The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Results of a recent study of the projected labor force requirements of resource industries such as mining in northern British Columbia reinforces the need for organizations like British Columbia Aboriginal Mine Training Association to complete their mission. The study was commissioned by the Northern BC Resource Sector Human Resources Committee in the summer of 2011. R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. was contracted to forecast work force requirements for the northern region's resource industries, including mining, through...
British Columbia, Yukon Territory and Alaska - the headliners of the Association for Mining Exploration British Columbia's annual Mineral Exploration Roundup - tallied more than C$1 billion of mineral exploration spending and some C$12.7 billion in mine production in 2011. "We are going to talk in the next three sessions about the wrinkly parts of western North America - B.C., Yukon and Alaska. The geological phenomena that has created these mountain chains that we have in...
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.'s hunt for gold in Nunavut is rapidly becoming a tale of two deposits. Though the aggressive mid-tier gold producer is about to celebrate a second anniversary of gold production at its Meadowbank Mine near Baker Lake, it is increasingly looking to the Meliadine gold project located 290 kilometers (180 miles) to the southeast to make future investment in the northern territory worthwhile. An advanced-stage gold project, Meliadine is Toronto-based Agnico-Eagle's second major project in Canada's Low...
After 17 long years of working to develop the Gahcho Kué diamond deposit into what promises to be one of the world's largest and richest diamond mines, Mountain Province Diamonds Ltd. is turning its attention to the diamonds next door. The Toronto-based junior and its 51 percent partner De Beers are rapidly closing in on their long-sought goal at the Kennady Lake diamond project in the Northwest Territories. The joint venture is permitting an open-pit mine expected to produce about 4.5 million carats per year for 11 years...
The best place to find a new mine is in the shadow of a headframe" is an adage that has served geologists well in their search for new deposits of metals that the world needs and desires. This proverb has once again proven its worth at Alaska's largest producing gold mine. Though Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Pogo Mine does not boast an iconic headframe towering over its underground operations, new gold-rich zones discovered in the shade of the modern mill and mine facilities may...
One year after going public, Chieftain Metals Inc. is blazing a trail through roadblocks that impeded past efforts to re-open the historical Tulsequah Chief Mine, a precious metals-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide project on British Columbia's western border about 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Alaska's capital city of Juneau. A C$20 million initial public offering that closed in December 2010 provided Chieftain with the funds needed to put the project back on the...
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...
It is axiomatic that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and we who stand watch over America's mining industry know all too well that there is little the Detractors would rather do than to shut down this and all other basic manufacturing sectors. Witness a recent op-ed in the New York Times wherein Alaska's very own Carol Ann Woody advocated doing away with the General Mining Law of 1872 because, among other reasons, the Kensington Mine was allowed to go forward. Now I have not personally made the acquaintance of Ms....
After seeing the movie "Top Gun" some years ago, I've often wondered what the U.S. military could be thinking to turn over $30 million fighter jets, not to mention world peace in many cases, to the dubious discretion of testosterone-laden young men. "The Debrief Imperative," is a new management manual written by a former fighter pilot and his business partner. Subtitled "Fighter Pilots and The Secret Tool That Is Transforming Businesses The World Over," the book was written by best-selling author James D. Murphy and William...
Ocean Park Venture Corp.'s 2011 exploration at the Chisna project in eastern Alaska has revealed Golden Range, a district-scale iron-carbonate zone rich in gold, copper and silver. Grab samples from this iron-carbonate zone that has now been traced for more than 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) have returned assays as high as 126.5 grams per metric ton gold and 17.7 percent copper; and one drill intercept averaging 681 g/t silver over 2.7 meters. Optioning the Chisna property from...
In the shadow of two new producing mines and startup of a gold mine on the near-horizon, a mega-mine project is quietly taking shape in a remote area of central Yukon Territory. The sprawling Casino property, where Western Copper and Gold Corp. has spent the past five years aggressively exploring and defining a huge copper-gold-molybdenum-silver resource, is proving to be an attractive venture that could transform the territory's mining industry, delivering within the next few years 1,800 construction jobs over four years...
One byproduct of the recent revival of the mining industry in Yukon Territory is the ongoing success of the rehabilitated Skagway Ore Terminal at Alaska's Port of Skagway. Originally built in 1968 to accommodate ore shipments form Yukon's Faro lead-zinc mine, the terminal closed in 1997 after the Faro Mine ceased operations due to unfavorable market conditions. Purchased by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority from White Pass Railway in 1993, the terminal, after substantial renovation, resumed shipping ore...
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. has pushed back the publication of a prefeasibility study for its Livengood gold project to sometime later this year. While the PFS has been delayed by about six months, the company says it is still on track to begin recovering gold from the Interior Alaska project in 2018 maybe earlier. Tower Hill said that while the bulk of engineering studies have been completed, a review of the preliminary economic assessment revealed some areas of...
While most companies exploring the mineral potential of Alaska and other Far North locales have stacked their drills, winterized camps and are poring over data from their 2011 programs in preparation for the upcoming exploration season, Freegold Ventures Ltd. continues its field program with drills turning at its Golden Summit project in the heart of Interior Alaska. "We just resumed drilling this week with one rig and expect to add the second one early next week," Freegold...
Yukon Territory is poised to take its largely successful campaign to attract and encourage a robust mining industry to the next level by developing a new center for mineral research and mine training in the North. Yukon College, the territory's focal point for higher education and training, is conducting a yearlong study of the feasibility of establishing a Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining. The proposed center would offer accredited programing in mining and related technology and conduct, in collaboration with...
The value of mineral production in Yukon Territory is expected to soar in 2013 to more than C$1 billion when the third of three producing mines hits its stride with commercial output of about 1,700 metric tons per day. The territory, meanwhile, is enjoying the economic benefits of having three high-paying and big spending mines in operation. In 2011 the value of mineral production at Capstone Mining Corp.'s high-grade Minto copper-gold-silver mine, Alexco Resource Corp.'s Bellekeno silver-lead-zinc mine and Yukon Zinc...
It is still early days in the exploration play for gold in eastern Yukon Territory, but a score of companies got a jump on competitors in 2011 by targeting promising occurrences of gold and pathfinder elements in a frenzy of unprecedented claim staking and reconnaissance. The early explorers rushed to the region following a report by Atac Resources Ltd. in September 2010 that it discovered unusual mineralization in the rocky eastern ridges of its 1,600-square-kilometer (618 square miles) Rackla Project. Atac posted high-grade...
I was tempted to make a few 2012 predictions now that 2011 is nearly gone, but I decided not to when I came across the following lines and was struck by how closely they mimic our current mining climate: "On a more local level, several old Alaska properties have been rejuvenated by new players to the Alaska mineral scene. Reserve announcements have touched off renewed land acquisitions and property negotiations. Contracts for technical personnel, drill rigs, helicopters and...
As probably everyone who follows this column realizes, I spend most of my life looking at the world through the wrong end of the telescope. On the other hand, with apologies to Dr. Seuss: "Oh, the things you will see." During the recent noise masquerading as the selection process for the presidential candidate of the Republican Party, I have listened carefully, in vain, for something that seems simple and self-evident to me. First, and as a premise, I assume that no "money"...
NovaGold Resource Inc. has made tectonic shifts in its leadership and corporate structure. Shedding all of its assets except for the Donlin Gold project in Southwest Alaska, the restructured company is singularly focused on bringing this 40-million-ounce gold deposit into production by the end of the decade. Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse - who founded NovaGold and guided the exploration company through 15 years of trials and triumphs - is relinquishing NovaGold's top executive office...
Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, who is stepping down as the president and CEO of NovaGold Resources Ltd., is jumping into the driver's seat of NovaCopper Inc., a vehicle designed for the continued exploration of NovaGold's Ambler project and other prospects in the Upper Kobuk region of Northwest Alaska. "My passion is exploration and just like we found two other world-class, high-quality targets in Donlin and Galore (projects), we are looking to do the same thing in the Ambler...
The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has approved a proposal by Canadian Zinc Corp. for protecting the environment during operation of the Prairie Creek Mine in the Northwest Territories. The move, which comes after more than three years of review, is seen as perhaps a major milestone in the permitting process for the underground lead-zinc mine project and a signal that the investment climate for mining may be changing for the better in the northern territory. The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact...
The Yukon Chamber of Mines recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun and the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in to create a framework within which the industry and aboriginal groups will work together for their respective goals. The First Nations said they seek to preserve a way of life that is based upon an economic and spiritual relationship with the land, while the Chamber of Mines said it aims to promote a vibrant, healthy, safe and responsible mining and exploration industry in the Yukon. T...
Much of Alaska's resource wealth is locked up in more than 350,000 square miles (906,000 square kilometers) west of the state's contiguous road system. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell has included some US$50 million in his fiscal 2013 state budget proposal to support measures aimed at gaining access to much of the state's abundant oil, gas and minerals resources including three roads that would trek westward. "Better transportation corridors will open up petroleum and mining...
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...
