The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 89
Redstar Gold Corp. June 21 reported that drilling has traced the high-grade gold vein at the Shumagin zone of its Unga gold project for 1,350 meters, which is an extension of about 400 meters. During the spring program at Unga, a historic high-grade gold property on an island just off of the Alaska Peninsula, Redstar completed 12 holes at roughly 100-meter centers, primarily targeting extension of the Shumagin gold zone. "We are excited to have intersected the Shumagin vein structure along strike to the southwest and, in...
Redstar Gold Corp. Sept. 12 reported the closing of a C$4.1 million private placement that involved the issuance of 41 million shares at C10 cents each. Eric Sprott acquired 9.6 million of these shares and, together with shares already held, now holds roughly 11.6 percent of Redstar's issued and outstanding common shares. The proceeds from the financing will be used for drilling and other exploration at Redstar's Unga gold project in Southwest Alaska. -SHANE LASLEY...
Redstar Gold Corp. Sept. 15 reported results from a summer surface sampling and geological mapping program at the Shumagin zone, a 2,000-meter-long structure that is part of the nine-kilometer- (5.6 miles) long Shumagin Trend at the company's Unga gold project in Southwest Alaska. Highlights from this work include a composited continuous chip sample that averaged 37.26 grams per metric ton gold 103.7 g/t silver across 2.3 meters. This sample was taken from a weathered breccia containing rhodochrosite, a manganese carbonate...
With a new top executive and financial backing from one of the most respected investors in the mining space, Redstar Gold Corp. is taking a fresh look at Unga, a high-grade gold property that is home to Alaska’s first hard-rock mine. Going into 2016, Redstar appointed Peter Ball as president and CEO of the company, filling a void left by Ken Booth, who served as the company’s interim top executive for about a year. Ball brings more than 25 years of experience to Redstar, inc...
Reuters recently reported that the 10 largest gold-producing companies worldwide have steadily increased their near-mine exploration budgets over the past few years to 56 percent in 2015 from 45 percent in 2013. They also reduced their higher-risk greenfields exploration budgets to 21 percent from 25 percent in the same time period. This retrenchment of exploration by the larger producers is occurring, while global gold output is declining with an expected reduction of 9...
Over the last month the inevitable termination dust has begun to show up across Alaska, bringing with it completion of mineral exploration programs and transition of development and production projects to winter operational modes. Explorers, developers and miners will soon be gathering to compare notes at the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage, an event that always overlaps national and local election night. Alaska's mineral industry outlook brightened...
Mineral exploration spending in Alaska hit an apex of US$365 million in 2011, but as venture capital for mining explorers dried these expenditures plummeted 78 percent to US$80 million in 2015. However, rising gold prices and a loosening of venture capital in 2016 seems to have marked an end to a painfully long bear market for mining explorers in Alaska. “After taking head shots for the past four years, the industry suddenly came to life over the past month, with new budgets,...
As tangible buoyancy returns to the mining industry, I began to wonder if any of the multitude of forecasters had actually predicted the recent return of stronger metals prices. Since most "forecasters" are actually "hindsighters," I was drawn to a November 2013 summary of gold mines by Roy Sebag of Natural Resource Holdings. The summary, entitled "Global Gold Mines & Deposits 2013 Ranking," indicated that we were nearing peak gold production because the total in-situ ounces...
Earlier in November, the Alaska Miners Association held its annual convention and trade show in Anchorage and as always, the well-attended convention overlapped with election Tuesday. While the lead up to, and results of, the national and state elections were hot topics throughout the week, one comment I heard from a colleague on the morning after the elections distilled the feelings of a lot of people at the conference. When asked what he thought of the election results, he...
Redstar Gold Corp. is focused on expanding the epithermal high-grade gold veins at its Unga project in Southwest Alaska. The roughly 100-square-mile (250 square kilometers) Unga property blankets two high-grade gold trends - Apollo-Sitka and Shumagin - that each cut roughly six miles across Unga Island, which is just south of the Alaska Peninsula. Apollo-Sitka hosts Apollo, a historic mine that produced roughly 150,000 of gold from 1886 to 1922. Shumagin, a parallel structural trend about 2,000 meters to the northwest, is...
Alaska's minerals exploration sector is on an upswing, thanks to Australian mining explorers looking north and mining majors upping their activities in the state. South32 Ltd., a Perth, Australia-based miner spun out of BHP Billiton Plc, is the largest mining company from Down Under to express an interest in Alaska's mineral potential this year. South32, which has eight operating mines in the Southern Hemisphere, secured an option to acquire a 50 percent interest in Trilogy...
With winter programs winding down and summer efforts rapidly ramping up, it is becoming clear that 2017 will be a much more vigorous year for the Alaska mining industry than the 2013 to 2016 period. For example, my internal estimates are already pushing $75 million for exploration activity alone and a significant number of projects that have announced exploration plans have not yet announced budgets for 2017, so that number is likely to rise. Compare this to estimates of less...
The year just past was many things for the mining industry, but one of the bright spots came from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, an agency not known for awarding happy faces or gold stars. In 2016, the mining industry experienced only 25 deaths in U.S. mines, the lowest level ever recorded. This, despite the industry having more than 330,000 miners working in 13,000 mines across the country. The leading cause of death in both coal and metal/nonmetal mines was...
Following up on its success in 2016, Redstar Gold Corp. has gotten off to an early start on expanding the high-grade gold zones at its Unga project in Southwest Alaska. The nearly 60,000-acre Unga property blankets two high-grade gold trends – Apollo-Sitka and Shumagin – that each cut roughly six miles across Unga Island. Apollo-Sitka hosts Apollo, a historic mine that produced roughly 150,000 ounces of gold from 1892 to 1913. Shumagin, a parallel structural trend about 2,000...
If there is anyone still on the fence wondering if the minerals industry has started a recovery from the doldrums of the past four years, this month’s mineral industry activity in Alaska should settle the question with authority. During the past month, we have seen two merger/acquisitions occur, one by Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp., which acquired Zazu Metals Corp. and its interest in the Lik lead-zinc-silver deposit. Then we also had Coventry Resources acquire V...
The summer solstice has come and gone, but the Alaska mining industry has paid little attention to the decreased amount of daylight because it is high summer in the high latitudes, time to be out completing work programs that have been in the planning since last fall. Exploration drilling programs have sprouted in the Brooks Range, Interior, Alaska Range, Southeast, Southwest and the Alaska Peninsula. In addition, the sounds of tire-kicking are being heard over a wide area of...
Redstar Gold Corp. Aug. 23 reported that the initial phase of drilling at its Unga project on the Alaska Peninsula has extended the Shumagin gold zone. "Preliminary drilling has extended the known strike length of Shumagin to 1,600 meters by intersecting the Shumagin structure in 10 out of 12 holes," said Redstar President and CEO Peter Ball. The summer drill program was designed to understand and to test a previously undrilled area extending about 500 meters southwest of Shumagin zone. Two infill holes -17SH033 and 17SH034...
Redstar Gold Corp. Sep. 21 announced the start of a fall drill program at its Unga project on the Alaska Peninsula. This planned 3,750-meter program will primarily target the expansion of the main Shumagin zone, a 2,000-meter-long subset of this 9,000-meter (5.6 miles) Shumagin structural trend, at depth and along strike to the northeast towards and at depth below the Bunker Hill gold zone. Additionally, the company is finalizing a review of additional priority drill targets...
As the Alaska mining industry prepares for and kicks off exploration, development and production activities for 2017, the question on everyone’s lips at the recent Cordilleran Roundup mining convention in Vancouver, B. C., was the same: “Have we seen the bottom of this down cycle?” While signs of life were seen for short periods during the 2008 to 2015 period, the reality was an overall downward spiral of commodities prices and global demand. However, in a recent editi...
In early November, the Alaska Miners Association will hold its annual convention in Anchorage. Unlike the past four or five years, the excitement surrounding the convention this year is palpable due to the steady increase in exploration, development and production activities in Alaska in 2017. Clear signs of the industry's long-awaited revival include the fact that 11 new project acquisitions have taken place in 2017, half of which involve companies that are newcomers to the...
As the first snows of the coming winter began to fall at high elevations across Alaska, results of summer programs likewise began to trickle in from far-flung areas of the state. Meanwhile, second- and third-quarter production data began to show up and mining industry analysts released a series of reports covering a wide range of industry-wide trends. For example, SNL Metals and Mining Research released information on how long it takes to move a new discovery to production....
The Alaska mining industry continued its increased pace of activities in August, even as the first hint of autumn starts to be felt across the state. Metals prices were relatively stable with increasing demand for zinc and gold, the two metals that generate the most revenue from Alaska's operating mines. Wood Mackenzie is forecasting a 3 percent increase in global refined zinc demand in 2017 to 14.7 million metric tons. With refined zinc production limited to a 2 percent...
Redstar Gold Corp. Nov. 7 reported the completion of a 1,505-meter drill program at its Unga gold project in Southwest Alaska. Spaced over a roughly 750-meter stretch of the 2,000-meter-long Shumagin gold zone, the seven holes drilled during this program targeted the lateral and vertical expansion potential of high-grade gold mineralization at various structural elevations. The first two holes, 16SH019 and 16SH020, tested the expansion potential of high-grade vein-breccia...
Redstar Gold Corp. Oct. 5 said it is planning a 1,500-meter drill program at its high-grade Unga gold project in Alaska. Scheduled to start in late October, the drilling will focus on outlining additional high-grade gold mineralization at the Shumagin zone along strike and at depth. The company anticipates a larger drill program in spring 2017, after all results from this second phase of 2016 exploration are received and modeled. "With the drill rig currently at site, we are...
Redstar Gold Corp. Aug. 23 reported that Eric Sprott has agreed to acquire 30 million Redstar shares through a non-brokered private placement of up to 41 million shares at C10 cents each. The financing will involve two tranches that are expected to close before the end of August. Upon full closing of the financing, Sprott will control roughly 12.1 percent of Redstar's shares. Redstar Chairman Jacques Vaillancourt also will invest in the private placement. No warrants will be o...
