The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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The 1-millionth ounce of gold was poured from the Walter Creek Arctic Heap Leach facility at Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine in Interior Alaska on Jan. 24. "This is a great milestone for Fort Knox and has been an instrumental part of extending the life of the property. I see our Arctic Heap Leach as a testament to our commitment to innovation as a company," said Fort Knox General Manager Eric Hill. "My thanks goes out to the many folks that have helped achieve this...
With 13 holes drilled in 2017, CopperBank Resources Corp. has added more than 160 million pounds of copper to its Pyramid project on the Alaska Peninsula. "For a small investment in 2017, our team was able to significantly increase the scale, confidence and quality of the project," CopperBank Executive Chairman Gianni Kovacevic said upon the Feb. 2 release of an updated resource for Pyramid. Kovacevic has been a strong advocate for copper as a "green metal" that will see...
After investigating locations across the United States to host its first Strategic Metals Complex, or SMC, Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has decided that a Southeast Alaska town with a Pacific Rim port is the ideal place to build the cutting-edge rare earths processing facility. "Engineering and economic studies have confirmed that Ketchikan is our preferred location to construct our first strategic and critical metals separation facility," said Ucore Vice President of Operations...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Jan. 26 decision to not lift its proposed restriction on Pebble does not prevent the world-class copper mine project from being thoroughly vetted under federal permitting process. While EPA has chosen to leave the 2014 pre-permitting restrictions it attempted to impose against Pebble on the table, these limits do not prohibit the permitting process. A federal judge ordered a stay on the implementation of EPA's proposed determination...
High-grade underground gold mines have a lot of moving parts and ramping a new one up to commercial production is a period often interrupted by downtime as the operator finds things not working quite as well as planned. This has not been the case at Pretium Resources Inc.'s bonanza grade Brucejack gold mine in northwestern British Columbia. Achieving commercial production on July 1, the Brucejack Mine produced of 152,484 ounces of gold during the first six months of...
With fresh funds in the bank and partners exploring the gold, copper and silver projects it has generated in Alaska, British Columbia and Mexico, Millrock Resources Inc. is positioned well for 2018. As a project generator, Millrock is leveraging its team's geological expertise by identifying and acquiring promising mineral projects, completing preliminary exploration aimed at bolstering the their potential and then vending them to partners to fund the more advanced stages of...
The permitting process for the world-class Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine in Southwest Alaska is officially underway. With this monumental milestone comes the first real look at the new Pebble Mine plan, an engineering feat that the Pebble Partnership believes strikes a balance between environmental footprint and sound economics. "There is a sweet spot in which you can drive down the footprint size and still reach a rate-of-return that makes sense," Pebble Partnership CEO... Full story
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
Following a U.S. Geological Survey report that identifies 23 minerals critical to the economic wellbeing and security of the United States, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling on federal agencies to devise a strategy to ensure America has reliable supply of these critical minerals. "It shall be the policy of the federal government to reduce the nation's vulnerability to disruptions in the supply of critical minerals, which constitutes a strategic... 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
With the addition of Mark Hamilton as executive vice president of external affairs, the Pebble Limited Partnership continues to build upon an impressive team of Alaska-based leaders as it prepares to advance the world-class Pebble copper mine project towards permitting. "I'm delighted to join the Pebble team as we begin the long and rigorous journey toward permitting a mine engineered to protect the environment and the world-class fisheries of Bristol Bay," Hamilton said....
Alaska’s mining sector is in a global competition for mining investment, making it critical for the state to tout its strengths and address its weakness if it wants to attract the capital needed to expand the industry. During a presentation at the Alaska Miners Association fall convention, Doug Silver, a portfolio manager for Orion Mine Finance, provided an international financier’s perspective of Alaska mining sector’s strengths and where it could be doing better. “I have th...
In a framework agreement announced on Dec. 18, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was revealed as the major mining company that will complete the Pebble Limited Partnership. "We have made good progress in the partnering process and are very pleased to be in advanced-stage discussions with First Quantum, an industry leader in mine development and management," Ron Thiessen, president and CEO, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., currently the sole owner of the Pebble Partnership. While the...
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
Millrock Resources Inc. is a project generating mineral exploration company with seven projects in Alaska, three in British Columbia, 15 in Mexico and one in New Mexico. In Alaska, Millrock struck a deal with Kinross Gold Corp. that provides the major the option to earn a 70 percent joint venture interest in Liberty Bell, a road-accessible project about 70 miles southwest of Fairbanks that is prospective for copper-gold porphyry and associated gold deposits. Previous work at...
Kinross Gold Corp. has a two-pronged exploration strategy – focus its own efforts on high-quality brownsfield assets, including the discovery of new resource surrounding its existing operations; and nab a foothold on promising greenfield opportunities through partnerships with high-quality junior exploration companies. The Fort Knox Mine in Interior Alaska is an example of the success the company has had in expanding resources near its mines. In its 21st year of operation, t...
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...
Zinc, copper and gold are the top metals sought by Teck Resources Ltd. In Alaska, this work is dedicated to extending the life of the Red Dog Mine by upgrading high-grade zinc resources near the current mine area and seeking out new deposits across 224,000 acres of highly prospective lands surrounding the Northwest Alaska operation. Going into 2017, Red Dog had 50.9 million metric tons of probable reserves, averaging 15 percent zinc, 4.2 percent lead and 76 grams per metric ton silver. Anarraaq-Aktigiruq, situated roughly...
PolarX Ltd. debuted this year as a new Australia-based exploration company focused on advancing Caribou Dome and Stellar, high-grade copper and copper-gold projects in Southcentral Alaska. This company is the product of a merger between Coventry Resources, a Perth-based junior that had been exploring Caribou Dome for the past two years, and Vista Minerals Pty Ltd., a privately owned "Down Under" explorer that holds the rights to the adjacent Stellar copper-gold project. The pr...
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
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...
In a framework agreement announced on Dec. 18, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was revealed as the major mining company that will complete the Pebble Limited Partnership. "We have made good progress in the partnering process and are very pleased to be in advanced-stage discussions with First Quantum, an industry leader in mine development and management," Ron Thiessen, president and CEO, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., currently the sole owner of the Pebble Partnership. While the...
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...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided not to impose additional bonding requirements on the American mining sector, the regulator announced on Dec. 1. Under the Obama Administration, EPA had proposed the implementation of hefty new financial assurance requirements for mining operations in the U.S. under Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, more commonly kwon as CERCLA or Superfund. CERCLA was enacted by Cong...
The mill at Fort Knox Mine in Interior Alaska will likely be churning out gold for several more years, thanks to Kinross Gold Corp. gaining mineral rights to the Gilmore land parcel immediately west of the current open-pit. The long-lived gold mine was beginning to get to the end of its reserves, especially those of high enough grade to support keeping the mill in operation. This was not good news for the some 900 direct and contract workers who take home healthy paychecks...
