The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. said its Pebble project could provide another source of jobs and revenue to an Alaska economy challenged by an interrelated combination of COVID-19 and low oil prices. Though fewer than 400 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Alaska, placing it among the lowest states in the country on an absolute and per capita basis, the economic impact of the global pandemic on the largest of the United States is both severe and ongoing. As a result of...
In addition to a potential source for anode material in the lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, the graphitic carbon contained in the enormous Graphite Creek deposit in western Alaska may also work well in high-purity coatings, synthetic semiconductor diamonds, fire suppressing foams and other applications. Graphite One Inc., the company advancing the Graphite Creek project, is working with an unnamed industrial partner to identify...
COVID-19 has not affected gold output at Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine but did contribute to higher production costs at the open-pit operation in Alaska during the first quarter of this year. During the first three months of 2020, Fort Knox produced 51,667 ounces of gold, which is slightly less than the 53,183 oz of produced during the previous quarter but a roughly 37% jump over the 37,613 oz of gold produced at the Interior Alaska mine during the first quarter of...
The price of oil and gold heading in opposite directions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic could mark a tipping point that steers Alaska's economy on a new trajectory more rapidly than policymakers and prognosticators previously envisioned. As lawmakers focus their attention on slowing the spread of novel coronavirus in Alaska and re-opening the state for business as quickly and safely possible, the largest revenue stream to state coffers plummeted to subzero territory....
4 is shaping up to be the best year for Alaska's mineral exploration sector in a decade – that was the message delivered by North of 60 Mining News in January. Now, just four months and one COVID-19 pandemic later, the aspirations of a banner year for the companies unlocking the Last Frontier's vast mineral potential are distant and likely unachievable. While some mineral exploration companies will be able to carry out their 2020 programs as anticipated, restrictions to "...
An attempt to legally force the U.S. Environmental Protection to keep a pre-emptive veto of the Pebble copper mine project active was thwarted in federal court on Friday. On April 17, Alaska District Federal Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a case brought by Pebble opposition groups that contested EPA's 2019 decision to withdraw the preemptive veto of the proposed copper-gold-molybdenum mine in Southwest Alaska. Based on Section 404c of the U.S. Clean Water Act, which is the...
In an unprecedented deal that offers a bit of good news for gold exploration in Alaska, Doyon Ltd. has invested US$1.5 million (C$2.1 million) to acquire a 16.1% strategic ownership of Tectonic Metals Inc., a junior exploration company currently advancing three gold projects in eastern Alaska. An Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation, Doyon owns 12.5 million acres of land spanning Alaska's Interior, making it the largest private landholder in the sta...
Ascot Resources Ltd.'s vision of bringing commercial gold and silver mining back to Stewart, British Columbia took a major step towards reality with the completion of a feasibility study on breathing new life into the past producing Premier Mine. The feasibility study envisions four mines in the Stewart area – Silver Coin, Big Missouri, Red Mountain and Premier – providing ore to the existing 1990s era mill at Premier. With the mill operating at 2,500 metric tons per day, thi...
While the COVID-19 outbreak is unique in terms of the government and societal response, Hecla Mining Company has dealt with pandemics over its 129-year history and had a plan that was implemented early on at its five mines in the United States, Canada and Mexico. "Hecla's quick response to the COVID-19 outbreak began in February and has protected our workforce, enabling them to continue to safely operate our mines," said Hecla Mining President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. Due...
An employee at Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox gold mine near Fairbanks, Alaska has tested positive for COVID-19. Mine management was informed of the positive test on April 9 and informed the other worker at the open-pit gold operation. Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc., the Kinross subsidiary that operates the mine said the employee that tested positive is doing well and has not developed any serious symptoms at this time and is self-isolating at home. The infected employee has not...
Trilogy Metals Inc. April 8 said Ambler Metals LLC still plans to carry out the US$22.8 million program at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska, but COVID-19-related health concerns and restrictions could delay or even prevent the planned 2020 work. This year's work program at UKMP was announced following the February formation of Ambler Metals, a 50-50 joint venture partnership between Trilogy Metals and South32 Ltd. The largest part of this program will...
Kinross Gold Corp. April 1 continues to implement comprehensive and proactive measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the implementation of more than 140 best practice measures at the Fort Knox Mine in Alaska. These new measures that allow employees to practice "social distancing" or "physical distancing" include: • Staggering shift start times and allowing 10 minutes to clock in and out. • Reducing the number of employees on buses at a time and staggering sea...
Amidst the scramble to prepare for an imminent pandemic that is roiling mining and metals markets, the three large mines in Interior Alaska have taken the time to look after the members of their community most vulnerable to COVID-19. On March 12, Kinross Fort Knox Mine, Northern Star Resources Ltd. Pogo Mine and Usibelli Coal Mine collectively donated $21,000 to support an emergency funding request received from the North Star Council on Aging for the Fairbanks Senior Center....
Another Alaska gold mine could soon be owned and operated by an Australian mining company, according to a recent report in a highly regarded Aussie business, finance and investment news publication. Street Talk, a segment of the Australia Financial Review that provides daily updates on Australia's capital markets, recently reported that Federation Gold is in talks to acquire Coeur Mining Inc.'s Kensington underground gold mine in Southeast Alaska. Federation is currently a pri...
Goodpaster Mining District, Alaska – At noon on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020 a roughly 815-ounce gold bar containing the 4 millionth ounce of gold recovered from rich deposits at the Pogo Mine was cooling. While this was a momentous occasion for an Interior Alaska gold mine that began commercial production in 2007, it also seemed to mark a changing of the guard for this operation that is transitioning to a renewed life under the ownership of Northern Star Resources Ltd. "It is a...
The executive summary of the Preliminary Final Environmental Impact Statement (PFEIS) for the Pebble copper-gold mine project in Southwest Alaska was leaked to select media outlets earlier this week, providing an early look at this draft document not yet ready for public release. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the federal agency charged with leading the EIS process for Pebble, last week sent the PFEIS to federal, state and tribal cooperating agencies for review. E&E New...
At just over 200,000 ounces, the 2019 gold production at Fort Knox Mine is the lowest in the 24-year history of this open pit operation a few miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The good news is there are indications that gold output will trend higher during 2020. In its end of 2019 results, released on Feb. 12, Kinross Gold Corp. reported a nearly 22 percent drop in gold produced at its Fort Knox mine during 2019, when compared to the previous year. This operation about 25...
Alaska mines produced roughly $3.13 billion worth of non-fuel minerals last year, down roughly 9 percent from the US$3.44 billion in 2018, according to Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020, an annual report published by the U.S. Geological Survey on Feb. 6 – the earliest comprehensive source of world mineral production data. The drop in Alaska mine production value is largely due to lower output from the two largest gold mines in the state – Fort Knox and Pogo. According to ear...
As we move into 2020 there are still no definitive indications of when joint venture partners Novagold Resources Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. will make the final decision on development of the 39-million-ounce Donlin Gold project in Southwest Alaska. Donlin Gold LLC – a 50-50 JV formed between Novagold and Barrick to advance the world-class gold mine project – has already received most of the state and federal permits to develop and operate the mine. This includes recent iss...
If you are not doing business in Alaska, you should be, this is the message Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy had for the mining community attending the Association for Mineral Exploration Roundup in Vancouver, British Columbia. During a Jan. 22 Alaska Night reception at the Roundup, Dunleavy said Alaska provides the environmental protections and jurisdictional securities that come with being a part of the United States, yet a rich and undeveloped mineral endowment of a frontier juris...
With two Australian companies making major investments and several exploration companies from Down Under chomping at the bit to get into the field, 2020 is shaping up to be the best year for Alaska's mining sector in a decade. When you add up the investments South32 Ltd. plans to make in the Ambler Mining District and other exploration projects; Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s spending at the Pogo gold mine; and the exploration dollars at least five other Aussie companies are...
Development of the rich mineral resource in Alaska's Ambler Mining District took another major leap forward with the Dec. 19 announcement that Australia-based South32 Ltd. is investing US$145 million to become a 50 percent joint venture partner in Trilogy Metals Inc.'s Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP). This Northwest Alaska project covers a more than 70-mile (115 kilometers) stretch of Earth's crust that is uncommonly rich in a variety of precious, base and critical...
Investors looking for mineral exploration companies boasting a team with a proven track record and gold properties in safe and mineral-rich jurisdictions have a new choice with the Tectonic Metals Inc. symbol, TECT, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange at the opening of trading on Nov. 18. While Tectonic may be the newest mineral explorer on the TSX Venture Exchange, the company has been acquiring and assessing gold properties in Alaska for the past two years as a privately...
Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier is confident that the world-class Pebble copper project in Southwest Alaska will continue to achieve significant permitting milestones during 2020 – and those opposed to developing a mine at Pebble agree. "We've known for some time that our project will meet and surpass the rigorous environmental standards enforced in the United States and Alaska, and believe that it will secure its operating permits. Our critics are starting to understand t...
Race Family Mining Operation, a father and son team of placer gold miners on Jack Wade Creek in Alaska's legendary Fortymile Mining District, is being watched closely by federal regulators, world-renowned jewelers and global tech companies. Capturing the attention of federal regulators typically is not high on the priority list of placer gold miners in Alaska. However, if you are working on U.S. Bureau of Land Management mining claims in a road accessible area of the state...
