The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 151
This summer, Vancouver, British Columbia-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. will spend $20 million on an expanded-scale continuation of its drilling program at the newest discovery in the east zone of its Pebble mine project near Iliamna on the Alaska Peninsula. The drilling budget is twice what the company spent on the project last year. The new find just to the east of the initial discovery made Pebble meaningfully bigger and richer, and the company expects this year's drilling program to tell just how much the east zone...
Over the course of the last several months, a series of new gold and base metal discoveries have been made. Several of these new discoveries were reported in the last month and highlights of these and other activities were presented at the annual Alaska Miners Association convention in Anchorage in early November. The convention was one of the most exciting and up-beat events in nearly a decade. The new discoveries are a trend that, while long in coming, are an inevitable...
As expected, results from the summer field programs have begun to roll in from all over the state. Discoveries from base and precious metals properties were reported in September and several properties previously explored in the Carter administration were rediscovered and are turning out promising results. Metals prices remain robust with gold pushing the $475 per ounce mark. While Alaska's mining industry is still trying to catch its breath from this year, many companies...
Residents of Southwest Alaska - including a former state governor - expressed passionate opinions about the proposed Pebble open-pit mine at a conference in the village of Newhalen April 7-9, demonstrating that there will be a host of social issues to deal with even if mine developer Northern Dynasty can overcome the project's daunting environmental and economic hurdles. Local Natives are worried about the threat to their subsistence lifestyle, lodge owners and guides fear tourism could change and anti-mining NGOs are making...
Current market conditions favor the three metals uncovered in the Pebble project operated by Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. in southwestern Alaska. Not only are gold and copper fetching good prices, but a recent run-up in molybdenum prices could deliver a nice bonus for the project. Little known metal makes big contributions Molybdenum, pronounced "meh-LIB-deh-nem," is mainly a byproduct of copper mining but some standalone molybdenum mines do exist. The element was discovered by Carl Welhelm Scheele, a Swedish chemist, in...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., owner and operator of the Pebble project in southwestern Alaska, is gearing up for a new season with a larger ownership stake in the gold-copper-molybdenum deposit and a C$36 million work program for 2005. The company announced results March 4 of a recent independent analysis that indicated the world-class mineral system at Pebble is significantly larger than previously envisioned. Northern Dynasty also said March 14 it agreed to acquire the remaining 20 percent ownership interest in Pebble in...
The Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the Department of Commerce and Economic Development have released their annual preliminary report on Alaska's mining industry for 2004. As expected, investment in all categories was up significantly over previous years. Exploration spending in 2004 was estimated at $63.7 million, up from $27.6 million in 2003. The 2004 expenditures were the highest in the state since 1981. Development expenditures jumped to $105.6 million vs. $39.2 million in 2003, thanks largely t...
December, January and February are normally a time when the mining industry can stop and catch its collective breath, look into its often cloudy but well-used crystal ball and prepare for the coming year. Not so the last December, January and February! While 2004 results continued to pour in from projects large and small, plans for 2005 are well advanced and in some cases, already in full swing. Metals prices remained strong and even the most pessimistic prognosticators...
As its 2004 drilling program draws to a close, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. is awaiting a revised independent estimate of the size of its Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum deposit in Southwest Alaska, Ronald W. Thiessen, the company's president and CEO announced in mid-December. Northern Dynasty said it spent C$33.5 million to drill 173 holes that include the new East Zone discovery holes, which intercepted substantial higher-grade gold-copper-molybdenum mineralization outside of the previous resource boundary. Earlier this...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. has discovered a new higher-grade zone on the east side of the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum deposit in southwestern Alaska near Iliamna, Ronald W. Thiessen, the company's president and CEO said Nov. 29. Pebble, which has a 2.74 billion-ton inferred resource, is believed to contain the largest gold deposit in North America and the second-largest copper deposit. Separately, Thiessen and Galahad Gold of London announced that Vancouver, British Columbia-based Northern Dynasty exercised an option...
After a busy summer, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. is on schedule and optimistic it can meet its timeline for a 2009 commencement of mining operations at its Pebble deposit, a proposed open pit, gold-copper-molybdenum-silver mine near Iliamna in southwestern Alaska, according to Bruce Jenkins, Northern Dynasty director of corporate affairs. The company completed intensive infill drilling in 2004, sufficient to move the project to the bankable feasibility study level, Jenkins told an audience Nov. 4 at the Alaska Miners...
The month of November started off with a bang with favorable results for the mining industry from both the state and federal elections standpoint. As it closes the price of gold is flirting with $450 per ounce, the highest price for this metal since mid-1988. The Alaska Miners Association convention was very well attended in early November and results were revealed there from many of Alaska's exploration, development and production properties. A quick tally of spending across...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. has zeroed in on a port site on the southwest corner of Iniskin Bay on Cook Inlet, to serve its Pebble deposit, a proposed open pit, gold-copper-molybdenum-silver mine near Iliamna in Southwestern Alaska, according to Bruce Jenkins, director of corporate affairs. The port site is approximately 65 miles from the deposit. The company has also, in conjunction with the Alaska Department of Transportation, established a preferred road corridor leading from the port site to the Pebble deposit, with co...
This summer's exploration, engineering and environmental baseline data work at the Pebble prospect in southwest Alaska is progressing "exceptionally well," according to a spokesman for the deposit's developer, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Northern Dynasty, a Hunter Dickinson-managed mine-development company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is on track to spend $25 million (C$33.5 million) this year on the Pebble project, a gold-copper-molybdenum deposit several miles north of Lake Iliamna, a little more than 200 miles...
As anyone can tell you who has tried recently to locate geologists, drill rigs and helicopters, Alaska is not the place to search for any of these commodities. Mineral exploration and development in Alaska is clipping along at a pace not seen in more than five years and in the process, these activities have sucked up just about all of the people, rigs and aircraft in the state. Exploration and development projects are spread from Nome to Ketchikan, the Brooks Range to...
The skies north of Lake Iliamna in southwest Alaska are buzzing with helicopters that are supporting numerous drill crews working on exploration projects at and surrounding the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum-silver deposit. Leading this summer's activity is Northern Dynasty, a Hunter Dickinson managed mine-development company, which holds options to acquire a 100 percent interest in 36 mineral claims that host the Pebble deposit. Northern Dynasty bumped up this year's spending plan for Pebble to a total of $25 million in U.S....
The land has been staked - now the major players have taken to the ground to complete geological and geophysical work surrounding the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum resource near Iliamna, Alaska. Leading the way in terms of spending is Northern Dynasty, which is earning a 100 percent interest in the Pebble resource lands claim block - a 1,440 acre parcel that contains the estimated 26 million ounce gold resource and the 16.5 billion pound copper resource. Northern Dynasty, which conducted extensive drilling at Pebble in 2002...
Although the traditional Alaska field season has not really arrived yet, three significant developments occurred in March: Teck Cominco and Sumitomo Metal Mining received final permits for the Pogo gold project from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allowing construction to move ahead at flank speed, Anglo American acquired its first U.S. mineral property in years by signing a joint venture option on Nevada Star's MAN nickel-copper-platinum group element project and Nov...
A surge in claim staking surrounding the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum deposit in southwestern Alaska has continued through the first three months of 2004. Anchorage-based geological consultant Bill Ellis, part owner of Alaska Earth Sciences, estimates a total of 512 square miles of land has been recently staked for mineral prospecting in an area surrounding the Pebble deposit. State records show that a total of 564 square miles, or 361,440 acres, is claimed by mineral prospectors in the Pebble area, according to Kerwin Kraus...
Alaska's exploration season is well under way with drilling in progress at several locations and planning for the summer season proceeding at a frenetic pace not seen in more than five years. Anyone who has tried to line up a drill rig, a helicopter or a project manager will tell you the same thing: all are in short supply, even at this early point in the year. Projects under way and planned for the coming year include numerous gold projects, several base metal projects, a...
Three exploration companies independently and secretively launched major land staking efforts in December, laying claim to more than 300 square miles of state land surrounding the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum deposit in southwest Alaska. Characteristics of such large, multiple-porphyry deposits and past exploration success at Pebble sparked the substantial interest by prospectors who hope to find similar mineralization. "It's the largest porphyry alteration in the world and a variety of the characteristics of such...
As in past years, Canada's Fraser Institute (www.fraserinstitute.ca) has released the results of its annual mining investment attractiveness survey for 2003-2004. The survey represents responses from 132 junior mining companies and 27 senior mining companies who rated policy potential issues (regulatory and infrastructure), mineral potential and overall investment attractiveness in 53 political jurisdictions around the globe. The companies participating in the survey accounted for exploration budgets totaling US$642.4...
Information continues to trickle in from 2002 exploration programs around the state with the final tally suggesting exploration expenditures for 2002 will come in at about the same or slightly higher levels as in 2001. As is most years, a few major projects expend the majority of the funds while many smaller projects move either forward toward increased funding or backward to the project bone yard. The big spenders in 2002 will be Donlin Creek, Pebble and Pogo while properties...
As the first snows of winter begin to fall around the state, more assay results are coming in and plans for next year are being formed. Metals prices continue to rise or hold steady and budgets for next year appear to be growing as a result. Several exploration projects remain in progress and are not likely to be completed before the end of October. By then we will have a good idea of how 2002 stacks up against previous year's exploration, development and production...
Drilling, trenching and prospecting results are pouring in from all over the state as the 2002 summer season hits its annual mid-point. The most active place in the states continues to be the Seward Peninsula although a number of other areas are seeing increased levels of interest and expenditure for the first time in five years. Tire kicking has increased across the board and new property acquisitions are expected to make their way to the public domain in August. Gold exploration has resurfaced after a long hiatus but base...
