The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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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... Full story
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... Full story
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...
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...
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... Full story
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... Full story
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... Full story
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...
A growing number of Lower 48 lawmakers are weighing in on the potential risks and rewards of building a mine at the enormous Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Southwest Alaska, shifting the frontline of the escalating battle to Washington D.C. With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seemingly positioning itself to exercise unprecedented powers to halt the Pebble project without giving developers the opportunity to have their plans vetted under the current permitti...
Pebble and politics are two matters that loomed large in the minds of the mining community that gathered in Anchorage for the 2012 Alaska Miners Association Convention in early November. The weight of these provocative and inexorably related matters was reflected in conversations and presentations at the annual gathering. With the trade show and technical session portion of the AMA convention typically starting on the day after the U.S. elections, the juxtaposition of...
Access to critical minerals and metals is vital to America's military strength and economic health. As we move further forward into the technology age, we need a range of non-fuel minerals - from antimony to zinc - for defense technologies that protect the homeland and project American power abroad. These same minerals and metals underpin our manufacturing sector too, and the cost of raw materials impacts everything from productivity and innovation to economic growth and job creation. Without smarter policies that increase...
A March ruling by U.S. District Judge John W. Sedwick, which reinstated the so-called "Roadless Rule" in the Tongass National Forest, promised an early end to Ucore Rare Metal Inc.'s 2011 exploration at its Bokan Mountain rare earth elements project on Prince of Wales Island and left several other Southeast Alaska mineral projects needing special permission to carry out planned drilling. "The implementation of the 'roadless rule' in the Tongass National Forest by Judge...
China, which mines the majority of the global supply of rare earth elements within its borders, has, over recent years, increasingly restricted its exports of the unique minerals to non-China-based production facilities. This trend has continued with a July announcement that the Far East country intends to slash its exports of the high-technology metals by an additional 72 percent. Rare earth minerals are made up of 17 elements including terbium, thulium and yttrium. They are...
As researchers around the world strive to shrink the level of greenhouse gases pouring into the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion and other sources, one aspect of the challenge is taking on new dimensions. Coal has long been recognized as a dirty and deadly fuel. Researchers conducting autopsies in the 1800s found the lungs of infants to be black, sparking early fears that coal emissions were toxic. Yet it took more than 170 years for scientists to develop methods to remove toxic gases from coal combustion emissions that... Full story
In my simple world of cause and effect, when I see things happen I always leap to the conclusion that there will be a related subsequent development. When I see the United States borrow untold billions of dollars from the People's Republic of China (for whatever wonderful reason), I assume that the People's Republic will want to be repaid - and not in deflated dollars. When I see millions of people out of work, I assume they will try very hard to find a way to feed their... Full story
