The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Best known for its ability to resist heat and corrosion, antimony is in a wide array of consumer goods – from paints and plastics to batteries and wind turbines. This critical mineral is also used to make clearer glass for smartphones, computer screens and solar panels. "Today, antimony is used in lead-acid storage batteries for backup power and transportation; in chemicals, ceramics, and glass; in flame-retardant materials; and in heat stabilizers and plastics," the U.S. G...
While Alaska is regarded as a geological storehouse of minerals critical to the United States, it is less renowned as a current globally significant supplier of germanium, a zinc byproduct metalloid with optical qualities that make it an important ingredient in infrared and fiber-optics, and semiconducting properties being applied to quantum computing, and solar energy systems. "The extensive use of germanium for military and commercial applications has made it a critical...
When you consider the 17 rare earths and six platinum metals individually, more than 50 of the elements on the periodic table have been deemed critical to the economic wellbeing and security of the United States, a list that worries the White House and many policymakers in Washington, D.C. To sort the hierarchy of this expansive list, the U.S. Geological Survey has developed a tool that helps identify which mineral commodities lying at the crux of America's manufacturing...
With it becoming increasingly apparent that Joe Biden will be confirmed as the 46th President of the United States, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski believes the coming years will be "interesting times" for the state's resource sectors. "There is near certainty that he is going to be taking office on Jan. 20, 2021," Alaska's senior senator said, referring to Biden, during the Resource Development Council for Alaska annual convention. "If he follows through on some of his campaign...
Dominion Diamond Mines Nov. 13 announced it will be recalling roughly 60 furloughed employees to prepare for an anticipated restart of its Ekati diamond mine in Northwest Territories. In mid-March, Dominion suspended operations at Ekati. While the shuttering of the diamond mine was partially to safeguard employees and nearby communities from the spread of COVID-19, the company was also suffering financial hardship. In April, Dominion filed for insolvency protection under the...
Explorers seeking new mineral discoveries in the Northwest Territories are expected to spend less in 2018 than the C$90 million they shelled out collectively last year. Natural Resources Canada projects spending this year for mineral exploration and deposit appraisals in the northern territory will total C$81.3 million. But some observers expect to see an uptick in hardrock mining exploration in 2018, especially in the highly prospective Slave Province where the Northwest...
Until novel coronavirus ignited a global pandemic that plunged the world economy into recession, foreign investors, except for a lucky few, have salivated from afar over the bountiful mineral riches that others are mining in the vast reaches of Canada's northern territories. But with COVID-19 on the march and no cure or proven vaccine for the deadly malady in sight, traditional sources of capital markets have dried up, leaving many mining companies, especially those with...
On April 6, President Donald Trump issued an executive order for the United States government to work with industries on moving forward with space exploration, and the exploitation of minerals and water discovered to further that cause. This of course has raised concerns from other nations, primarily Russia and China, who tout the Moon Treaty drawn up by the United Nations in 1979. This widely unpopular pact states that space resources are "global domain," which means they...
A true northern pioneer far from his Eastern European home, 'Wise' Mike Stepovich, settles in a new land and leaves behind a historic legacy in Alaska's Golden Heart City. The history of Fairbanks is not unlike many other gold rush settlements, rife with rugged explorers, savvy tycoons and luckless vagabonds. So, the melting pot of happenstance plays its hand again and begets a fascinating tale of a frontier city and a man far from home. It is hard to say whether Stepovich...
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. Dec. 23 announced that it is collaborating with an Ohio-based advanced material manufacturer to respond to an open request from the Pentagon for a strategic assessment of the domestic heavy rare earth element (HREE) market, in conjunction with an engineering evaluation of the viability of HREE separation capabilities at various sites within the United States. Materion Corp., Ucore's new Ohio-based colleague, is an advanced materials supplier with a...
From helmet mounted radios to laser guided missiles, rare earth elements (REE) are an essential ingredient to the advanced hardware used by the U.S. military. These high-tech metals, however, are not produced in America, forcing the Pentagon to depend primarily on China for its supply. As part of a joint armed forces effort to establish a domestic source of rare earths, the U.S. Army is looking to invest in the processing facilities needed to ensure a reliable supply of these...
Alaska Gov. Michael Dunleavy and Alaska's entire delegation in Washington D.C. welcomed the Trump administration's plan to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule, which would lift impediments to forestry, mining and other activities across Southeast Alaska. "Today's announcement on the roadless rule is further proof that Alaska's economic outlook is looking brighter every day," Dunleavy said on the U.S. Forest Service Oct. 15 announcement that it is...
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has unveiled a three-tier strategy for delivering a non-Chinese source of rare earth elements to North American markets from its Bokan Mountain project in Alaska. Called M3, for mines, metals and markets, Ucore's plan to meet the needs of an independent rare earth supply chain in the United States includes three initiatives: advancing its Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare earths project in Southeast Alaska to shovel-ready status; developing an associated facility...
United States Environmental Protection Agency June 26 announced that it has instructed its Region 10 office to resume considering the elimination of a 2014 proposed determination to use "veto" authority to place restrictions on the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine project under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the federal agency charged with issuing permits for the disposal of dredge and fill material under Section 404 of the Clean...
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) have teamed up to introduce bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing America's "Achilles' heel" – a heavy dependence on foreign countries for its growing mineral needs. "Our nation's mineral security is a significant, urgent, and often ignored challenge. Our reliance on China and other nations for critical minerals costs us jobs, weakens our economic competitiveness, and leaves us at a geopolitical d...
As the Pebble Limited Partnership advances the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project through the permitting process, environmental groups opposed to the proposed mine are employing a wide arsenal of tactics to impede the progress. In its latest volley, Earthworks, an environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO), has requested that the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate whether Northern Dynasty...
New gold mines are expected to drive strong economic growth in Nunavut and Yukon over the next several years, according to the latest Territorial Outlook published by The Conference Board of Canada. The non-profit think tank focused primarily on researching and analyzing economic trends, however, forecasts a shrinking economy for Northwest Territories as the diamond sector there matures. Despite a tepid recovery for the mining sector as a whole, the new mines being developed...
Northwest Territories may fall behind Canada's two other territories in mining activity in the near-future, but projects underway in the northern jurisdiction hold substantial promise for mid- to long-term gains, especially if many current roadblocks come down. "Optimism is warranted for the territory's mining sector and the broader economy it drives," said Wally Schumann, minister of industry, tourism and investment for the Government of Northwest Territories. But...
The Trump Administration's latest round of tariffs on Chinese goods includes a 10 percent levy on rare earth elements, a group of 17 elements on the periodic table with unique properties that make them key ingredients in a wide array of modern high-tech products such as terabyte hard-drives that fit in the palm of your hand, high-efficiency green-power generation and sophisticated military hardware. For decades, China has dominated the REE market and has largely controlled...
Ucore Rare Metals, Inc. July 3 announced the company representatives met with senior Trump Administration and Congressional officials in Washington, D.C. to discuss American dependence on the Chinese supply of critical materials, and Ucore's plans to develop a strategic metals complex in Southeast Alaska that would provide the United States a domestic supply of rare earth elements. "Near complete dependence on potentially unreliable foreign sources of rare earth materials...
Among his final acts before resigning as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt directed his agency's Office of Water to put together a proposal to update the regulations governing EPA's role in the permitting discharges of dredged or fill materials, including the elimination of the "preemptive veto" under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. EPA's current interpretation of regulations on implementing CWA section 404(c) allows the agency to...
One of the most common complaints I hear from companies and individuals working in the mineral industry in Alaska is our deplorable lack of modern, usable-scale digital geophysical and geologic maps. How bad is it? Consider this: the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that less than 2 percent of Alaska has acceptable geophysical data coverage, and less than 20 percent has been geologically mapped at a scale useful to evaluate the state's mineral resources. Nobody will deny...
Mining is expected to fuel strong economic growth in Nunavut and Yukon in the coming years, according to The Conference Board of Canada's latest Territorial Outlook. "With many new mining projects on the horizon in Nunavut and Yukon, growth is expected to take off over the next five years," said Marie-Christine Bernard, director, provincial and territorial forecasting, The Conference Board of Canada. The conference board's outlook for Northwest Territories, however, is not...
This author, in this column and elsewhere, has often taken the position that Alaska, especially in remote locations, is the safest, most environmentally-sound and worker-friendly mining location in the world. Alaska is endowed with world-class resources from one end of the state to the other. The associated jobs are well paid, and the industry is stable. Notwithstanding the view that some have of heavy industry as an eyesore, the remoteness of most operations puts them beyond...
The Washington Companies, a group of privately held North American mining, industrial and transportation businesses founded by industrialist and entrepreneur Dennis Washington, acquired Dominion Diamond Corp. in a deal worth US$1.2 billion. "We look forward to owning and operating Dominion for decades to come, with a focus on maintaining safe and prosperous business operations in the Northwest Territories," said Washington. When the deal closed, Patrick Evans, who previously...
