The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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The unseasonably, interminably, unspeakably cold spring that is delaying mineral exploration and development work in Alaska this year is being mimicked by a financial chill that is affecting Alaska exploration efforts just like it is the rest of the world. Not to put too fine a point on it, but from a mineral exploration standpoint, Alaska is shaping up to be as dead as a doornail this summer (ever wonder where that saying came from ... but I digress.). How dead? Try this statistic on for size: Of the 49 exploration projects...
Splayed across several steep slopes that plunge into the Yukon River some 78 kilometers (48.4 miles) south of Dawson City in Yukon Territory, the early-stage QV Project is beginning to answer some geological questions that surfaced at least four years ago. That's when Underworld Resources Inc. captured international attention with the discovery of the Golden Saddle gold deposit on its White Gold Project nearby and touched off a modern-day gold rush to the Yukon. Underworld since has been acquired by Kinross Gold Corp., and th...
The ongoing scarcity of venture capital available to junior companies coupled with a retreat in metals prices has landed a one-two blow that sent mineral exploration spending in Alaska plunging for the second straight year. A handful of big-budget projects scattered across Alaska, though, is softening the hit to exploration spending across the Far North State during 2013. Mineral exploration expenditures in Alaska, which were a meager US$23.8 million in 2001, topped US$365...
ATC: TSX-V President: Robert Carne Chief Executive Officer: Graham Downs Chief Operating Officer: Ian Talbot Atac Resources Ltd., a member of the Strategic Exploration Group, followed up in 2013 several past seasons of exploration success on the Rackla Gold project located in the Mayo Mining District of east-central Yukon Territory. The project encompasses more than 8,000 mineral claims and covers 1,700 square kilometers (about 656 square miles) in an east-west extending land package more than 185 kilometers (114 miles) long...
FVL: TSX President and CEO: Kristina Walcott Vice President, Exploration and Development: Alvin Jackson Freegold Ventures Ltd. focused its 2013 exploration efforts on expanding the 6-million-ounce bulk-tonnage gold deposit at its Golden Summit property located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Fairbanks and roughly five miles (nine kilometers) from Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine. The close proximity to infrastructure and services allows Freegold to conduct both winter and summer drill programs at Golden...
MRO: TSX-V President and CEO: Gregory Beischer Chief Exploration Officer: Philip St. George Chief Operating Officer: Sarah Whicker Millrock Resources Inc., which has become one of the one of the more prolific Alaska exploration companies since adopting the project generator model in 2009, is tightening its belt in 2013. As a project generator, Millrock relies on joint venture partners to do most of the heavy financial lifting on its portfolio of properties in Alaska and Arizona. This model diminishes the company's need to rai...
As I write this summary, the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention and Trade Show is right around the corner (Nov. 6-8). Despite the softening commodities prices and generally bearish sentiment expressed by the mining industry throughout the year, in the past month or so, I have seen a refreshing resurgence of that single-most important quality of the Alaska mining industry - optimism! Despite bankruptcies, mine closures, negative feasibility studies and the exodus from...
With nearly five exploration seasons under its belt, Kaminak Gold Corp.'s Coffee Gold Project appears to be on the road to delivering on its potential as an emerging district-scale mining opportunity. Located in the White Gold district of west-central Yukon Territory, Coffee was optioned by Kaminak in 2009 from Yukon prospector Shawn Ryan. The company has explored the property every year since, and reported discovery of at least 11 gold zones. Kaminak CEO Eira Thomas said the fine-grained gold mineralization found at Coffee,...
From Kotzebue to Ketchikan, Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is using its financial muscle and its ability to build and operate large infrastructure projects to help mining companies overcome the challenges of developing the often remote mineral riches that the Last Frontier has to offer. "We are working with local communities and mine developers on infrastructure projects throughout Alaska, including port facilities and energy supply," said AIDEA external...
Young people working on mining projects in Yukon Territory are nothing new. But young people in charge, running the show at some of the most exciting mining projects in Canada's Far North? That's different and was noticeable in several camps during the 2013 field season. Whether in grassroots exploration, at advanced projects or in producing mines, a new generation of 30-something and even younger professionals, appears to be taking the lead in the Yukon. The trend even extends beyond mining to government, where Currie...
This month's mining news is a smorgasbord to delight the appetites of explorers, developers and miners alike. We had quarterly reports out from Teck, Kinross, Hecla and Coeur d'Alene discussing their respective results from operating mines around the state. We had one preliminary economic analysis by NovaCopper on its Arctic massive sulfide project and one feasibility study announced by International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. on its Livengood gold project. We had Freegold and...
While explorers in eastern Yukon Territory were taking time to understand their properties this season, the few companies working projects in the White Gold and Klondike districts to the west seemed to be pursuing their targets with the same urgency as companies exhibited in prior years. This year, however, the juniors chasing gold prospects in the area were trying to get as much done as possible while spending the least amount of money. Hampered by a prolonged capital drought in the industry, most of these companies eagerly...
Building and operating a mine at the 20-million-ounce Livengood gold project would lose money at today's US$1,300-per-ounce gold price, according to the results of a feasibility study published July 23 by International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. In fact, the 100,000-ton-per-day mine outlined in the study does not break even until the gold price approaches US$1,500/oz. International Tower Hill management, though, remains optimistic that developing the multimillion-ounce gold...
In the best of times, a government-sponsored mining incentives program could be a wise investment of public revenue to stimulate economic development in a mining-intensive jurisdiction like Yukon Territory. In a sustained capital drought like the one currently scorching the industry, funds awarded through the Yukon Mining Incentives Program can be the deciding factor in whether boots even hit the ground on many mineral exploration projects across the territory. Designed to promote and enhance mineral prospecting and explorati...
Following a rising chorus of junior companies touting impressive exploration programs on mineral prospects across Alaska that reached its crescendo in 2011, a deafening silence is resonating across the Far North expanse in 2013. And in the junior mining sector, no news is bad news. Mineral exploration expenditures in Alaska, which were a meager US$23.8 million in 2001, climbed to US$347 million by 2008. The "Great Recession of 2008" tightened the equity markets, resulting in...
The 28th Alaska Legislature has forwarded a slew of bills to the desk of Gov. Sean Parnell that are aimed at recognizing the Last Frontier's rich mining history and ensuring the industry is a key component of the state's economic future. Senate Bill 1, which designates May 10 of every year as Alaska Mining Day, was the first of these to garner Parnell's endorsement. May 10 was chosen to coincide with the day the General Mining Act of the United States was adopted in 1872....
In a year that has started off with more than its share of mining industry gloom and doom, this year's Fraser Institute "Survey of Mining Companies, 2012/2013" provided a bit of sunshine for Alaska. The annual survey of exploration and mining companies gauges the pros and cons of working in various political jurisdictions around the world. This year's results came from 742 mineral industry companies working in 96 jurisdictions worldwide and represented cumulative 2012 explorat...
The annual Cordilleran Roundup Mining Convention is held in Vancouver at the end of January each year, and this year's convention was unlike any of the nearly 20 such conventions I have attended. The norm for this convention is a sort of anticipatory excitement that permeates every facet of the event. Mineral exploration is the focus of this gathering, and explorationists are by and large optimistic people. While there was no lack of optimism at the 2013 convention, if you...
When it comes to multimillion-ounce bulk-tonnage gold deposits in Alaska, one would be hard pressed to find one more ideally located than Freegold Ventures Ltd.'s Golden Summit Project. Situated alongside the paved Steese Highway some 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Fairbanks, a city of 87,000 that embraces its gold mining heritage, the project has direct access to an able work force, grid power and the full range of services needed to operate a low-cost drill program....
Alaska miners are on the cusp of topping 1 million ounces of gold produced, an annual milestone that has not been achieved since Gold Rush pioneers recovered copious amounts of alluvial aurum at the turn of the 20th Century. "When you think about what a million ounces of production means, it is all the more amazing that it was first accomplished by placer miners and a few lode miners, a few shovelfuls at a time, more than a century ago!" Curt Freeman, a well-known Alaska...
Victoria Gold Corp. appears to be well on its way to building a mine at the Eagle Gold Project in central Yukon Territory by 2015, with construction startup tentatively scheduled for April. Eagle Gold is the most advanced new project in the region and is on track to become the largest gold mine in Yukon history. With estimated employment of 350-400 people, the mine also is expected to make a significant contribution to the territory's economy. Victoria aims to produce 207,000 ounces of gold during the first full year of...
Kaminak Gold Corp. Dec. 13 reported a maiden NI 43-101-compliant inferred mineral resource estimate for its Coffee Gold Project in west-central Yukon Territory of 3.236 million ounces of gold contained in 64 million metric tons, grading 1.56 grams per metric ton gold. The long-awaited calculation follows several seasons of intensive exploration at the 60,704-hectare (150,000 acres) property ignited in 2010 by a modern gold rush to an area now known as the White Gold district of the Yukon. Kaminak was the second company to...
Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine is on pace to retake the position of the top gold producer in Alaska. The open-pit operation situated about 26 miles (42 kilometers) north of Fairbanks reigned as the state's most prolific gold operation for a decade before relinquishing the title to the Pogo Mine in 2008. During the third quarter of this year, however, Fort Knox churned out 106,698 ounces of gold, a 48 percent surge from 71,952 ounces produced in the second quarter and a...
A recent letter distributed to the minerals industry by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development's Division of Economic Development is seeking faster and more efficient ways to gather, collate and publish Alaska's Annual Minerals Industry Report. The agencies are looking for feedback regarding what items the industry thinks is important to retain in the report, what items are not in the report that should be...
Ethos Gold Corp. recently wrapped up a second phase of 2012 exploration aimed at identifying a multimillion-ounce gold deposit on its Betty Property located in the White Gold district of Yukon Territory. The junior Sept. 19 reported completing 7,500 meters of reverse circulation drilling in 61 holes, and collecting 8,700 grid soil samples and 166 prospecting samples in 2012 that targeted the 17-square-kilometer (6.56 square miles) Mascot Creek gold-in-soil anomaly at Betty that Ethos outlined in 2011 and where the junior...
