The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Alaska's rich mineral endowment helped propel the Last Frontier into the top ten on the Fraser Institute's Survey of Mining Companies 2017. To gather information for its report, the Fraser Institute asks mining executives to rank the mineral potential and mining policies of mining jurisdictions around the globe. The Canada-based think-tank compiles this data into the "Investment Attractiveness Index", a measure that weighs mining executives' perceptions of both the mineral...
Dominion Diamond Corp. July 17 reported that it has reached an agreement to be bought by The Washington Companies in a deal worth roughly US$1.2 billion. Owned by billionaire Dennis Washington, The Washington Companies is a group of privately held North American mining industrial and transportation businesses. Washington has agreed to pay cash to acquire all of Dominion's outstanding common shares for US$14.25 per share, a 44 percent premium to Dominion's share price of...
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is again urging fellow lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to enact legislation that would restore America’s mineral security. “After years of inaction, it is time for Congress to recognize that our mineral policies need to be modernized as soon as possible,” said Murkowski, who is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee CBS newsmagazine, 60 Minutes, provided a timely segue to Murkowski’s critical minerals bill by airing...
Miners see mountains of federal regulations standing between them and the development of Alaska’s unparalleled mineral wealth. In the recently published Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies, 449 global mining executives ranked Alaska 59th, right below Zimbabwe, when it comes to uncertainty concerning environmental regulations. This perception is not just that of those observing Alaska from afar, but also one shared by the miners who are trying to develop and operate m...
What do green energy activism, the Pyramid copper project in Alaska, and taking a Tesla Model S sedan on a road trip across North America have in common? The short answer is Gianni Kovacevic. A self-proclaimed "realistic environmentalist" and chairman of CopperBank Resources Corp., Kovacevic has a foot in each the mining and green energy sectors – industries with a symbiotic relationship that has yet to be fully appreciated. To raise awareness about this symbiotic relationship...
A Washington, D.C. think tank has weighed in on the question of whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency erred in conducting an assessment of large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska before such a project was even proposed, let alone engaged in the federal permitting process. EPA published its findings in a “Bristol Bay Assessment” and decided to place limits on development of the enormous and contentious Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project in Sou...
After six tumultuous years, 2017 is shaping up to be a turnaround year for the enormous Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project in Southwest Alaska. "The stars that were previously askew, they seem to be lining up," Northern Dynasty CEO Ron Thiessen told Mining News. This star realignment is reflected in a US$37.4 million financing the Pebble project owner closed on Jan. 26. Underwritten by a trio of renowned financiers, this financing involved the issuance of 20.24 million shar...
Dominion Diamond Corp. Nov. 1 announced that it has closed the deal to sell all of its outstanding shares to The Washington Companies for US$14.25 per share, worth roughly US$1.2 billion. Founded by billionaire Dennis Washington, The Washington Companies is a group of privately held North American mining industrial and transportation businesses. "This is an exciting day for Dominion Diamond and The Washington Companies," said Washington President Lawrence Simkins. "We fully su...
Dominion Diamond Corp. budgeted US$9 million for exploration around the diamond-rich Lac de Gras region in the Northwest Territories, including a renewed focus on exploration drilling on the Ekati Mine property and kimberlite expansion drilling at Diavik. Leveraging its infrastructure advantage, the company renewed its focus on investigating the diamond potential of the wider Ekati property, where no greenfield exploration has taken place since 2006. Dominion operates the Ekat...
With the opening of Gahcho Kué, Northwest Territories is reaping the rewards of past exploration spending across the vast diamond-rich expanse of northern Canada. In fact, the new diamond mine is expected to contribute some C$5.7 billion to Northwest Territories economy by 2028, the end of its currently projected life, according to a report commissioned by De Beers Group of Companies. Northwest Territories Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Wally Schumann...
Alaska fell from favor with the 350 mining executives who responded to the Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining Companies 2016, published on Feb. 28. This group of miners, explorers and consultants ranked the Far North State as the 14th best jurisdiction on Earth to seek and develop a mine. To gather information for its report, the Fraser Institute asks mining executives to rank the mineral potential and mining policies of mining jurisdictions around the globe. The C...
Dominion Diamond Corp. March 19 confirmed that it has received an unsolicited US$1.1 billion buyout bid from Washington Corporations, a group of companies owned by billionaire Dennis Washington. Dominion said the preliminary expression of interest submitted by Washington is subject to, among other things, extensive due diligence, negotiation of satisfactory agreements and regulatory approvals, and is contingent on entering into discussions with Dominion on aggressive and off market terms and conditions. Dominion, which owns...
With the opening late last month of a public comment period for the environmental impact statement on the proposed Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Project, I am cautiously optimistic that this time, Sisyphus will get the boulder up the hill. As a lowly graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks back in 1979, I helped a crew from Anaconda Minerals color township-size blocks on a huge paper map of the Brooks Range. At the time, Anaconda and numerous other...
After five long years of battling inside and outside of the courtroom, Pebble Limited Partnership and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have negotiated an agreement that opens the door for the enormous Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project in Southwest Alaska to enter the permitting process unencumbered by predetermined restrictions. “This settlement represents a major step forward for the Pebble project,” said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier. “It allows us to start...
American miners hailed President Donald Trump’s plans to slash the red tape holding back infrastructure projects in the United States as positive step in repairing the United States’ deteriorating roads, rails, ports, and airports – a move that could also bolster the industrial sector that would supply the sand, gravel, concrete, zinc, copper and other mined materials needed for the President’s proposed US$1 trillion infrastructure enterprise. “President Trump’s welcome ini...
When When Steve Wackowski asked his superiors at the U.S. Department of Interior office in Washington D.C. for a message to deliver at the Alaska Miners Association's annual convention in Anchorage, their response put an exclamation point on a clear shift in federal policy since President Donald Trump took office – "The war on mining is over." This does not mean the United States' mining sector has a new federal ally, but it does indicate that the Bureau of Land Management, N...
Fortune Minerals Ltd. April 18 announced the appointment of former Northwest Territories minister David Ramsay to its board of directors. Ramsay has more than 20 years of elected public office experience in the Northwest Territories, which included prominent cabinet positions in the Legislative Assembly. Prior to November, he served as Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, accounting for about 50 percent of Northwest Territories' private sector gross domestic product....
With a significant deposit of heavy rare earths in the Southeast, the largest domestic graphite deposit in the Northwest, and vast potential in the 1,300-mile expanse between the two, Alaska is a viable alternative to importing many of the strategic and critical minerals vital to national security, green energy and modern technology. "The State of Alaska is blessed with vast mineral potential on its lands," Alaska Department of Natural Resources Deputy Commissioner Ed Fogels t...
Alaska miners are taking U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to task over recent comments she made that suggest mining is prolific on federal lands in Alaska. Following a speech to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank based in Washington, D.C., Jewell told Alaska Public Radio Network Correspondent Liz Ruskin that "much" of mining in Alaska is done on federal lands. The Alaska Miners Association said this assertion contradicts what is actually...
A coalition of 38 companies and organizations, representing a broad spectrum of America's economy, is urging lawmakers on Capitol Hill to dust off pending critical minerals legislation and send a version to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature. "Updating our geologic data, reducing delays in permitting, bolstering research, and encouraging efficient use can pay dividends for future generations," explains the group pressing for critical minerals legislation....
The languishing price of zinc has provided little incentive for investors to embrace companies seeking to explore and develop the next generation of mines that produce this essential metal. However, an expected 1.5 million metric tons of supply being lost to mine closures by 2016 is beginning to galvanize the zinc sector. "In the case of zinc, this is a metal that's been unloved for a long time. As a result there has been very little investment put into the industry. Due to th...
FAIRBANKS - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency endeavor to use a presumed authority under Section 404(c) of the federal Clean Water Act to pre-emptively ban the permits required to develop the Pebble Mine cast a dark shadow over the Arctic International Mining Symposium, a mining convention held in Fairbanks every other year. "We have a federal government that, as far as I am concerned, contains people that are intent on shutting down our state's economy," Pebble Partner...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said its Bristol Bay assessment provides evidence that the Pebble copper project is too big and the Bristol Bay watershed is too special to risk the outcome of a state and federal permitting process. To circumvent permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act, a rigorous permitting regime over which EPA holds great sway, the environmental regulator Feb.28 initiated a review under Section 404(c) of the federal Clean Water Act...
The U.S, Forest Service Sept. 6 agreed to allow Hecla Mining Co. to expand its tailings facility at the Greens Creek Mine located in the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, but only by a fraction of what the silver mining company requested. This middle-of-the-road decision underscores the challenges of managing the integrity of the United States largest forest, protecting the salmon and other habitat found there; while allowing local residents, Alaska and the nation...
Building and operating a mine at the 20-million-ounce Livengood gold project would lose money at today's US$1,300-per-ounce gold price, according to the results of a feasibility study published July 23 by International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. In fact, the 100,000-ton-per-day mine outlined in the study does not break even until the gold price approaches US$1,500/oz. International Tower Hill management, though, remains optimistic that developing the multimillion-ounce gold...
