The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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The Fraser Institute's "Survey of Mining Companies, 2011/2012" was recently released to the public. This annual survey of exploration and mining companies gauges the pros and cons of working in various countries around the world. This year's results came from over 800 mineral industry companies working in 93 jurisdictions and representing cumulative 2011 exploration expenditures of over US$6.3 billion. The perception of Alaska from the companies that work here was about the...
There are some new statistics just out from the Alaska Miners Association that I thought you might like to see. For 2011, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 4,500 direct jobs and 9,000 indirect jobs. The industry paid US$620 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$100,000 per year, which is double the statewide average for all sectors. The industry paid US$148 million in rents, royalties, taxes and other fees to the State of Alaska (up 170 percent over...
After an extremely busy, productive year, the final weeks of 2011 and the first few weeks of the New Year were remarkably quiet for Alaska's mining industry. But not to worry, it appears to be just a pause, while everyone catches their breath before heading into what promises to be another eventful year. While reading the plentiful (and sometimes bizarre) end of year reviews and forecasts, I came upon one that surprised me. In a Dec. 30 news release, Reuters noted that gold...
By consolidating ownership of the Niblack copper-gold-silver-zinc-silver project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, Heatherdale Resources Ltd. is taking long strides in advancing the volcanogenic massive sulfide project toward development. "After three years of successfully operating the Niblack project as a joint venture, the boards of directors of Heatherdale and Niblack (Niblack Mineral Development Inc.) have agreed that the best way to efficiently advance...
As a busy year in the Alaska and global mining industry starts to slide closer to its end, I figured now was a good time to gaze into my crystal ball (rutilated quartz, of course) to see what next year might bring. While strong metals prices promise another busy year for Alaska, a dose of global reality was provided by the financial giant Ernst & Young, who recently published a list of the top 10 business risks for the mining and metals industry for the coming year. Resource n...
Whether it is multimillion-ounce gold discoveries, copper deposits that measure in the billions of pounds or massive ore-bodies of 20 percent zinc, Alaska is renowned for its mammoth deposits. The prospect of finding another Donlin, Pebble or Red Dog continues to draw explorers to this vast and underexplored corner of the United States. In the Survey of Mining Companies: 2010/2011, conducted by the Fraser Institute, top executives from 494 mining and mineral exploration...
TSX-V: UCU President and CEO: James McKenzie Vice President, Project Development: Harmen Keyser Consulting Geologist: James Barker With the winds of soaring rare earth element prices in its sails, Ucore Rare Metals Inc. is maneuvering its Bokan Mountain Project in Southeast Alaska toward becoming a domestic source of dysprosium, terbium and other heavy rare earth metals. In March, Ucore reported the first NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate for the HREE-rich deposit situated at the southern end of Prince of Wales Island. At...
As termination dust settles over Alaska, the diversity of mineral exploration, development and production news this month covers the entire spectrum of mining industry activities. The last of the seasonal early-stage exploration projects are reporting in, a major producing company has entered the state for the first time, Alaska finished its first off-shore mineral lease process in more than a decade, several projects reported on resource definition and feasibility studies, a gold deposit was sold, a ballot initiative aimed...
Leveraging its global dominance in the realm of rare earth elements, China has set in motion a strategy to gain supremacy in manufacturing the vast array of technologically advanced products that depend on these metals. "China can exploit rare earths that they control all the way out to electric cars, wind turbines, whatever it is - and that is the grand strategy," American Elements Chairman and CEO Michael Silver told some 200 participants in the Alaska Strategic and...
Despite the abundance of good news from the Alaska mining industry this month, there is an unusual black cloud hanging over the industry that threatens to rain on our parade of projects. Domestic and international markets got a severe case of the jitters during the recent United States debt crisis. The resulting economic uncertainty contributed to significant metal price volatility. For example, the London gold price jumped 20 percent, from about US$1,480 to US$1,770 during the month prior to the debt deferral and has since d...
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...
Every year about this time, I notice new ways to gauge just how busy the Alaska mining industry is. This year, it is the silence. Not the amazing silence of a mountaintop in the Alaska Range but the virtual and literal silence being practiced by the people who make up the industry. In an age where communications options are abundant and the opportunity to be "connected" is a 24-7 reality, people in the Alaska mining industry go silent in the depths of summer, primarily...
The last month has seen a massive transition in Alaska from planning to execution, from getting ready to go to the field to boots on the outcrop and drills in the ground. Each year the hustle and bustle of the Alaska summer exploration season subsumes virtually everything else (except the Stanley Cup) as field programs launch around the state. This year has been no different with base metal programs in the Brooks Range, gold programs in Interior Alaska and the Seward...
Some months ago I was talking to a senior exploration manager regarding the lack of new discoveries worldwide in the last few years. The subject came up of just how rare a +1-million-ounce gold deposit really was. Then last week one of our project geologists lays a publication in front of me entitled "How Rare are One Million Ounce Gold Deposits?" by Natural Resources Holdings, Ltd. Although this publication comes at the question from the standpoint of which new deposits are...
Although the mining news for the last month was rather on the thin side in terms of volume, a number of significant milestones were reached by the Alaska mineral industry. Over the past 30 days or so, we have had new mineral resources published on three gold deposits and one polymetallic deposit. We've had the first preliminary economic analysis released on a deposit from the Ambler Mining District and the schedule for a second preliminary economic analysis announced for...
The Fraser Institute recently released its "Survey of Mining Companies, 2010/2011," an annual survey of exploration and mining companies that gauges the pros and cons of working in various countries around the world. This year the survey results came from 494 mining companies working in 79 jurisdictions and representing cumulative exploration expenditures of more than US$2.4 billion in 2010. There was a bit of honey and a bit of vinegar for Alaska in this report. Let's do...
There are some new stats out regarding mining's impact on Alaska that the McDowell Group Inc. produced for the State of Alaska. For 2010, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 3,500 direct jobs and 5,500 indirect jobs. The industry paid US$350 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$95,000 per year, which is double the statewide average for all sectors. Mining salaries were higher than all other sectors except for the oil and gas sector. The industry paid...
For more than a century Prince of Wales Island has been known as a rich source of gold, copper, platinum group elements and silver. The 2,577-square-mile, or 6,674-square-kilometer, Southeast Alaska isle later gained renown for its stores of uranium and rare earth elements. While modern explorers have investigated several of the uncounted historical mines that dot the island, Niblack and Bokan Mountain have emerged recently as standout exploration projects. Both located near...
U.S. Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., are up in arms over the U.S. Department of Defense's apparent laidback approach to ensuring it has an ample supply of the rare earth elements critical to many of the weapons systems in the U.S. military's arsenal. "Clearly, rare earth supply limitations present a serious vulnerability to our national security. Yet early indications are the DoD (Department of Defense) has dismissed...
The last half of December and the first half of January are normally relatively slow for business in the mining industry, in general, and in Alaska, in particular. The last two weeks this December were a bit slower than the first two weeks of the month but if anyone was thinking that January 2011 was going to creep silently into being, they were sadly mistaken! With metals prices heading toward recent and, in some cases, historical highs, there seems to be a sense of urgency...
Unlocking Alaska's vast mineral resource has been at the top of Gov. Sean Parnell's agenda since being elected to his first full term as the state's governor in November, a position he reiterated during his Jan. 19 State of the State address. "Without liberty, we cannot have a strong economy. So let's take stock of our economy and what we must do to keep it sound. Of course, there are many topics we could discuss: gasline, the university, fish. All are important, but tonight...
Contango Oil & Gas Co., an exploration and production company focused primarily on petroleum resources in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, has turned one eye toward Alaska. Acquiring a large land package that is prospective for gold in the eastern Interior as well as six rare earth element prospects across the state, the Houston-based independent has spun out Contango ORE Inc., or Core, to explore its northern mineral assets. "Core has leased or filed mining claims...
As the last days of the decade tick by, I am tempted to look back on 2010 and distill the year in a few sentences. I'll resist and opt for a bunch of sentences similar to some I recently dumped on the Society of Economic Geologists, an exploration-focused scientific organization of which I am a card-carrying member. Those words prompted more than a few heated responses, both supportive and not so supportive ("You're a pin-head" is the one that will probably stick with me...
The swift development of Ucore Rare Metals Inc.'s Bokan-Dotson Ridge deposit in Southeast Alaska is vital to providing the United States with a domestic supply of critical rare earth elements. This is the message world-renown REE expert Jack Lifton delivered to attendees of the Alaska Miners Association 2010 annual convention in Anchorage. Beyond just mining the heavy rare earth element-rich ore at Bokan, the technological metal consultant advised the State of Alaska to...
As termination dust falls across most of Alaska, the curtain has come down for the bulk of the exploration projects around the state; however, mine development programs as well as mine-site exploration continue apace as does some exploration work in tropical Southeast Alaska. With few exceptions, preliminary conclusions drawn from 2010 work indicate that 2011 is going to be a busy year. And though a lot of exploration and development is still going on for gold, copper...
