The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 197
In 2017 Alaska’s mineral exploration industry saw its first up-tick in exploration spending since 2011, an increase that S&P Global Market Intelligence’s “World Exploration Trends” indicates was mirrored on the world-wide level. According to S&P’s data, the worldwide exploration industry spent $8.4 billion in 2017, the first such increase in spending since 2012. S&P also forecast a 15-20 percent increase in exploration spending for 2018 as well. The study also showed that dema... Full story
After four years of declines, global minerals exploration spending rose roughly US$1 billion in 2017 and is expected to see further growth this year, according to a March 5 report by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The 1,535 companies that answered a survey put out by the research firm reported US$7.95 billion of investment in the search of nonferrous metals in 2017, a 14 percent increase from the US$6.95 billion spent in 2016. Taking into account data that could not be...
The prefeasibility study for the Arctic deposit in Northwest Alaska details plans for a financially robust mine that is expected to produce 1.9 billion pounds of copper, 2.4 billion lb of zinc, 405 million lb of lead, 367,531 ounces of gold and 40.2 million oz of silver over an initial 12-year mine life. The mine outlined in the PFS is based on 43.04 million metric tons of probable reserves averaging 2.32 percent copper, 3.24 percent zinc, 0.57 percent lead, 0.49 grams per...
As we transition from 2017 into 2018, the weight of evidence pointing to a long-awaited mining industry up-tick is being trumpeted from every financial institution, brokerage house and mining pundit across the globe. For example, RBC Capital Markets' newly released "2018 New Year Preview" has this to say: "We are in the mid-stages of a stock market recovery and the early stages of an economic cycle recovery. Gold is already in a phase where it out-performs other financial... Full story
Trilogy Metals Inc. Jan. 16 reported that large diameter holes drilled at its Arctic deposit – part of the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in the Ambler mining district of Northwest Alaska – returned high-grade copper and zinc. The five PQ sized (3.35-inch diameter) holes drilled at Artic in 2017 were designed to collect 2 tons of representative mill-feed material for bulk ore-sorting testing at an independent facility in Kentucky. Ore sorting is a technique that identifies un-...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Jan. 10 said metallurgical test work results shows that a high-quality, 30 percent copper concentrate containing no deleterious metals can be produced from the surface mineable in-pit resource at the Bornite project, part of the company's Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in the Ambler mining district of Northwest Alaska. The defined in-pit resource encompasses 40.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.02 (917 million pounds) copper and 84.1...
With the price for an ounce of gold pushing back above US$1,300 to ring in the new year – along with zinc and copper selling at multi-year highs and trending higher – 2018 is shaping up to be a good year for Alaska's mining sector. Together, zinc and gold account for more than 80 percent of the value of metals mined in Alaska – silver and lead account for most of the balance. While there is currently no significant copper production in Alaska, the Far North state hosts signi... Full story
The Trump Administration's focus on securing domestic sources of critical minerals could help re-invigorate mineral exploration and mine development in Alaska. At least 15 of the 23 critical minerals identified by the U.S. Geological Survey – antimony, barite, beryllium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, rhenium, tantalum, tellurium, tin and vanadium – are found across the Far North state. Working alo... Full story
Trilogy Metals Inc. Dec. 14 announced that South32 Ltd. has committed US$10 million to fund the 2018 exploration program at the Bornite copper project in Northwest Alaska. This second tranche of US$10 million keeps South32's option to acquire 50 percent of the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in good standing. The 2018 program, which was recently approved by the Trilogy-South32 technical committee, will include in-fill and off-set drilling to better define and expand the...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Sep. 18 reported high-grade copper results from this summer's exploration drill program at the Bornite project, part of the company's Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in the Ambler mining district of Northwest Alaska. This 10,000-meter program is focused on expanding upon the more than 6 billion pounds of copper Trilogy has outlined at Bornite. Roughly 2.7 billion lb of this copper is encompassed in an open-pit resource averaging roughly 1 percent copper. The r...
With rising metals prices helping to bolster the state's mining sector, Alaska mine leaders had good news to deliver to Alaska Senate and House resource committees during a Feb. 13 trip to Juneau. "I am happy to report that after four years of declining metals prices things started to improve in 2016, so we are able to report better economic numbers for 2017," Council of Alaska Producers Executive Director Karen Matthias informed members of the resource committees. The strong... Full story
Alaska’s current fiscal crisis has highlighted the need to diversify the state’s economy and being one of the richest minerals jurisdictions on the planet, mining is an industry that could play a major role in future wealth creation in the Last Frontier. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker touched on mining’s role in the state’s future during a Nov. 15 address at the Alaska Resource Conference. “We have six large scale mines in Alaska, we would like to have 12,” he told the business le... Full story
Trilogy Metals Inc. Nov. 10 filed a National Instrument 43-101 technical report that supports the April resources estimate for the Arctic project in Northwest Alaska. At a 0.5 percent copper-equivalent cut-off grade, the April estimate outlines 36 million metric tons of in-pit indicated resources averaging 3.07 percent (2.44 billion pounds) copper, 4.23 percent (3.36 billion lb) zinc, 0.73 percent (581 million lb) lead, 0.63 grams per metric ton (728,000 ounces) gold and 47.6...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Dec. 11 announced the appointment of renowned Alaska Native leader William Iggiagruk Hensley to its board of directors. Born in Kotzebue, Northwest Alaska, Hensley was a key player in the settlement of Alaska's Native claims with the United States government. He attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and graduated with a degree in Political Science from George Washington University in Washington, DC. While attending graduate school in Fairbanks,...
Goldcorp Inc.’s half-a-billion-dollar purchase of Kaminak Gold Corp. and the Coffee Gold project in Yukon Territory in 2016 marked a major shift for North of 60 mining explorers. Junior mining explorers typically look to the investment community for the venture capital needed to discover rich deposits of minerals. In turn, major mining companies come along and buy the mineral-rich project or the company that discovered it, typically providing a handsome return for the j... Full story
Three world-class deposits in Alaska – Pebble, Donlin Gold and Livengood – are far enough advanced to be considered beyond the exploration stage but not quite ready to break ground on development. Together, these three colossal deposits host more than US$160 billion worth of gold – with Pebble adding nearly another US$200 billion worth of copper, molybdenum and silver at today's metals prices. The jobs and revenue generated from developing operations to mine these three global... Full story
With two world-class metals deposits and strong partnerships Trilogy Metals Inc. aims to develop the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska into one of the highest grade copper mining districts on Earth. These high aspirations got a boost when South32 Ltd., a coal and base metals miner spun out of BHP Billiton, cut a US$150 million deal with Trilogy to earn up to a 50 percent interest in UKMP, a vast land package that blankets most of the renowned Ambler Mining...
Alaska's minerals exploration sector is on an upswing, thanks to Australian mining explorers looking north and mining majors upping their activities in the state. South32 Ltd., a Perth, Australia-based miner spun out of BHP Billiton Plc, is the largest mining company from Down Under to express an interest in Alaska's mineral potential this year. South32, which has eight operating mines in the Southern Hemisphere, secured an option to acquire a 50 percent interest in Trilogy... Full story
If there is anyone still on the fence wondering if the minerals industry has started a recovery from the doldrums of the past four years, this month’s mineral industry activity in Alaska should settle the question with authority. During the past month, we have seen two merger/acquisitions occur, one by Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp., which acquired Zazu Metals Corp. and its interest in the Lik lead-zinc-silver deposit. Then we also had Coventry Resources acquire V...
Trilogy Metals Inc. June 12 said a US$10 million exploration program is now underway at Bornite, a high grade copper deposit at the company's Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska. Funded by South32 Ltd., a coal and base metals miner spun out of BHP Billiton in 2015, this program will include 12,000 meters of drilling focused on extending the copper mineralization last drilled by Trilogy in 2013. "We have waited three long years to be able to come back and drill at Bornite," said Trilogy President and CEO Rick Van...
The summer solstice has come and gone, but the Alaska mining industry has paid little attention to the decreased amount of daylight because it is high summer in the high latitudes, time to be out completing work programs that have been in the planning since last fall. Exploration drilling programs have sprouted in the Brooks Range, Interior, Alaska Range, Southeast, Southwest and the Alaska Peninsula. In addition, the sounds of tire-kicking are being heard over a wide area of... Full story
Trilogy Metals Inc. June 28 reported that the 2017 field program at Arctic and Bornite, two high-grade deposits that make up the larger Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska, is now underway. The US$17.1 million program at UKMP includes 12,000 meters of expansion drilling at Bornite and the final field work needed to complete a prefeasibility study for Arctic. In April, South32 Ltd. signed an agreement to earn a 50 percent joint venture interest in UKMP by investing US$150 million. To keep this option in good...
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...
Just how big is the high-grade Bornite copper deposit in Northwest Alaska? This is one question that South32 Ltd. wants to know as it considers paying Trilogy Metals Inc. US$150 million for a 50 percent interest in the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects, an extensive land package that encompasses Bornite, the Arctic Mine project and dozens of other high-grade metals deposits and prospects in the Ambler Mining District. While it will likely be many years before the full scope of...
As the first snows of the coming winter began to fall at high elevations across Alaska, results of summer programs likewise began to trickle in from far-flung areas of the state. Meanwhile, second- and third-quarter production data began to show up and mining industry analysts released a series of reports covering a wide range of industry-wide trends. For example, SNL Metals and Mining Research released information on how long it takes to move a new discovery to production.... Full story
