The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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As is usually the case this time of year, the mining industry is awash in backward-looking statements designed to allow for more accurate forward-looking statements. Prime among them is one of my favorites, S&P Global's annual "World Exploration Trends 2019", a summary of what happened industry-wide in 2018 and what it may portend for the mining industry in 2019. The study predicts that global exploration budgets will increase again in 2019, although by a smaller amount, with...
Seeking economic and cultural prosperity for its more than 22,000 Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian shareholders while also looking to provide even greater benefits for future generations, Sealaska takes a balanced approach to developing the resources growing above and stored beneath its lands in Southeast Alaska. This does not mean the Southeast Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation shuns mining or other resource development in its region, a nearly 600-mile...
When it comes to attracting mining investment, Alaska, British Columbia and all three Canadian territories rank among the top 20 jurisdictions in the world on the Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies 2018. This report asks industry professionals from around the globe to score mining jurisdictions based on their mineral endowment and various policy topics important to mining. "The mining survey-now in its 21st year-is the most comprehensive report card on government...
Those of you that attended the recent Cordilleran Roundup Convention in Vancouver can attest to the exuberant, upbeat atmosphere that pervaded the conference and was very much in evidence at the standing-room only festivities at our annual self-hosted Alaska Night meet and greet. But digging down under this veneer of optimism, many of the junior explorers and most of the producers admitted to their expectations of challenging times in 2019. Putting words to this apparent...
Northern Cobalt Ltd. Feb. 26 reported that a recently completed magnetic survey has confirmed the presence of a large magnetite body at its Snettisham vanadium-titanium project in Southeast Alaska. Situated about 50 kilometers (32 miles) south of Juneau, Snettisham hosts a large outcropping body of magnetite with iron, titanium, vanadium, and possibly platinum-group elements. This intrusion extends for at least 3,800 meters along the coast of the Snettisham Peninsula and up...
The Red Dog Mine has been a gamechanger for the more than 14,000 Iñupiat shareholders of NANA Corp., the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation that owns the world-class Red Dog deposits in Northwest Alaska that are the source of around 5 percent of the world's new zinc supply each year. The revenues from shipping out more than 1 billion pounds of zinc annually, along with healthy portions of lead, silver and minor amounts of germanium, has served...
Giga Metals Corp. Jan. 30 reported results from 38 holes drilled last year at the company's Turnagain nickel-cobalt project in northern British Columbia. A resource calculated in conjunction with a preliminary economic assessment prepared for Turnagain in 2011 outlines 865 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources at Turnagain averaging 0.21 percent (4 billion pounds) nickel and 0.013 percent (250 million lb) cobalt; plus 976 million metric tons of inferred resou...
Fortune Minerals Jan. 30 announced that it has entered into a socioeconomic agreement with the Northwest Territories government for the proposed Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Yellowknife. Signed at the Association for Mineral Exploration Roundup in Vancouver, British Columbia, the agreement formalizes objectives to maximize northern and indigenous employment, training, business opportunities, and education to benefit resi...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Jan. 31 announced a US$16.2 million work program this year for the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska, a work program that is expected to result in major milestones toward realizing the world-class mineral potential the Ambler Mining District has to offer. Similar to the previous two years, Australia-based South32 Ltd. will invest US$9.2 million of the 2019 funding, which will go toward infill and resource expansion drilling at the Bornite...
As the year waned, Alaska's mining industry reported some of the last of its 2018 seasonal field results while the University of Alaska and state of Alaska released some current and projected state-wide economics. At the same time, some macro-economic data was released for the global mining industry. Combined, these figures show a mix of encouraging and not so encouraging trends facing the Alaska mining industry. At the global scale, things for the mining industry are looking...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Dec. 13 said results from the final five holes drilled this year at Bornite continue to show the potential to expand the high-grade underground resource at this world-class copper-cobalt project in the Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska, including toward the open-pit deposit to the south. "The latest drilling results confirm the extent and continuity of the copper and cobalt mineralized system at the Bornite Project, and continue to demonstrate...
With nearly indistinguishable physical and chemical properties, niobium and tantalum are almost always found together in nature. Both are also critical to the defense, energy and high-tech sectors in the United States, but neither are mined domestically. For these reasons, the United States Geological Survey considers these transition metals "indispensable twins" that are critical to America's economic and strategic wellbeing. "Niobium and tantalum are transition metals that...
New gold mines are expected to drive strong economic growth in Nunavut and Yukon over the next several years, according to the latest Territorial Outlook published by The Conference Board of Canada. The non-profit think tank focused primarily on researching and analyzing economic trends, however, forecasts a shrinking economy for Northwest Territories as the diamond sector there matures. Despite a tepid recovery for the mining sector as a whole, the new mines being developed...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Nov. 19 reported additional copper-cobalt results from drilling beyond the deposit at Bornite, a part of the company's Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in the Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska. According to a 2016 calculation, the open-pit deposit at Bornite contains 40.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.02 percent (913 million pounds) copper; and 141.9 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 1.74 percent (5.45 billion...
As Alaska's mining industry nears the end of another hectic year during which metals prices and investor sentiments rose and fell as precipitously as the world's major stock exchanges, the industry is naturally looking into its crystal ball trying to anticipate what the new year will bring. EY Global Mining and Metals does this sort of forecasting by putting out an annual "risk radar" for mining and metals. The idea is to find out what the industry perceives as the top ten...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Oct. 9 reported high-grade copper and cobalt assay results from four holes drilled outside of the resource area at the Bornite project, part of the company's Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in the Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska. According to a 2016 calculation, the open-pit deposit at Bornite contains 40.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.02 percent (913 million lb) copper; and 84.1 million metric tons of inferred resource...
Following a couple of quiet months where Alaska's mining industry focused on its work, the last month has seen an explosion of new info come out regarding that effort, some of it profound in its potential immediate, near-term and long-term implications. For example, one of Alaska's largest mines was sold to a new owner at a surprisingly low cost per ounce. The results of a robust new preliminary economic analysis were tabled by an advanced gold-silver exploration project...
Geologists familiar with Alaska already know the Far North State is a great place to explore for critical minerals and metals such as graphite, rare earths, platinum metals, cobalt and tin. A new report published by the U.S. Geological Survey, however, indicates that Alaska may be richer in these and other minerals and metals vital to the economy and security of the United States than previously realized. Working alongside the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical...
With nearly indistinguishable characteristics, niobium and tantalum are considered the "indispensable twins" among the 35 minerals and metals considered critical to the United States. "Niobium and tantalum are transition metals that are almost always found together in nature because they have very similar physical and chemical properties," the U.S. Geological Survey wrote in a 2018 paper on the twin metals. While nearly identical twins, they each have their own set of unique...
More than three dozen explorers chased lucrative mineral deposits in Yukon Territory in 2017 and most of these junior and senior companies returned to the northern jurisdiction this year to take another crack at hitting the jackpot. Known for its rich and storied gold mining history as well as its rugged mountain peaks, Yukon is roughly 15 percent larger than California, covering more than 482,000 square kilometers (186,272 square miles). Split off from the Northwest...
Thanks to its own rich mineral endowment, Australia is a juggernaut in the world of mining, especially across the Southern Hemisphere. Over the past couple of years, however, a growing number of Aussie mining companies are looking north to Alaska, another minerals-rich land way north of the Equator. At least four Aussie juniors – White Rock Minerals Ltd., PolarX Ltd., Nova Minerals Ltd. and Riversgold Ltd. – and three Australia-based metals producers – South32 Ltd., North...
Thanks largely to increased investments from Aussie mining explorers, mineral exploration spending across Alaska topped US$100 million in 2018. This is well above the roughly US$95 million invested last year and nearly double the US$58 million spent at the bottom of the market in 2015. "Canadian and Australian companies continue to be the source for the bulk of funds spent in Alaska in 2018, together comprising well over 80 percent of the exploration expenditures earmarked...
In 1918, the Premier gold mine opened a few miles north of Stewart, a mining town that is the southern gateway to British Columbia's famed Golden Triangle. Over the ensuing 34 years, this underground operation churned out some 2 million ounces of gold and 45 million oz of silver, making it the largest gold producer in North America during that era. A century later, Premier continues to be in play and modern exploration is unveiling the vast mineral potential that northern...
With US$17.5 million invested into the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP) in 2018, Trilogy Metals Inc. took major strides in achieving its goal of beginning to develop the vast mineral potential that the world-class Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska has to offer. Arctic and Bornite, the two most advanced deposits at UKMP, host roughly 8.9 billion pounds of copper, 3.6 billion lb of zinc, 626 million lb of lead, 77 million lb of cobalt, 770,000 ounces of gold and...
Spun out of BHP Billiton in 2015, South32 Ltd. burst onto the mining scene with a portfolio of high-quality assets producing aluminum, coal, manganese, nickel, silver, lead and zinc. This Australia-based miner went into business as the world's largest producer of manganese ore and owner of the world's largest silver mine. The company's impressive portfolio also boasts two aluminum smelters and one of the world's leading ferronickel operations. With mines and smelters in...
