The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Despite the abundance of good news from the Alaska mining industry this month, there is an unusual black cloud hanging over the industry that threatens to rain on our parade of projects. Domestic and international markets got a severe case of the jitters during the recent United States debt crisis. The resulting economic uncertainty contributed to significant metal price volatility. For example, the London gold price jumped 20 percent, from about US$1,480 to US$1,770 during the month prior to the debt deferral and has since d...
Zinc, the fourth most consumed metal in the world, is an essential building block of modern society and the dominant metal mined in Alaska over the past two decades. In 2010, 538,000 metric tons of zinc was mined at Teck Resources Ltd.'s Red Dog Mine and an additional 67,580 metric tons of zinc was recovered as a byproduct at Hecla Mining Co.'s Greens Creek silver mine, accounting for US$1.3 billion, or about 42 percent, of Alaska's US$3.1 billion of mineral production for...
Two Worlds, One Spirit" is a motto that encompasses NANA Regional Corp.'s dedication to developing its natural resources in a way that preserves the integrity of its land and the traditional values of the people who have called Northwest Alaska home for millennia. "At NANA we like to say we live in two worlds but have one spirit - meaning that we will not forsake our traditional values when participating in the modern economy. We can be Native people and bring Native values...
Alaska is considered one of the most mineralized provinces on Earth, but a vast amount of this wealth is locked up in a more than 350,000-square-mile, or 906,000-square-kilometer, area west of Alaska's contiguous road system. Surface transportation is considered key to unlocking the immense mineral potential of this area, which is roughly twice the land mass of California. In the Survey of Mining Companies: 2010/2011, conducted by the Fraser Institute, top executives from 494...
NANA Regional Corp. is on the hunt for mineral deposits that will continue to sustain the economic well being of its 12,500 shareholders beyond the life of the Red Dog Mine. "We know that one day we will be done mining at Red Dog, and it is our hope that we will keep finding deposits around the area," NANA Regional Corp. President and CEO Marie Greene told Mining News during an April 11 interview. Aqqaluk, a zinc-rich deposit that NANA and partner Teck Resources Ltd. began...
The Fraser Institute recently released its "Survey of Mining Companies, 2010/2011," an annual survey of exploration and mining companies that gauges the pros and cons of working in various countries around the world. This year the survey results came from 494 mining companies working in 79 jurisdictions and representing cumulative exploration expenditures of more than US$2.4 billion in 2010. There was a bit of honey and a bit of vinegar for Alaska in this report. Let's do...
From college students seeking their first job in the minerals industry to executives of the world's leading mining companies, a record-setting 7,003 people packed the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., Jan. 24-27 to attend the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia's 2011 Mineral Exploration Roundup. "The theme this year is 'Exploring Today for Tomorrow's Resources' - it couldn't be more important a theme, and it couldn't be more important an activity,"...
There are some new stats out regarding mining's impact on Alaska that the McDowell Group Inc. produced for the State of Alaska. For 2010, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 3,500 direct jobs and 5,500 indirect jobs. The industry paid US$350 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$95,000 per year, which is double the statewide average for all sectors. Mining salaries were higher than all other sectors except for the oil and gas sector. The industry paid...
Unlocking Alaska's vast mineral resource has been at the top of Gov. Sean Parnell's agenda since being elected to his first full term as the state's governor in November, a position he reiterated during his Jan. 19 State of the State address. "Without liberty, we cannot have a strong economy. So let's take stock of our economy and what we must do to keep it sound. Of course, there are many topics we could discuss: gasline, the university, fish. All are important, but tonight...
Alaska's mining industry is entering the final lap for what has turned out to be a more robust than expected year for exploration, development and production. Strong worldwide demand for mined products has certainly helped push metallic and energy minerals prices up, but all is not rosy for Alaska's mineral industry. A recent CNBC report placed Alaska dead last of all the states in terms of overall business attractiveness. We were a dismal 46th of 50 in terms of cost of doing...
Mining is becoming increasingly important to Alaskans looking for good-paying jobs. Not only does the industry provide high wages, the geographical diversity of the mines provides employment opportunities to oftentimes economically challenged rural regions of the vast state. According to the Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development, the number of mining jobs in Alaska has jumped 40.3 percent since 2000, almost triple the statewide average employment growth of 14.1... Full story
The Last Frontier, as Alaska has long been labeled, is as applicable a moniker today as it was to prospectors who ventured to the territory at the end of the 19th century. Alaska is considered one of the most mineralized provinces on Earth, but due to an inter-related combination of Arctic weather, rugged terrain, limited infrastructure and high exploration costs, the state's vast mineral potential remains at the edge of exploratory expansion. Though the Far North state...
STOCK SYMBOL: ZAZ Chairman and CEO: Gil Atzmon Vice President, Exploration: Joe Britton Vice President, Business Development: Matthew Ford Zazu Metals Corp. is exploring what it believes is one of the largest undeveloped zinc-lead deposits in the world. Lik, the zinc-lead-silver-rich property that the Vancouver B.C.-based junior is lauding, is located about 22 kilometers, or 14 miles, northeast of Red Dog Mine. Zazu said the high-grade deposit at Lik is an ideal fit in the company's business model of identifying high-quality,...
Teck Resources Ltd. won a place in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index in September by ranking among the top 10 percent of it peers in the resource industry for its sustainability practices. By focusing on five areas where it can have a positive impact - safety, environment, community engagement and development, value for its stakeholders and responsible stewardship of its products in society - Teck has risen through the ranks of the Dow Jones sustainability indices. In...
The Inupiat people of Northwest Alaska breathed a sigh of relief when Teck Resources Ltd. decided to move ahead with development of the Aqqaluk deposit at the Red Dog Mine. The 51.6 million metric tons of high-grade ore in the deposit that lies next door to the main deposit will extend the life of the world-class zinc-lead-silver mine, and continue to provide economic benefits for 12,000 NANA Regional Corp. shareholders for another 20 years. "We are excited to move forward... Full story
As Alaska's mining industry moves into the frenetic summer exploration and development season, the rest of the world is being buffeted by wild financial and commodity "mood swings" that are affecting the metals markets. The big markets shake the little markets and the little markets shake Alaska. Perfect example: the World Gold Council recently reported that China's growing middle class is expected to double its demand for gold for jewelry and investment purposes over the...
The Red Dog Mine is almost surely going to close in a very few short months. Why? They are not out of zinc ore already. It is because there is a little gypsum in their wastewater. Gypsum! What does that portend? Gypsum is a common enough material. It is used in wall boards in home construction. It is made into plaster of Paris. You remember plaster of Paris. Kids use it to make volcano models. You get a little bag of it at the hardware store, add water, and soak newspaper... Full story
A conviction-filled speech delivered by Pebble Limited Partnership CEO John Shively at the March 18 Resource Development Council of Alaska breakfast tackled the question on the minds of many in the audience: "What in the hell is going on in this country?" Though Alaska has not been hit as hard as the rest of the nation, the longtime Alaskan points to increased unemployment and dropping home sales as indications of the state's weakening economy. He said rural Alaska is being...
The Alaska Miners Association recently released an economic benefits summary of the Alaska mining industry. This summary indicated that in 2009 the Alaska mining industry provided 3,300 direct jobs along with 5,200 indirect jobs in 120 communities in Alaska with a combined payroll of US$320 million. Average industry jobs came in at US$83,000 per year, which is 85 percent higher than the average Alaska wage and second only to wages in the oil and gas industry. The industry...
Geologically, Alaska is a terrane wreck, with multiple tectonic plates dumping their mineral payloads over the landscape. Geologists are still sifting through the wreckage in many places across the state to determine which mineral deposits were dumped by which terranes and when - a task not always easily accomplished as pileups have resulted, in many cases, from multiple mineralization events happening in the same geographical regions over time. A terrane is a series of...
Coming off of a record year of zinc production, Red Dog partners Teck Resources Ltd. and NANA Regional Corp. are facing the possibility that operations at the zinc-lead mine will be shut down in October. Nearing the end of 20 years of production at the mine's main pit, Teck said it would need access to the neighboring Aqqaluk pit by May in order to continue uninterrupted operations at Red Dog. But state and federal appeals of a permit needed to continue operations could...
Zazu Metals Corp. has signed an agreement with the state-owned Alaska Industrial Development and Export Agency to complete due diligence for transportation infrastructure needed to support a mine at its Lik zinc-lead-silver project located about 22 kilometers, or 14 miles, northeast of Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska. Hammering out transportation infrastructure is a key component for a prefeasibility study that Zazu plans to have completed later in 2010. "Lik is a known lead-... Full story
NovaGold Resources Inc. has cut a deal with Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott Exploration Co. to purchase 100 percent interest in the precious-metal-rich Ambler copper-zinc property in Northwest Alaska. The outright purchase overrides a 2004 joint venture agreement in which NovaGold would have earned a 51 percent stake in the property by spending US$20 million and delivering a positive prefeasibility study on the project by 2016. The junior agreed to pay US$29 million to...
Metals markets continue to climb out of the basement as the world demand for metals resumes its upward trend. Fueled by this growing demand, numerous Alaska precious, base and rare metal projects reported results of their 2009 exploration, development and production programs. The recent Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage felt this surge of interest with the highest attendance in more than a decade. The atmosphere at the conference was charged with optimism, a co...
With reserves in the main pit of the Red Dog zinc-lead-silver mine running low, Teck Resources Ltd. and NANA Regional Native Corp. waited, with cautious optimism, for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide final approval for development of the Aqqaluk deposit, a huge zinc-lead deposit that would extend the life of the Red Dog zinc mine by about 20 years. Since the partners in the world's largest zinc mine began mining Red Dog's Main Pit in 1989, they have removed...
