The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 236
Initial resource outlines thick zones of high-grade mineralization at the carbonate-hosted silver-zinc deposit on Western Alaska's Illinois Creek project. Western Alaska Minerals Corp. Jan. 22 reported a high-grade silver-zinc-lead resource for Waterpump Creek (WPC) that demonstrates the potential of the carbon replacement deposit (CRD) mineralized system that is believed to extend for more than five miles and serves as a foundation for further exploration and development acro...
With the roughly $19 billion buyout of Newcrest Mining Ltd., Newmont Corp. has added two operating mines to its already impressive portfolio of gold and copper assets in the Golden Triangle region of Northern British Columbia. "By combining the two existing Newcrest operations, Brucejack and Red Chris, with Newmont's Saddle North and Galore Creek projects, a Tier 1 district in the highly prospective Golden Triangle region of British Columbia will be created – a district in w...
With Donlin Gold reentering the feasibility study stage, Ambler Metals waiting on the reevaluation of the permit needed for a road to the Ambler Mining District, and an overall lack of investment capital, mineral exploration spending in Alaska dropped during 2023. While the overall sector was down, there continued to be some bright spots – most notably, a growing interest in Alaska's critical minerals potential. In July, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Graphite One I...
Vital Metal Ltd. Jan. 24 provided an update on its exploration and development strategy for the Nechalacho rare earths project in Northwest Territories. The Australia-based company began mining rare earths from a small, high-grade deposit at Nechalacho in 2021. However, technical and financial difficulties led Vital to rethink its previous strategy to establish a relatively small mine at Nechalacho and rare earths processing plant in Saskatchewan. Upon completion of a...
From breaking ground at Alaska's next gold mine to the advancement of North of 60 projects focused on delivering the metals needed for the transition of low-carbon energy, and an impressive safety milestone at Alaska's only coal mine to a history of the helicopters that make mineral exploration across the North possible, here is a countdown of the 10 most popular North of 60 Mining News articles in 2023: No. 10 - CORE celebrates Manh Choh, Lucky Shot Contango Ore Inc., a...
With a summer marred by unprecedented wildfires behind them, companies exploring the mineral-rich Northwest Territories are reporting impressive results from their 2023 programs. Seeking new deposits of valuable minerals, ranging from ever-popular diamonds and precious metals to recently designated "critical minerals," such as lithium, rare earth elements and zinc, a score of explorers took to the field across the territory. "An exciting new chapter is emerging for mining in t...
From neighboring gold explorers merging to create a district-scale project that will likely be attractive to majors, to Glencore making an aggressive bid to buyout Teck Resources Ltd., 2023 was a year of North of 60 mergers, acquisitions, and attempts at takeovers. The multi-billion-dollar M&A frenzy across Alaska and Canada's North was underscored by B2Gold's roughly C$1.1 billion (US$820 million) acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. and the Back River Gold Mine project...
Shenghe acquires ore stockpile that symbolized a shift away from China for REEs critical to North America's green energy and high-tech sectors. High-grade ore dug up from a small open pit at Vital Metal Ltd.'s Nechalacho project in the summer of 2021 marked the start of Canada's first rare earth elements mine and the first link in an REE supply chain that was envisioned to be completely independent of China. "The combination of our efforts clearly work together towards the...
Vital Metals Ltd. Nov. 21 reported that high-grade rare earths encountered with this year's drilling at Tardiff confirms the higher-grade expansion potential of this larger deposit on the company's Nechalacho project in Northwest Territories. The Australia-based company gained notoriety in 2021 with the start of operations at Nechalacho, marking the first and only rare earths mine in Canada. High-grade ore mined from the North T deposit at the project was upgraded with an ore...
State's inaugural sustainability report details the ESG advantages of looking North to Alaska for energy transition metals. The global energy transition has steered Alaska to a critical minerals crossroad that will shape the economic future of America's Last Frontier. On the one hand, the push for low-carbon energy is expected to put a dent in the demand for petroleum, which has been Alaska's economic lifeblood for more than five decades. On the other, Alaska happens to be...
Vital Metals turns to Chinese firm to fund Nechalacho, home to first REE mine in Canada. Drifting further away from the original vision of establishing a rare earths supply chain in Canada that would help to break the West's heavy reliance on China for this suite of tech elements, Vital Metals Ltd. has turned to Shenghe Resources Holding Co., Ltd. for funding that will allow the Australia-based REE mining company to move forward with its plans for a larger mine at its...
A growing imbalance in the supply and demand for rare earths is creating a challenge for the companies that produce this suite of technology elements and an opportunity for the scientists seeking ways to leverage their unique properties in new and intriguing ways. While it is true that the global transition to zero-carbon energy and transportation is creating new rare earths demand that threatens to outstrip the global supply, the real disparity has more to do with which of...
After getting a conditional green light in 2022 from regulators to advance the proposed ABM Mine at its Kudz Ze Kayah property in Southeastern Yukon, BMC Minerals Ltd. has completed a favorable economic review of its plan for a hardrock operation and developed new exploration targets on the property. BMC Minerals wants to extract 1.8 million metric tons of zinc, 350,000 metric tons of lead and 600,000 metric tons of copper from the Kudz Ze Kayah deposits located within the...
Over the course of two short years, Vital Metals Ltd. has fallen from a visionary mining company pioneering a first-ever rare earth supply chain in Canada to a delisted Australian firm struggling to reclaim some of its former glory at the Nechalacho rare earths mine in Northwest Territories. Vital Metals reached a pinnacle when its Canadian subsidiary Cheetah Resource Corp. began mining ore from the high-grade North T deposit at Nechalacho during the summer of 2021, forging...
As the White House continues to dole out hundreds of billions of dollars to position America as the global leader in clean energy and digital technologies, Beijing initiates a strategy to put America in check with the global economy equivalent of pawns. These pawns in the technology chess match between the U.S. and China are gallium and germanium, a pair of semiconductor metals used to make the computer chips essential to every facet of modern life. Before all the major news o...
Everyone agrees that historically enormous quantities of copper are essential to wiring a world in which low-carbon electricity delivered via powerlines supplants fossil fuels pumped through pipelines as the energy solution of choice. The federal entity charged with compiling the list of minerals critical to the United States, however, disagrees with nearly every company, organization, and person associated with the clean energy supply chain on the criticality of the...
From rare earths in Northern Maine to lithium in Southern California and graphite in Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey is on a mission to discover minerals critical to the nation's economy and clean energy goals on American soil. Or, more accurately, under American soil. This nationwide endeavor is officially called the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative, but is better known as Earth MRI, a clever moniker that reflects the earth penetrating scans that are providing...
Powering nearly 10% of the world's energy needs and roughly 20% of America for over 50 years, nuclear energy is a highly controversial power provider that ticks all the boxes for zero-emission electricity. Much like most contemporary fuels, running these reactors takes something dug from the earth – uranium. In 2017, the United States Geological Survey was charged with identifying which minerals and metals are critical to the U.S. Its original list of 35 critical minerals, f...
As the cracks in the wall continue to chill the bones of an ill-prepared American clean-energy economy, attention has been paid to nearly every facet imaginable to obtain the minerals critical to fuel a zero-carbon future; however, all has seemingly been quiet on the unconventional front. Repeated time and time again during the ongoing transition, U.S. policymakers are becoming increasingly concerned about the overreliance on China for the minerals and metals essential to...
Visual Capitalist infographic shines light on America's heavy reliance on China, others for critical minerals. A recent infographic produced by Visual Capitalist raises both figurative and literal red flags when it comes to America's reliance on imports for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's high-tech sectors, military readiness, and envisioned low-carbon energy future. While the United States' heavy dependence on other countries for critical minerals is not new...
The United States has rich deposits of copper, cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel, rare earths, and other mined commodities needed to build the clean energy future. The often decade-long mine permitting timeline in the U.S., however, means that many of these domestic critical mineral sources will be hard-pressed to get developed in time to help meet the climate goals laid out by the White House. This extraordinarily long federal permitting process for large projects has global...
Still overshadowed by lithium but no less significant, cobalt falls within a unique category as a critical mineral not only for its properties but also for its controversial supply. As a fundamental component necessary for nickel-cobalt-manganese (NMC) lithium-ion batteries, cobalt warranted its place as a critical mineral vital to the zero-carbon transition due to the necessity of those batteries to power a clean, emission-free future. Its critical uses, however, go far...
North Arrow Minerals Inc. Aug. 28 announced the latest channel sample assay results from its DeStaffany lithium property in Northwest Territories, which maintain the significant lithium potential of this northern Canadian hard rock lithium project. Acquired by North Arrow in January, DeStaffany is an early-stage exploration project roughly 18 kilometers (11 miles) northeast of Vital Metals Ltd.'s Nechalacho rare earths mine and approximately 115 kilometers (71 miles) from...
North Arrow Minerals Inc. July 11 announced its 2023 field exploration program at its DeStaffany lithium project in Northwest Territories, Canada, has confirmed the discovery of two new pegmatites – doubling the known spodumene pegmatite bodies found on the property. "We've had a strong start to what is really the first full evaluation of the lithium potential of the DeStaffany property," said North Arrow President and CEO Ken Armstrong. Acquired by North Arrow in January, D...
Alaska mining and Washington policy leaders gather to discuss forging a path forward to critical minerals in US's Arctic state. Building upon the discussions and strategic ideas set in motion during the 2022 "Alaska's Minerals: A Strategic National Imperative" summit, the U.S. Department of Energy's Arctic Energy Office co-hosted a two-day summit this week to advance policy recommendations for development of critical mineral resources in the North American Arctic. For the Unit...
