The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 351 - 375 of 451
Let me extend my apologies to all those looking for a quick summary of the Alaska mining industry this month. There is nothing "quick" about the tome you are about to read, but don't blame the messenger. I just report what I read, and this month it's a sack full! No need for more words, just read on! Western Alaska NovaGold Resources announced results of a newly released report on the Rock Creek project, nearing commercial production outside of Nome. The revised feasibility...
NovaGold Resources Inc. March 20 said it has priced a public offering of $95 million in convertible bonds due May 1, 2015 and net proceeds before deducting estimated offering expenses are expected to total $92.15 million. NovaGold said a day earlier that cash raised in the offering will be used to repay short-term debt, fund exploration and development projects and pay bills. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., the underwriter, also received the option to issue another $14 million in notes to cover over-allotments, if any. If the...
Spokane, Wash.-based Gold Crest Mines Inc. has signed agreements with a subsidiary of gold mining giant Newmont Mining Corp. in which the companies propose to enter into two separate joint ventures to explore Gold Crest's AKO and Luna gold properties in the Kuskokwim region of southwest Alaska about 90 miles east of Bethel. Denver-based Newmont will be the operator of the proposed venture and can earn 51 percent in each of the properties by spending a minimum of $3 million by...
NovaGold Resources Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. have incorporated more drilling results into their estimate of recoverable gold at the Donlin Creek deposit and boosted that number by 77 percent to 29.4 million ounces. Donlin Creek is situated on Calista Corp. lands in the northern part of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region in western Alaska. The estimate of measured and indicated resources was prepared by Barrick geologists, and compares favorably with an October 2006 projection of...
As is commonly the case in late January, an over abundance of news has come out in the last month, in part to coincide with year-end financial releases and in part to coincide with the annual Cordilleran Roundup mining convention in Vancouver. The news itself included an $819 million year-end 2007 profit at one Alaska mine, new gold resources of 32.8 million ounces for the state's largest gold deposit and the sale of 70 percent of another mine for a whopping $750 million. That doesn't count new resource estimates on two other...
For any of you who have experienced that odd quiet before a big storm hits, I'd suggest you grab Toto and head for the root cellar because the "quiet" is about to end and the perfect storm is about to begin! I say this because the mining industry took its collective breath during the last month and recharged its batteries in preparation for what looks to be a wild and woolly 2008. Commodities prices remain high; worldwide demand for metals and energy minerals remains strong, and investment capital is there for quality mining...
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 3 in favor on all counts of a permit that allows NovaGold Resources Inc to develop the Rock Creek Mine Project near Nome. In a 29-page decision, a three-judge panel of the appeals court affirmed the June 2007 decision of the United States District Court for Alaska dismissing a lawsuit initiated by Bering Straits Citizens for Responsible Resource Development. Bering Straits and two individuals had challenged a permit issued for the mine project by the U.S. Army Corps of...
NovaGold Resources Inc. Jan. 16 announced the appointment of new senior managers for the Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project that it owns jointly with Teck Cominco Ltd. in northwestern British Columbia as the partners launch an effort to re-evaluate and optimize development of the property. The companies suspended construction activities at Galore Creek in November when an independent engineering firm estimated that capital costs for developing a proposed 65,000-metric-tons-per-day mine could climb to $5 billion, more...
In days gone by the Alaska mining industry thought of December as a time of decreased activity and a chance to catch your breath before the New Year started. Well, in case you have not noticed, those days are long gone! This month's activities stretch from one side of Alaska to the other with metals of interest spanning the periodic table of elements. Results from a number of programs are still outstanding and likely will not be seen until the New Year, blurring transitions...
NovaGold Resources reported results Dec. 18 from 152,000 meters of drilling completed in 2006 and 2007 at the Donlin Creek gold deposit in western Alaska. The exploration averaged 67 meters of mineralization per hole, grading 3.61 grams, or 1.273 ounces, of gold per metric ton. The Vancouver, B.C.-based junior mining company said it expects much of the inferred resources at the project to be converted to measured and indicated resources and included in a new resource estimate...
A year ago, Vancouver-based NovaGold Resources Inc. triumphantly fought off a hostile takeover bid by Toronto giant Barrick Gold. In 2007, the ambitious junior brought its Rock Creek project near Nome to the brink of production, began construction at Galore Creek in British Columbia and just a few weeks ago sealed a deal with Barrick to end their dispute over the Donlin Creek project in southwest Alaska. On Nov. 7, NovaGold's share price hit a 52-week high of $21.91. Then disaster struck: NovaGold and its new partner at...
Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp., the world's largest gold producer, and Vancouver-based junior NovaGold Resources Inc. have agreed to a 50-50 partnership on the world-class Donlin Creek project in western Alaska. Barrick and NovaGold have agreed to form Donlin Creek LLC. The new company will operate the project and is owned equally by both partners. Donlin Creek LLC will have four board members, with two members selected by each company. NovaGold nominated Doug Nicholson,...
For those of you who could not attend the Alaska Miners Association convention in Anchorage in early November, you missed what I understand was a record attendance and presentations on some of the most exciting mining developments in the last decade. In addition, I noticed a lot more business being conducted around the conference hotel than is normally the case. Geologists and engineers from companies large and small could be seen hunkered down over reports and maps with...
Steve Borell, longtime executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, sat down to discuss the state of the industry recently. Borell expressed optimism and excitement about the industry's future in Alaska. But he raised several red flags that Alaska officials and others should consider in future policy making discussions. The following is excerpted from his remarks during an Oct. 3 interview. Mining News: What do you see as the future of the mining industry in Alaska in the short term and the long term? Steve Borell:...
Two of Canada's westernmost governments are moving forward with power transmission projects aimed at bringing lower cost energy and jobs to rural residents while spurring mine development in remote areas. British Columbia and Yukon Territory announced progress in October on separate public-private partnerships pursuing the power projects. B.C. government said Oct. 1 it would pursue the Northwest Transmission Line project, a C$400-million extension of B.C.'s electrical grid into the remote northwest region of the province...
Vancouver, B.C.-based NovaGold Resources is progressing rapidly with its Rock Creek and Galore Creek projects - and it looks like the company might get some support from an unexpected quarter. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing Sept. 26 in a lawsuit brought by a Nome citizens' group against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a permit it issued for Rock Creek, and at least one of the three judges was adamantly in favor of the mine. Judge Andrew Kleinfeld repeatedly interrupted attorney Brian Litmans, who with...
Gold Crest Mines Inc., a Spokane, Wash.-based junior gold exploration company, reported promising results Oct. 8 from its 2007 exploration drilling campaign at the Kisa Project in the Kuskokwim Mineral Belt of southwest Alaska. Organized a little over a year ago by a group of mining industry veterans, Gold Crest has a wholly owned Alaska subsidiary, Kisa Gold Mining Inc. It is KGMI that began exploring about 93,500 acres in three different and distinct areas of Alaska in late 2006. KGMI has established 14 claim groups in two...
The results from Alaska's summer field campaigns continue to pour in from all over the state, while field crews wind down their summer work and kick off their winter programs. If the results released this month are any indication of what is yet to come, 2008 is fixing to be one heck of a year! Western Alaska NovaGold Resources announced that initial testing of their crushing circuit had commenced at their commissioning Rock Creek gold mine near Nome. The operation is...
An Anchorage judge gave little credence to arguments by a Nome citizens' group that construction of Rock Creek gold mine should be halted, decisively ruling in favor of developer NovaGold Resources. After a hearing in Alaska District Court June 7, Judge Ralph Beistline made his decision the following day. Bering Strait Citizens For Responsible Resource Development had requested an injunction to protect the area's wetlands. The plaintiffs argued that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 404 permit authorizing some of Rock Creek's...
A recent piece in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newspaper indicated that the U.S. Department of Labor has determined that mining employment has hit a 4-year low in Alaska. I'm not sure who the Department of Labor was talking to but the world I live in happens to be drastically short of qualified manpower with no immediate relief anywhere in sight that might affect this demand surplus and supply shortfall. When you ask mining companies what they are up to, the most common resp...
Two Vancouver-based companies have announced a partnership to develop British Columbia's largest mining project, Galore Creek, just across the border from Alaska. NovaGold Resources, which has been developing the copper-gold project for the past four years, will go 50-50 with Teck Cominco, the operator of Red Dog and Pogo mines in Alaska, and Highland Valley and Elk Valley mines in British Columbia. To earn its 50 percent interest, Teck Cominco will fund approximately US$478 million in construction costs at Galore Creek,...
The exploration season has started but not before a bevy of new corporate competitors have entered the Alaska mineral scene and not before a number of past producing mines have been dragged into the 21st century. During the last month, three new companies have acquired properties in Alaska and two old Alaska producers have been brought out of mothballs to have new exploration done on them. This month's commodities of interest include gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver, uranium,...
The problem of bringing power to NovaGold's remote Donlin Creek project in southwest Alaska is one of the main bones of contention in the Vancouver-based junior's never-ending battle with its joint venture partner, Barrick Gold. Toronto-based Barrick, the operator at Donlin Creek, envisions a combination of diesel and wind power for the proposed gold mine. NovaGold's management believes the logistics of transporting huge quantities of diesel fuel upriver are too challenging and expensive, and wants to put in a power line...
The trials and tribulations of Alaska's mining industry continued in the last month with one challenged mine given the green light to proceed, the other halted in midstride by the same legal system. In the background, exploration programs quietly began at several locations across the state as the busy 2007 mining season started in earnest. Alaska's global rank dropped from 13th to 24th position in the most recent Fraser Institute survey of mining jurisdictions worldwide. At...
Vancouver-based NovaGold Resources got some encouraging news on all three of its major projects recently. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reissued its permit for Rock Creek; Galore Creek received its British Columbia Environmental Assessment Certificate; and Donlin Creek expanded its resources by an impressive amount. But progress has come at a cost: the company had a net loss of $30.5 million in 2006, compared with a net loss of $5.8 million in 2005. Most of the additional expenditures - $21 million - went to fighting off...
