The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 615
7 marks the 25-year anniversary of the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska being among the largest producers of zinc on the planet. For the more than 13,600 Inupiat who are shareholders of NANA Regional Corporation, owners of the land where Red Dog is found, this world-class mine's success is measured by more than the amount of zinc shipped to world markets every summer. "It has been a revolutionary thing for our region economically and demonstrates the kind of development...
It is high summer in Alaska and the mining industry is busy breaking rocks, drilling holes, collecting baseline data, making upgrades to mine facilities and producing metal and coal across the state. The effects of declining prices for metals are starting to be felt at the operating metal mines and except for a few projects, the exploration sector continues to wallow in the doldrums, which have plagued the industry since 2013. That said, the tire-kicking of earlier this...
The Red Chris copper-gold mine in northwestern British Columbia has received final approvals necessary for commercial operation, marking the sixth new mine to open in the western province since 2011. “This is a significant achievement made possible through a tremendous amount of collaboration between Imperial Metals Corp., the Tahltan Central Council and this government,” B.C. Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett said June 19 while announcing full production at Red Chr... Full story
While tough market conditions are forcing mining companies to tighten their belts, Teck Resources Ltd. does not see maintaining responsible and environmentally sound operations as an area in which it can afford to trim its budget. That commitment has propelled the diversified miner onto the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for six years running, ranking it among the top 10 percent of the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index. "We know that the...
Skeena Resources Ltd. Oct. 6 reported acquisition of the GJ copper-gold property from joint venture owners Teck Resources Ltd. (51 percent) and NGEx Resources Inc. (49 percent). The 37,508-hectare (92,684 acres) GJ property lies adjacent to the eastern boundary of Skeena's Spectrum property in the Golden Triangle of Northwest British Columbia. Crossed by Highway 37 and the recently completed 287-kilovolt Northwest Transmission Line, the infrastructure at GJ is excellent. Addit... Full story
While tough market conditions are forcing mining companies to tighten their belts, Teck Resources Ltd. does not see maintaining responsible and environmentally sound operations as an area in which it can afford to trim its budget. That commitment has propelled the diversified miner onto the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for six years running, ranking it among the top 10 percent of the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index. "We know that the...
British Columbia Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett spent the week of Aug. 23 working to build bonds with Southeast Alaskans worried about potential downstream effects of mining copper- and gold-rich deposits located in northwestern B.C. Bennett's visit comes one year after a tailings dam burst at the Mount Polley Mine in central British Columbia, sending a deluge of mining waste and untreated water into the surrounding watershed. While the spill did not affect Alaska...
Less than three months after a pending sale of its Whistler property in Southcentral Alaska fell through, Kiska Metals Corp. has found a new buyer for the advanced-stage copper-gold exploration project. Under a binding agreement announced last week, Brazil Resources Inc. will issue Kiska 3.5 million shares in exchange for full ownership of Whistler, including the mining claims and other assets belonging to the project. Brazil Resources' shares were trading at C46 cents per... Full story
Kiska Metals Corp. July 21 reported the signing of a binding agreement to sell its Whistler copper-gold project to Brazil Resources Inc. Under the purchase agreement, Brazil Resources will issue Kiska 3.5 million shares in exchange for full ownership of Whistler, including the mining claims and other assets belonging to the project. Brazil Resources' shares were trading at C46 cents per share on the Toronto Venture Exchange on July 21, making the deal worth roughly C$1.61 mill...
Teck Resources Ltd. June 29 released its 2014 Sustainability Report. The 25th anniversary of Teck's Red Dog mine, which operates under an innovative operating agreement with the Iñupiat people of Northwest Alaska, is among the highlights featured in the report. Situated roughly 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Red Dog is among the largest zinc mines in the world. In 1982, Cominco (now Teck) and Iñupiat-owned NANA Regional Corp. signed a landmark agreement that directs h... Full story
Teck Resources Ltd. May 28 reported plans to temporarily shut down six Canadian steelmaking coal operations in order to align production and inventories with changing coal market conditions. "Rather than push incremental tonnes into an over-supplied market, we are taking a disciplined approach to managing our mine production in line with market conditions," explained Teck President and CEO Don Lindsay. Each of Teck's steelmaking coal operations will be shut down for about...
I recently returned from the Geological Society of Nevada's once-every-five-years Symposium in Reno and was surprised to learn a number of things regarding Alaska, despite the symposium's tight focus on the Great Basin of the western United States. First off, mineral exploration guru Brent Cook presented information suggesting we have reached and are "bumping along" the bottom of the current metals market slump. Reminded me of an overloaded fixed-wing aircraft bumping down the...
Copper Fox Metals Inc. May 6 said the summer field program for the Schaft Creek copper-gold project in northwestern British Columbia is expected to start in early June. The Schaft Creek joint venture - 25 percent Copper Fox, 75 percent Teck Resources - is planning a 2,500-meter diamond drill program to test the depth of copper mineralization observed in veins on surface and in hydrothermal breccia at the LaCasse zone. Work on a comminution (grinding) study to determine power r...
Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott spent this week getting a firsthand look at trans-boundary water issues from the British Columbia side of the border, where a number of mines are being proposed on water systems that feed rivers that run through Southeast Alaska. "These rivers are key to Southeast Alaska's way of life, including Native cultures, community economies, recreation and subsistence, and, of course, its profitable seafood and tourism industries that employ thousands of... Full story
Teck Resources Ltd. April 21 reported first-quarter adjusted profit attributable to shareholders of C$64 million, or C11 cents per share, compared with C$105 million, or 18 cents per share, in 2014. The company attributes the lower profits to challenging commodity markets, which was partially offset by a stronger U.S. Dollar. "Our ongoing focus on cost management and operational performance, aided by the strong U.S. dollar, is enabling our diversified business to withstand...
Bloomberg Business March 30 reported rumors that Teck Resources Ltd. and Antofagasta Plc are exploring a merger that would create one of the world's largest copper producers. Attributing the sources of its report to people wishing not to be identified for divulging private information, Bloomberg said any agreement between the two miners hinges on families that control each company. The Luksic family of Chile owns 65 percent of Antofagasta. According to Bloomberg, Teck...
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. March 26 announced that Karl Hanneman has been elevated to the role of chief operating officer. Hanneman has worked for Tower Hill since 2010, most recently serving as the company's general manager. He has more than 30 years of Alaska-based mining industry experience, including serving in a key role on the team that worked to successfully resolve permitting issues at the Red Dog Mine in 2008-2010. Prior to that, he was Alaska regional...
From Washington D.C. and Ottawa to Juneau and Victoria, Alaska officials are engaging their Canadian counterparts about new generation of northwestern British Columbia mines that could potentially be built upstream of Southeast Alaska. This possible development of a number of copper, gold and other metal mines in Canada's westernmost province has troubled conservationists, fisherman and others in Southeast Alaska for years. The August 2014 tailings dam collapse at the Mount Po...
Slipping metals prices and investors' ongoing reluctance to risk venture capital in the junior mining sector is hitting Alaska's mineral exploration sector hard; and the Far North state is not the only mining jurisdiction reeling from this one-two punch. "After another year of strong headwinds in 2014, and with lower demand and overproduction continuing to depress metals prices, the mining industry's outlook for 2015 is unpromising at best," SNL Metals & Mining wrote recently... Full story
Copper Fox Metals Inc. March 17 provided an outline of the C$4.8-million program it plans for the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum project in northwestern British Columbia. During 2014, the Schaft Creek Joint Venture - Teck Resources Ltd. holds a 75 interest and Copper Fox holds a 25 percent interest in the JV - began a series of optimization studies on Schaft Creek. The objectives of the 2015 program are to continue these studies. This work will include additional infill...
Amid the volatile metals markets that have become the norm in the past year, miners, developers, explorers, prospectors and investors met in Vancouver at the end of January for the annual Cordilleran Roundup mining convention. The mood was decidely positive, and having seen a lot of "whistling in the cemetary" at this convention in the past, I know the difference between false bravado and contagious optimism. Perhaps it was the stabilization of copper prices after a nine month... Full story
Galvanized by higher zinc prices and strong production at Teck Resources Ltd.'s Red Dog Mine, the value of Alaska's mineral production topped US$3 billion for the fifth year running. Larry Freeman, chief of Minerals Resources at the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, told an audience at the AME BC Mineral Exploration Roundup that production of zinc, lead and silver - all metals produced at Red Dog - climbed in Alaska during 2014. Gold production, on the...
A design flaw resulting from an inadequate understanding of the glacial lake sediments that formed a portion of the foundation on which the tailings dam at the Mount Polley mine located in south-central British Columbia was built caused the structure to collapse under its own weight, according to engineers tasked with finding out why the dam burst on Aug. 4. Mount Polley is an open pit copper-gold mine with a developing underground project. "The design did not take into... Full story
With roughly US$150 million of working capital, Novagold Resources Inc. is among a rare few non-producing mining companies that has no need to squeeze money out of a market reluctant to dole funds to the mining sector. This has allowed management to focus on the task at hand - moving the 39-million-ounce Donlin Gold project through permitting to a development decision. "Our healthy financial position, with more than US$165 million in cash and term deposits, gives us...
Copper North Mining Corp. Jan. 21 said recent testing demonstrates that an agitated tank leach is the optimal recovery process for copper, gold and silver from oxide mineral resources at the Carmacks Copper Project in central Yukon Territory. A new process plan consists of three-stage crushing and rod mill grinding prior to placing ore in an agitated tank for leaching of copper oxides with weak sulfuric acid. Testing indicates 84 percent copper recovery with leach times of 16...
