The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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North of 60 Mining News is proud to introduce 20 questions for 2020. Over the course of this series, Mining News will interview mining and political leaders from Alaska, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. Each interview will include 20 questions on mining, markets and doing business across Alaska and Canada's North. For the inaugural 20 questions for 2020, Mining News talks with Contango ORE Inc. CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, a longtime mining executive...
With two Australian companies making major investments and several exploration companies from Down Under chomping at the bit to get into the field, 2020 is shaping up to be the best year for Alaska's mining sector in a decade. When you add up the investments South32 Ltd. plans to make in the Ambler Mining District and other exploration projects; Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s spending at the Pogo gold mine; and the exploration dollars at least five other Aussie companies are...
If you have watched the metals markets over the last month, you know why Alaska's mineral industry has surged, stalled, swerved, swooped, slowed, shelved and stuttered, sometimes all at the same time! Gold has gone above US$1,500 per ounce; copper pundits are predicting an increasingly dour future; zinc markets are looking to dive below $1.00 per pound; tin markets have marched strongly upward due to supply disruptions; and silver bulls are calling for annual worldwide...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. Sept. 19 said it has identified another prospect to add to a growing list of drill targets at Red Mountain, a high-grade zinc and precious metals volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) project in Alaska. Red Mountain already hosts two zinc-lead-copper-silver-gold deposits – Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats (WTF). At a 3 percent zinc cutoff grade, these deposits host 9.1 million metric tons of Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant i...
As the rest of the country suffers through the Dog Days of summer, Alaska is approaching the end of a topsy-turvy summer season that saw unseasonably hot, dry weather in some parts of the state during some parts of the summer, while other parts of the state have seen record rainfall and unseasonably early snowfall. Gold prices have skyrocketed over the $1,500 per ounce mark and silver prices have moved strongly up, now trading at a one-year high. However, copper and zinc are a...
Earlier this month Reuters reported that several agencies within the U.S. Federal government were "rapidly assessing" our domestic ability to mine and refine rare earth elements and utilize those 17 super cool elements in value-added products needed for a wide and ever-growing array of consumer and national defense products. Not surprisingly, mining industry officials demurred when quizzed about supplying information on where rare elements might be mined in the U.S. and how...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. July 16 announced that its joint venture partner Sandfire Resources NL has committed another US$1.5 million into the 2019 exploration at Red Mountain, extending activities into September at this zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) project southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. Sandfire, a mid-tier Australia-based mining company, can earn up to a 70 percent joint venture interest in Red Mountain by investing US$21.6 million into and completing a...
Earlier this month S&P Global put out a summary indicating that during the first quarter of 2019 metals like copper, zinc and nickel were up quarter over quarter by 11 percent, 22 percent and 25 percent, respectively. More recently gold has skyrocketed beyond the $1,400-per-ounce mark for the first time in many months. Correspondingly, the mining industry's aggregate market cap also rebounded strongly in the period after four bearish quarters, rising 12 percent to $1.43...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. June 24 provided an update on the 2019 exploration program it is carrying out with joint venture partner Sandfire Resources NL to discover the next high-grade zinc and precious metals deposit on the Red Mountain volcanogenic massive sulfide property in Interior Alaska. Red Mountain already hosts two zinc-lead-copper-silver-gold deposits – Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats (WTF) – with 16.7 million metric tons of Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (...
In the famous words of Sherlock Holmes, the game is afoot! After seasonally slower news from Alaska's mining industry in March and April, the dam has broken with over two dozen Alaska mining project news releases issued in the last month. Including those projects moving forward that have not released their 2019 plans, Alaska has become a very busy place under the sun. All of our major metal mines reported strong performances in the first quarter, several of Alaska's most...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. May 20 announced the completion and preliminary results from a 311-mile (500 kilometers) airborne electromagnetic survey flown over its zinc-rich Red Mountain volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Alaska's Bonnifield Mining District. The Australia-based exploration company said the geophysical survey, which also included the collection of magnetics data, used a state-of-the-art data collection and processing system to identify potential VMS...
As is usually the case this time of year, news about Alaska mineral activities is a bit sparse this month as planning activities are at flank speed ahead of next month's surge in field activities. That said, there has been a blizzard of mineral industry data released recently that has both direct and indirect applications to the Alaska mineral industry. First off, some internally generated data. Current public and private budget announcements suggest Alaska's exploration...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. April 9 reported that following the March 25 signing of a joint venture with Sandfire Resources, the two Australian companies are already gearing up for an exciting 2019 field season at the zinc-rich Red Mountain project about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Fairbanks, Alaska. Two deposits already identified on the property – Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats – host 16.7 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.1 percent (1.49 billion pou...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. is preparing for a US$4.3 million exploration program at its zinc- and precious metals-rich Red Mountain project in Alaska, thanks to an option agreement with fellow Australian miner, Sandfire Resources NL. Under the option agreement, Sandfire can earn up to a 70 percent joint venture interest in the Red Mountain property by investing US$21.6 million into Red Mountain and completing a pre-feasibility study for developing a mine at the volcanogenic mass...
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...
I, for one, feel vindicated, relieved and ready to face the New Year! How so, you ask? Please let me explain. For those of you who remember my column in November, I noted that EY Global Mining and Metals publishes an annual "risk radar" for mining and metals, outlining what mining companies perceive as the top ten risks facing them in the near future. This publication was for the years 2017-2018 and stated that "Our number one risk this year is digital effectiveness." If you...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. Dec. 27 reported that Sandfire Resources NL has exercised its option to enter into a joint venture agreement with White Rock on the zinc-rich Red Mountain volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Interior Alaska. In July, White Rock entered into a strategic relationship with Sandfire, a mid-tier Australian mining company that operates the high-grade DeGrussa copper-gold mine in Western Australia. To formalize this strategic relationship between the two...
White Rock Minerals Nov. 21 announced that it has staked 524 state of Alaska mining claims around Red Mountain, more than tripling the Australian company's land position at this high-grade zinc-silver-lead-gold-copper volcanogenic massive sulfide project on the north slopes of the Alaska Range. This expansion follows White Rock's first year of exploration where drilling confirmed the high-grade zinc-silver-lead-gold-copper mineralization at two historical deposits at Red...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. Aug. 20 reported high-grade zinc grades were encountered in a second hole at the Hunter discovery on the company's Red Mountain project in Alaska. Hunter was discovered during a reconnaissance exploration program seeking new volcanogenic massive sulfide prospects across White Rock's 35,300-acre Red Mountain property. While mapping and sampling an area about 5,200 meters southeast of Dry Creek, one of two zinc-lead-copper-gold-silver deposits on the...
Although the Alaska mineral industry is in better health in the middle of 2018 than it has been in the last five years, the spirited recovery that was in progress in the first quarter of the year is now looking more like a dead-cat bounce – a minor recovery after a long down trend. This is particularly true of the exploration sector. Reviewing the Alaska minerals industry, you will note that several exploration projects are only now commencing their 2018 exploration p...
White Rock Minerals Ltd. July 10 announced that Sandfire Resources NL, a mid-tier Australian mining company that operates the high-grade DeGrussa copper-gold mine in Western Australia, plans to make a significant investment in White Rock's Red Mountain, a zinc enriched volcanogenic massive sulfide project about 60 miles south of Fairbanks, Alaska. "White Rock welcomes Sandfire as a strategic partner and cornerstone investor that shares White Rock's vision for the exploration...
When it comes to mineral exploration incentives, currency exchange and infrastructure, Alaska is at a disadvantage in the realm of attracting exploration investments from Canada and Australia, countries that are home to the majority of mining companies. The Far North State's vast and underexplored mineral potential, however, trumps these handicaps in the minds of a growing number of miners and mineral explorers. Mining executives from around the globe perennially rank Alaska...
With a major investment by fellow Australian company, Sandfire Resources NL, White Rock Minerals Ltd. focused its 2019 exploration on discovering the next high-grade zinc and precious metals deposits on the Red Mountain volcanogenic massive sulfide property in Interior Alaska. Sandfire, a mid-tier mining company with a growing portfolio of assets in the United States, first became involved in Red Mountain when it invested A$2.5 million in White Rock shares during 2018. This...
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...
