The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 451
NovaGold Resources and its Canadian subsidiary SpectrumGold are increasing spending this year for the company's Galore Creek property in remote northwestern British Columbia, kicking off a large, aggressive drilling and advanced exploration program in late May. Galore Creek, about 37 miles west of the Cassiar Highway and about 46 miles east of Wrangell, Alaska, is a large, well-defined gold-silver-copper resource previously worked by Kennecott. Three core rigs will work through the summer, completing more than 60,000 feet of...
NovaGold Resources plans to work on its other large metals deposit this summer, the Ambler property located in the remote part of northwestern Alaska, filing a permit with the state to drill up to 21 core holes. The company announced a $1.5 million budget for the property earlier this year, shortly after signing an agreement with Kennecott to acquire a 51 percent interest in the gold, silver, copper and base metals deposit. Helicopter-supported exploration work will take place between June 15 and Sept. 30, according to the...
SpectrumGold signed four property agreements this spring and staked claims surrounding the company's Galore Creek gold-silver-copper deposit in northwestern British Columbia. A 56 percent owned subsidiary of NovaGold Resources, SpectrumGold's tally for new land acquisitions surrounding Galore Creek is 52,450 acres of land. Total acreage in the district now controlled by SpectrumGold is 74,000 acres, according to a company press release issued on April 8. In that release, SpectrumGold announced its agreement to purchase a 100...
A draft feasibility study completed this spring by Nuvista Light & Power Co. recommends construction of a coal-fired electric generation plant at Bethel, Alaska, plus construction of a 191-mile transmission line to the Donlin Creek gold project as the lowest wholesale power cost for the remote southwest Alaska region. Nuvista, a non-profit formed by Calista Corp., the Native corporation in southwest Alaska, is seeking comments through May 7 on the study, which recommends that initial design and permitting work begin on the co...
Hunting hard in remote elephant country, NovaGold Resources can claim a lion's share of kills. Now the aggressive junior has to prove whether it's found any trophies that will make the company a metals producer. NovaGold announced March 26 an agreement with Kennecott Exploration and Kennecott Arctic to acquire a 51 percent interest in the Ambler gold, silver, copper and base metals property in remote northwestern Alaska. Previous exploration on Arctic, the most advanced target on the Ambler property, identified an inferred...
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...
Geologists working for NovaGold Resources are going to be busy across the border in northwestern Canada this summer. The company's Canadian subsidiary, SpectrumGold, plans to spend $5 million for its Galore Creek advanced stage exploration project in remote northwestern British Columbia, and up to $1 million on other grassroots properties in the Yukon Territory. Galore Creek is the "new sexy project for NovaGold," said Doug Nicholson, vice president and general manager of NovaGold's Rock Creek gold project near Nome. "We're...
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...
Developers of the Rock Creek gold deposit near Nome plan to spend $5 million in 2004 to develop the hard rock deposit, with the ultimate goal of gold production starting in 2006. Vancouver, British Columbia-based NovaGold Resources anticipates releasing a new resource number and geological model later in March, based on last year's 30,000-foot drill program exploration work. The permit process should begin in the second half of 2004, following completion of a feasibility study, according to a company update released March 1....
Power, road access and availability of limestone are all key issues that Placer Dome is working through in its effort to produce a feasibility study for the 28-million ounce gold deposit called Donlin Creek, in remote southwest Alaska. The major mining company is "on schedule" to produce a feasibility study in the second quarter, project manager Gregg Bush told Mining News on Feb. 5. "There's no white smoke yet, but so far, there's no black smoke," he said. "We're encouraged." Placer Dome is working through the...
Alaska's mineral industry contributed an estimated $1.073 billion to Alaska's economy in 2002, a slight increase compared to the prior year, according to the Alaska Mineral Industry report released Nov. 6. A 10 percent increase in both exploration spending and in the total value of minerals mined and sold in 2002 helped offset a $47 million decline in development spending by the mining industry. Of the $26.5 million spent for exploration in Alaska, more than $17 million went to prospecting for gold and associated precious met...
Despite the drop in gold prices since a month ago, exploration activities in Alaska are picking up. Two drill programs have already kicked off in Interior Alaska and more are likely to be completed before the end of March. Contracts for drilling rigs, helicopters and experienced geologists are being finalized at a rate not seen here in half a decade. In addition, Alaska's new political administration is aggressively encouraging infrastructure development and making regulatory...
Another year has come and gone and Alaska's mining industry continues to generate jobs for its citizens and raw materials for the world. Although base metal prices remain mired at low levels, gold and platinum have risen steadily over the last month with gold in particular taking on new luster as it broke the $350 per ounce mark for the first time in five years. Platinum has rebounded from earlier lows and is now flirting with $600 per ounce levels while its geological...
As 2002 draws rapidly to a close, news of this year's mineral exploration, development and production efforts in Alaska continues to come out while plans for next year are being formulated in board rooms across North America. The political landscape at both the national and state levels changed drastically as a result of the Nov. 5 elections; however, the effects of these changes will not become evident for some time. Metals prices remain depressed for lead, zinc and...
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...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that mining is one of the nation's safest occupations with a lower rate of illness and injury per 100 employees, 4.7, than manufacturing, 9, and construction, 8.3, and grocery stores, 8, hotels, 6.9, and retail sales, 5.9 As is usually the case, the Alaska summer season reached its peak in activity in August. As is always the case, some properties show promise of turning into Alaska's next operating mine while others have their names quietly scribed on the scroll of the dead. Several...
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...
Is it my rose colored glasses or has the mining industry brightened considerably in the past month? The bump in the gold prices along with the slow but steady increase in the abysmal prices for other metals seems to have infused the mining industry with, dare I say it, optimism! Quite frankly I'm not sure how to react since we have not seen an industry-wide "smile" since the heady days at the end of the last millennium before the Busang scam devastated the industry and helped hasten the plunge of the already declining gold...
The snows are rapidly retreating and the Alaska mining industry is busy sharpening picks and pencils as it prepares for the summer season. Metals prices are on the rebound and a surprisingly vigorous economic recovery is under way in the United States. Although budgets for major companies for Alaska are not likely to change drastically in 2002, junior equity markets are surprisingly buoyant and should provide more immediate capital for investment in Alaska this year. Western Alaska NovaGold Resources announced the results...
Spring is in everyone's step in the Alaska mining industry even if spring is not quite yet in the air here in Alaska. Buoyant spirits are related to surprisingly buoyant metals prices and positive economic news from the U.S. economy. Plans for 2002 are in progress and fieldwork on some projects already is under way. Exploration activities for gold in 2002 appear to be on the rise compared to 2001 as is exploration for base metals. The professional begging (money raising) season is in full swing for junior and intermediate siz...
Results from the 2001 field season have begun to show up from around the state. At the same time, the number of rumors circulating via the Tundra Telegraph about results that have not been formally announced, has picked up. Fieldwork continues on a number of projects around the state but that early morning chill in the air is a harbinger of change in the near future. When the dust settles later this year, it will be clear that several new discoveries have been made in Alaska in 2001 and that several promising properties did...
As is always the case this time of year, many of the season's exploration and development programs are completed or nearing completion and the results of those programs are trickling in. In addition, second quarter 2001 operating results are in for Alaska's major mines, all of which are doing well despite depressed prices for all of the metals they produce. The state's most active areas include the Seward Peninsula, Interior Alaska and southeast Alaska. Here is what's going on. Western Alaska Cominco American's Red Dog mine...
While the noisy debate continues over ANWR, the gas pipeline possibilities and the ever-increasing cost of gasoline, the Alaska mining industry has quietly made the seasonal transition from winter to summer. The sound of drills and rock picks on outcrops is beginning to echo across the state. By all accounts the number of feet drilled, the number of geologists and engineers employed and the number of dollars spent around the state this year will be down significantly compared to the last several years. That said, several area...
