The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 576 - 600 of 615
The report of the 2005 Alaska Minerals Commission, published in January, stresses the urgent need to overcome the twin obstacles of permitting and lawsuits at a time when the mining industry is experiencing a dramatic upsurge in activity. Since its creation in 1986 the commission has made annual recommendations to the governor and Legislature on ways to mitigate constraints on the development of minerals, including coal, in the state. "Despite the improvements in 2004, the industry continued to be dogged by an array of...
Nearly half a decade after embarking on development of the huge Pogo gold resource in Interior Alaska, operator Teck-Pogo Inc. is eyeing light at the end of the tunnel - first production in early 2006. The company is also gearing up for additional exploration near the known deposit later this year. Pogo, 85 miles southeast of Fairbanks near the town of Delta Junction, is estimated to contain 7.7 million tons of ore that should yield just under a half-ounce of gold per ton. Karl Hanneman, the project's manager of public and...
December, January and February are normally a time when the mining industry can stop and catch its collective breath, look into its often cloudy but well-used crystal ball and prepare for the coming year. Not so the last December, January and February! While 2004 results continued to pour in from projects large and small, plans for 2005 are well advanced and in some cases, already in full swing. Metals prices remained strong and even the most pessimistic prognosticators...
The Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys released new airborne geophysical data and maps for the Goodpaster River area in Interior Alaska on Jan. 24. The survey covers approximately 210 square miles in the western Goodpaster mining district, which is home to the Pogo deposit. (See map on page 15.) Several mining companies, including AngloGold, Rimfire, Freegold and Teck Cominco, are active in the area. "We use these data all the time and have found more and more uses for the geophysical data since (the...
An initial investment of $10 in a gold-silver property by Vancouver-based Rimfire Minerals might pay off handsomely in the long term. Rimfire purchased the Tide property in British Columbia from Newmont Exploration in 2001 for that nominal fee, and last year partnered with another Vancouver company, Serengeti Resources, to push forward a drilling and fieldwork program. Serengeti is earning a 51 percent interest in Tide by spending C$1.4 million on exploration. The results so far have been very promising. High-grade gold and...
Alaska's Red Dog zinc mine has received environmental certification under ISO 14001, becoming one of a handful of mines in North America to achieve this status. Malcolm Ting of the international inspection and certification agency SGS presented a banner to Teck Cominco and NANA Corp. representatives at an Alaska Support Industry Alliance event in Anchorage Dec. 10. When the banner flies at Red Dog, in the Arctic 90 miles north of Kotzebue, it will be the farthest north symbol of a certified mine. "It doesn't contain specific...
Exploration at five porphyry-copper gold properties in the Quesnel trough of northern British Columbia is proving its worth, Vancouver-based Serengeti Resources announced in a Nov. 18 release. All the properties lie within 10 kilometers of the Omenica mining access road, with the Choo and Darby prospects directly accessible off logging and mining roads. The Choo property is 25 kilometers west of Placer Dome's Mount Milligan Deposit. "Serengeti's recently completed fall program on these five highly prospective properties,...
Placer mining in Canada's Yukon Territory has increased significantly this year, and although there are no operating hard-rock mines in the territory yet, that may change soon. Mike Burke of the Yukon Geological Survey outlined the varied projects of the past season at the Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage on Nov. 4. In particular, he drew attention to Expatriate Resources' exploration in the Finlayson Lake District at Wolverine, for which the company has raised C$16.6 million. Wolverine is one of several impo...
Neither the heat and smoke from wildfires, nor excruciatingly low winter temperatures could deter miners from expanding their operations in Alaska this past season. Representatives of several companies described their achievements in the "Development and Mine Operations" session at the Alaska Miners Association convention on Nov. 5. NovaGold Resources' Rock Creek John Odden from NovaGold Resources began with a presentation on Rock Creek, which is located on the Seward Peninsula, seven miles north of Nome. Part of it is on...
The first of two-seasons of construction is under way on the Nome Glacier Creek Road realignment in western Alaska. This is just one of a number of mining road and port projects the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has carried into Phase II, Mike McKinnon, the project's manager, told the Alaska Miners Association annual conference in Anchorage Nov. 4. For five years, he said, the department has "been looking at the issue of industrial development roads with the idea that there are situations where...
The month of November started off with a bang with favorable results for the mining industry from both the state and federal elections standpoint. As it closes the price of gold is flirting with $450 per ounce, the highest price for this metal since mid-1988. The Alaska Miners Association convention was very well attended in early November and results were revealed there from many of Alaska's exploration, development and production properties. A quick tally of spending across...
It's still a few years off, but if NovaGold Resources Inc. turns the Ambler prospect into an operating mine, it could open up a mineral belt with a total of $12 billion in reserves - at 1982 prices. That $12 billion figure comes from a 1982 state report listing 10 major volcano-derived deposits in northwestern Alaska, from the operating Red Dog Mine all the way to the border of Gates of the Arctic National Park. Perhaps the biggest and richest concentration is the Arctic deposit 150 miles east of Kotzebue near the villages...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. has zeroed in on a port site on the southwest corner of Iniskin Bay on Cook Inlet, to serve its Pebble deposit, a proposed open pit, gold-copper-molybdenum-silver mine near Iliamna in Southwestern Alaska, according to Bruce Jenkins, director of corporate affairs. The port site is approximately 65 miles from the deposit. The company has also, in conjunction with the Alaska Department of Transportation, established a preferred road corridor leading from the port site to the Pebble deposit, with co...
Despite the fact that winter has arrived over much of Alaska, exploration efforts continued at record pace throughout the state in October. Late summer programs are now competing for people and drills with early winter programs in a number of areas, a problem not normally encountered in Alaska. In a further sign of the strength of the rebound in the metals markets, a number of companies are already tying up people, drills, camp equipment, analytical services and helicopter...
In case you hadn't noticed, one of the busiest but quietest Augusts in the last 10 years just slipped into the pages of history. Mineral exploration, development and production maintained a low profile in just about every region of the state during August. Drills continued to turn and samples continued to stream in from programs searching for gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, platinum and palladium. The hot spots continued to be the Iliamna District, the Goodpaster...
The Red Dog zinc and lead mine in remote northwest Alaska appears to be the victim of another misleading environmental report - this time, one causing some residents in neighboring villages alarm about the quality of berries and greens gathered as food sources. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health, Section of Epidemiology, recently issued a report reassuring local residents in northwest Alaska about the safety of naturally growing subsistence food sources in the region. State...
One of the most bizarre summers in Alaska's recent history is in full swing and only the snows of winter will dampen things. I am speaking of course of the impact that Alaska's plus-4 million acres of wildfires have had on mineral exploration, development and operations in the central and eastern parts of the state. The fires came along with an unusually dry and warm summer for virtually all of the state. In addition to the usual problems of who's AWOL after the Fourth of...
As anyone can tell you who has tried recently to locate geologists, drill rigs and helicopters, Alaska is not the place to search for any of these commodities. Mineral exploration and development in Alaska is clipping along at a pace not seen in more than five years and in the process, these activities have sucked up just about all of the people, rigs and aircraft in the state. Exploration and development projects are spread from Nome to Ketchikan, the Brooks Range to...
The skies north of Lake Iliamna in southwest Alaska are buzzing with helicopters that are supporting numerous drill crews working on exploration projects at and surrounding the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum-silver deposit. Leading this summer's activity is Northern Dynasty, a Hunter Dickinson managed mine-development company, which holds options to acquire a 100 percent interest in 36 mineral claims that host the Pebble deposit. Northern Dynasty bumped up this year's spending plan for Pebble to a total of $25 million in U.S....
The partnership between Vancouver, British Columbia, junior Rimfire Minerals and global mining giant AngloGold (U.S.A.) Exploration continues to grow, as the two companies announced in late June their third property option agreement for a prospect near the Pogo area. Now optioned by AngloGold, the Beverly claim group is on the eastern boundary of the Pogo project in the upper Goodpaster River Valley in Interior Alaska, a high-grade gold deposit being developed by Teck Cominco and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. "From a geological...
Partners in the Pogo gold project northeast of Delta Junction, Alaska, have officially approved the final feasibility study and production program, announcing plans on June 4 to complete construction and begin initial gold production in March 2006. Production will ramp up to commercial rates by the end of August, 2006, the three partners said in a joint press release. Development partners in the Pogo project, 40 miles northeast of Delta Junction in the upper Goodpaster River valley, include Teck Cominco Ltd., Sumitomo Metal...
The land has been staked - now the major players have taken to the ground to complete geological and geophysical work surrounding the Pebble gold-copper-molybdenum resource near Iliamna, Alaska. Leading the way in terms of spending is Northern Dynasty, which is earning a 100 percent interest in the Pebble resource lands claim block - a 1,440 acre parcel that contains the estimated 26 million ounce gold resource and the 16.5 billion pound copper resource. Northern Dynasty, which conducted extensive drilling at Pebble in 2002...
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...
Metals prices remain strong and funding for projects large and small is already in place or nearly so as Alaska prepares for the annual summer exploration dance. Exploration drilling on several winter drilling targets has been completed and summer drilling projects are beginning on several others. Mine permitting issues at Pogo have cast a shadow over the otherwise bright picture of Alaska's mining industry but resolution of this problem is expected sooner rather than later...
A Fairbanks-based environmental group that appealed a federal water discharge permit issued to developers of the Pogo gold project in mid-March has agreed to withdraw its permit challenge, following meetings with regulators on May 4 and 5. The announcement of the appeal withdrawal came May 5 during a press conference at the governor's office in Fairbanks. Initial meetings between the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and the Environmental Protection Agency May 4 spurred a late night meeting with others involved in the...
