The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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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...
YUKON TERRITORY - "There's gold, and it's haunting and haunting; It's luring me on as of old; Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting; So much as just finding the gold." This passage from the "Spell of the Yukon" is as applicable to the contemporary stampede of explorers seeking mineral riches in the home of the Klondike as it was to the prospectors of which Robert Service wrote more than a century ago. It is estimated that the modern rush of prospectors to Yukon Territory...
DAWSON CITY - "Assays are pending" seems to be the three most common words uttered by companies exploring the mineral-rich lands of Canada's Northwest. After a weeklong trek through Yukon Territory, it is easy to see why. All across this hotbed of mineral exploration gold seekers are applying the "Shawn Ryan technique" of collecting close-spaced (typically 50-meter) grid soil samples to identify gold and other minerals associated with the precious metal. These extensive...
While most fortune-seeking juniors and investors joining the recent stampeded to Yukon Territory are scrambling to acquire properties in the highly prospective White Gold area located in the central Dawson Range and the eastern Selwyn Basin districts, a few canny explorers are quietly staking claims far from the heavy traffic in the southwestern corner of the territory. Solomon Resources Ltd. is one such explorer who has reported making a recent play in the region in a big way. Solomon July 18 reported the acquisition of a...
Another busy summer field season is getting underway in Yukon Territory, and government officials are projecting record numbers of mining companies flocking to the Northwest Canada jurisdiction and spending unprecedented sums on mineral exploration programs scattered across the southern two-thirds of the territory. Based on the industry's spending intentions in February, Natural Resources Canada projected C$39.3 million would be spent in 2011 by the majors on exploration and deposit appraisal activities in Yukon Territory,...
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...
Nearly a half century ago, John S. Brock ventured into Yukon Territory to explore for hardrock minerals. The young geologist soon found himself involved in Anvil Mining and Dynasty Exploration's discoveries that led to the development of Faro, which became the world's largest open-pit lead-zinc mine. "I was just a kid then, and I thought, 'This business is really easy,' " Brock recalled. Today, the longtime explorationist knows better. During the past 48 years, Brock has participated in numerous mineral discoveries in Canada,...
As mining activity heats up in Yukon Territory, vendors and suppliers are flush with a corresponding rise in demand for their services. Business is booming, in particular, for helicopter support services as exploration and development companies rush to mount their 2011 field programs as soon as weather permits north of the 60th parallel this spring. In 2010, mining exploration and development spending in the Yukon exceeded C$290 million, with exploration expenditures setting a new yearly record as activity accelerated in...
From college students seeking their first job in the minerals industry to executives of the world's leading mining companies, a record-setting 7,003 people packed the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., Jan. 24-27 to attend the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia's 2011 Mineral Exploration Roundup. "The theme this year is 'Exploring Today for Tomorrow's Resources' - it couldn't be more important a theme, and it couldn't be more important an activity,"...
One soil at a time," said Shawn Ryan, describing the gold-hunting technique he has perfected in a decade of working what has become the hottest exploration play in Canada. After collecting more than 200,000 soil samples since 2003 and leading at least two junior mining companies to the most significant gold discoveries in the new White Gold District of Yukon Territory, Ryan is happy to share the particulars of his slow and careful approach to prospecting. The former Dawson City prospector, who recently moved to Whitehorse,... Full story
Two years after explorers stampeded to Yukon Territory in search of gold and other minerals the rush is showing no sign of abating. In fact, the exploration frenzy appears to gather fresh steam with every new mineral discovery reported in the territory. And the pipeline of discoveries is flowing, fast and furious. Junior mining companies and prospectors also continued to stake hordes of claims in 2010 right up to Dec. 23, stopping only when Government of Yukon mining recorders called a halt for the holidays. The excitement su... Full story
A revitalized Yukon Territory is ushering in a new era of mining prosperity as two more mines enter production this winter. "For the first time in a generation," the territory will have three operating mines that together will employ more than 400 workers and provide 100 direct service jobs and countless indirect positions and generate C$800 million for the Yukon economy annually," said Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie. "That's almost as much as the Government of Yukon's entire C$1 billion yearly budget." The recent startup of... Full story
A pair of gold discoveries led a torrent of exploration news pouring out of Yukon Territory this year as numerous newcomers joined old hands in the hunt for the yellow metal and other lucrative minerals. "We've entered a new phase of exploration. People are using soil sampling as an unbiased targeting method that is resulting in discoveries of new mineral potential," Yukon geologist Mike Burke, told more than 500 participants in the Yukon Geoscience Forum Nov. 22. The areas where people are looking are expanding as miners... Full story
Alaska's mining industry is entering the final lap for what has turned out to be a more robust than expected year for exploration, development and production. Strong worldwide demand for mined products has certainly helped push metallic and energy minerals prices up, but all is not rosy for Alaska's mineral industry. A recent CNBC report placed Alaska dead last of all the states in terms of overall business attractiveness. We were a dismal 46th of 50 in terms of cost of doing...
As mining heats up in Yukon Territory, professionals from around the globe are finding new roles in the region and employing a host of unique experiences and perspectives in pursuit of exploration, development and production of the territory's minerals. This growing international contingent covers the industry spectrum and hails from around the globe. Their presence is most evident in exploration camps scattered across the Yukon; however, the new manager of Yukon's sole producer, Capstone Mining Corp.'s Minto Mine, is a...
The resurgence of mining industry activity in Yukon Territory is bringing with it the prospect of more commercial activity in Southeast Alaska, specifically in the coastal community of Skagway. Though tiny in size with only 850 year-round residents, Skagway is home to one of Alaska's most strategically located ice-free, deepwater ports. The Skagway Ore Terminal at the port stores 65,000 tons a year of copper-gold-silver concentrates from Yukon's only operating mine, Capstone Mining Corp.'s Minto Mine. And once a month for...
With all eyes pointed north, the mineral industry in Yukon is having a banner year in 2010. A number of regions are continuing to attract high-profile attention. With two new mines starting production and encouraging discoveries throughout the territory, the year has been very exciting. Exploration Claim staking in the White Gold area, the Dawson Range and the 60 Mile area has been robust in 2010 with many new companies (more than 20) involved in the staking rush. Kinross Gold Corp. issued a friendly takeover offer for...
The Last Frontier, as Alaska has long been labeled, is as applicable a moniker today as it was to prospectors who ventured to the territory at the end of the 19th century. Alaska is considered one of the most mineralized provinces on Earth, but due to an inter-related combination of Arctic weather, rugged terrain, limited infrastructure and high exploration costs, the state's vast mineral potential remains at the edge of exploratory expansion. Though the Far North state...
From its search for White Gold-style mineralization in the Fortymile placer gold district just across the border from the Klondike in eastern Alaska to exploration of the Pyramid copper-gold project some 900 miles, or 1,450 kilometers, to the southwest, Full Metal Minerals Ltd. returned to the Alaska mining exploration scene in 2010. The Vancouver B.C.-based junior also worked with fellow junior and senior mining companies on projects across Alaska's vast expanse. Beyond...
Kinross Gold Corp. is a partner of choice for many junior explorers investigating gold prospects in Alaska and northwest Canada. The Toronto-based major has formed various alliances with a number of juniors exploring for gold in the Tintina Gold Belt, the prolific 145-million-acre (58.7-million-hectare) mineral region that hosts Kinross' Fort Knox Gold Mine and huge gold deposits including Donlin Creek and Livengood in Alaska as well as significant gold showings in Yukon... Full story
Primed for booming exploration for several years, the Yukon Territory appears to have hit big in 2010, both literally and figuratively. Emerging as one of the world's mining hot spots, the Northwest Canada jurisdiction is reporting industry investment exceeding C$120 million. Propelled by record gold prices and key gold discoveries, as well as surging demand in Asia for base metals and a mining friendly government, miners flocked to the territory in growing numbers, bringing generous exploration budgets and fresh theories... Full story
KRX: TSX-V President and CEO: J. Greg Dawson, M.Sc., PGeo. Non-Executive Chairman: William M. Sheriff Chief Financial Officer: Justin Blanchet, CA Operating under the philosophy that it will maximize the chance for success in a high-risk business by concentrating on the right commodities in mining-friendly jurisdictions with high mineral potential, Copper Ridge Explorations Ltd. owns or has the option to acquire an interest in nine mineral properties in Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia. The junior also holds a royalty inter...
KAM: TSX-V President and CEO: Rob Carpenter, Ph.D., P. Geo. Chairman: John Robins, P.Geo. Chief Geologist: Craig S. Finnigan, Ph.D. Kaminak Gold Corp., formed in 2005 in British Columbia, is a prospect generator recently focused on early-stage mining opportunities in northwestern Canada. Adhering to a philosophy of forming strategic partnerships such as joint ventures, Kaminak is working to advance at least 16 discovery-stage projects in Yukon Territory, Nunavut, British Columbia and other Canadian provinces. The junior... Full story
UW: TSX-V President: Adrian Fleming Chairman: Michael Williams Director: Rob McLeod Underworld Resources, organized in 2005 in British Columbia, is a mineral exploration company focused on expanding its new gold discovery in Yukon Territory. Underworld acquired an option over the White Gold and Black Fox properties located 95 kilometers south of Dawson City in May 2007. First drilling was completed in 2008 with discoveries at the Golden Saddle and Arc targets. In 2009, the company also acquired an option to acquire a 100... Full story
VAZ: TSX-V President and CEO: Michael Skead Valdez Gold Inc. has turned north to seek gold near the legendary mining towns of Dawson City and Nome. In January 2010, the Toronto-based junior signed an option to earn up to a 75 percent stake in Valley High Ventures Ltd.'s Flume Property in the White Gold District of Yukon Territory. Valdez earns an initial 51 percent interest in Flume by spending C$1.5 million on the property and paying Valley High C$500,00 over a four year period. The 3,900-hectare Flume property is located...
