The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Trilogy Metals Inc. July 8 confirmed that the 2020 field programs at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska has been deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ambler Metals LLC, a joint venture operating company equally owned by Trilogy Metals and South32 Ltd., had budgeted US$22.8 million for the 2020 program. Following the novel coronavirus outbreak, Ambler Metals met with NANA Corp., the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation for...
As COVID-19 continues to create global economic hardship, it is reassuring to see steady progress on a project offering immediate and long-term benefits to Alaska's economy. The Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Project, or Ambler road, would help bring jobs and new revenues for the Northwest Arctic Borough and the State by lowering the cost to explore, build and operate future mines in the area. We have known of the Ambler district's vast copper and base metal...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. said its Pebble project could provide another source of jobs and revenue to an Alaska economy challenged by an interrelated combination of COVID-19 and low oil prices. Though fewer than 400 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Alaska, placing it among the lowest states in the country on an absolute and per capita basis, the economic impact of the global pandemic on the largest of the United States is both severe and ongoing. As a result of...
NANA Corp. and Ambler Metals LLC April 29 said they are working together to determine how a summer field season at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska can progress while protecting communities and balancing job opportunities for residents of the region. Earlier this year, Ambler Metals, a joint venture operating company equally owned by Trilogy Metals Inc. and South32 Ltd., approved a US$22.8 million budget for the 2020 program at UKMP, which is a large land...
Teck Resources Ltd. April 20 reported increased zinc and lead production at Red Dog, despite the adjustments and precautions taken to protect the health of the workforce and residents in nearby Northwest Alaska communities during the COVID-19 outbreak. Red Dog produced 128,400 metric tons (283.1 million pounds of zinc during the first quarter of this year, which is 17% higher than the first three months of 2019. Likewise, the first quarter zinc production during the first...
Teck Resource Ltd. March 23 announced temporary ban on travel from the Red Dog Mine to communities in the NANA region of Northwest Alaska where the world-class zinc mine is located. These restrictions on travel come at a time when NANA Corp., as well as other Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporations are looking at ways to prevent COVID-19 from reaching their regions and villages. "Our main priority is the health and safety of our people – shareholders, e...
North of 60 Mining News is proud to introduce 20 questions for 2020. Over the course of this series, Mining News will interview mining and political leaders from Alaska, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. Each interview will include 20 questions on mining, markets and doing business across Alaska and Canada's North. For the inaugural 20 questions for 2020, Mining News talks with Contango ORE Inc. CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, a longtime mining executive...
It was the vast petroleum reserves lying under what is now the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. (ASRC) region and the need to build a roughly 800-mile pipeline to deliver oil to global markets that prompted the need to settle aboriginal land claims in Alaska and led to the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, commonly referred to as ANCSA. Signed into law by U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1971 ANCSA involved a unique plan to organize Alaska Natives into 12 regional...
Contango ORE Inc. Jan. 6 announced that Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse has taken over as President and CEO of the Texas-based mineral exploration company advancing the Peak Gold project in eastern Alaska. Former President and CEO Brad Juneau has transitioned to executive chairman of Contango ORE, a company he co-founded and lead for the past decade. "I have known Rick for several years and followed his success with admiration," said Juneau. "We are extremely pleased that he has agreed...
In November 1996, a little over 23 years ago, I began writing quarterly mining news summaries for the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). Shortly after that, I began writing monthly summaries for this publication's ancestor, Mining News Alaska, and have continued both monthly, quarterly and annual mining news summaries ever since. With this summary, I have written my last Alaska update for North of 60 Mining News. When I wrote my first summary, Greens Creek was milling only...
With two Australian companies making major investments and several exploration companies from Down Under chomping at the bit to get into the field, 2020 is shaping up to be the best year for Alaska's mining sector in a decade. When you add up the investments South32 Ltd. plans to make in the Ambler Mining District and other exploration projects; Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s spending at the Pogo gold mine; and the exploration dollars at least five other Aussie companies are...
Development of the rich mineral resource in Alaska's Ambler Mining District took another major leap forward with the Dec. 19 announcement that Australia-based South32 Ltd. is investing US$145 million to become a 50 percent joint venture partner in Trilogy Metals Inc.'s Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP). This Northwest Alaska project covers a more than 70-mile (115 kilometers) stretch of Earth's crust that is uncommonly rich in a variety of precious, base and critical...
As the year winds down, mineral industry evaluations for 2019 are being published at a rapid rate. One of the most interesting such global reviews is EY Global Mining and Metals' annual "risk radar" for mining and metals, outlining what mining companies perceive as the top ten risks facing them in the near future. This publication stated that, for the second straight year, "social license to operate" remains the number one risk facing mining companies in 2020. This was...
An abnormally long fall has allowed the Alaska mining industry to extend seasonal work well into mid-October, creating a lot of new information about project work conducted around the state. Exploration efforts, in particular, benefitted from this additional field time. Based on information available to date, 2019 exploration expenditures are expected to be in the $135-140 million range, well ahead of the $120-125 million exploration spending tracked for 2018. In addition,...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Oct. 28 reported the final set of assay results from the 2019 drill program at Bornite, part of the company's Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP) in the Ambler mining district of Northwest Alaska. The open-pit portion of Bornite hosts 40.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.02 percent (913 million pounds) copper; and 84.1 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.95 percent (1.77 billion lb) copper. The underground portion of...
Calista Corp. and its 31,400 Yup'ik, Cup'ik and Athabascan shareholders are on the cusp of realizing the benefits that will come with the sustainable development of a mine at the 45-million-ounce Donlin Gold project on their land in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Southwest Alaska. With 39 million oz of gold in measured and indicated resources that average 2.24 grams per metric ton, and another 6 million oz in the inferred category averaging 2.02 g/t gold, Donlin Gold is truly a...
The Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska covers a more than 70-mile (115 kilometers) stretch of Earth's crust that is rich in a variety of precious, base and critical minerals. So rich, that nearly 40 years ago U.S. Congress wrote road access to Ambler into the laws of the land. Today, much of the Ambler District is covered by the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP), a partnership that brought Bornite and a number of other copper-rich prospects on Alaska Native lands...
If you have watched the metals markets over the last month, you know why Alaska's mineral industry has surged, stalled, swerved, swooped, slowed, shelved and stuttered, sometimes all at the same time! Gold has gone above US$1,500 per ounce; copper pundits are predicting an increasingly dour future; zinc markets are looking to dive below $1.00 per pound; tin markets have marched strongly upward due to supply disruptions; and silver bulls are calling for annual worldwide...
After 15 years of leading the effort to unlock the vast mineral potential of the Ambler Mining District, Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse has turned in his resignation as president, CEO and director of Trilogy Metals Inc. Van Nieuwenhuyse, who told Mining News that he needed some time to handle personal matters, will remain as a consultant to the company and will assist with transitional matters and with advancing the company’s interests in Alaska. Jim Gowans – former president and CEO...
As the rest of the country suffers through the Dog Days of summer, Alaska is approaching the end of a topsy-turvy summer season that saw unseasonably hot, dry weather in some parts of the state during some parts of the summer, while other parts of the state have seen record rainfall and unseasonably early snowfall. Gold prices have skyrocketed over the $1,500 per ounce mark and silver prices have moved strongly up, now trading at a one-year high. However, copper and zinc are a...
United States Bureau of Land Management Aug. 30 published the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road to the Federal Register, marking the official start of a 45-day public comment period for this proposed 211-mile transportation corridor to one of the richest undeveloped minerals districts in Alaska. Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which is expected to build and maintain the Ambler road and be...
Alaska's mining community lost a strong champion and friend with the passing of Sen. Chris Birch, R-Anchorage. Must Read Alaska, the first to report on Birch's passing, said the senator from South Anchorage died suddenly from a heart attack on Aug. 7. This article was followed by shock and an outpouring of support from the senator's friends and colleagues. "Life is short. We all know it, but it's easy to forget. Tonight, that simple fact snapped into focus when I learned of Ch...
Earlier this month Reuters reported that several agencies within the U.S. Federal government were "rapidly assessing" our domestic ability to mine and refine rare earth elements and utilize those 17 super cool elements in value-added products needed for a wide and ever-growing array of consumer and national defense products. Not surprisingly, mining industry officials demurred when quizzed about supplying information on where rare elements might be mined in the U.S. and how...
When it comes to mineral exploration incentives, currency exchange and infrastructure, Alaska is at a disadvantage in the realm of attracting exploration investments from Canada and Australia, countries that are home to the majority of mining companies. The Far North State's vast and underexplored mineral potential, however, trumps these handicaps in the minds of a growing number of miners and mineral explorers. Mining executives from around the globe perennially rank Alaska...
Teck Resources Ltd.'s northern exploration had two major focal points – ensuring the Red Dog District in Northwest Alaska continues as a significant source of global zinc supply well into the 21st century and a rekindled interest in advancing the Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle closer to production. The renewed and increased activities at Galore Creek follows Newmont Mining's 2018 acquisition of Novagold Resources Inc.'s 50 p...
