Mining Company June 27 reported a takeover bid for all of the outstanding shares of Dolly Varden Silver Corp. that it does not already own. At C69 cents per share, Hecla's offer reflects roughly a 97 percent premium based on the volume-weighted average price of the Dolly Varden shares on the TSX Venture Exchange for the 20 trading days ending on June 24. Assuming exercise of the 1.25 million warrants it currently holds, Hecla owns and controls 3,870,291 Dolly Varden...
