The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 64
Long before COVID-19 became a household name for a global pandemic, remote mining camps have needed to take precautions to ensure more common illnesses did not spread amongst the crewmembers that share common working, eating, sleeping, and lounging quarters. Now, they are tasked with battling a coronavirus that hides itself longer and is more severe than the common cold or flu. And, despite extensive testing and transmission prevention protocols, COVID-19 continues to find...
Despite a two month suspension of activities and other challenges related to protecting workers and local communities from COVID-19, Donlin Gold LLC managed to exceed its planned drilling at its 39-million-ounce gold project in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Southwest Alaska. "I'd like to congratulate the joint venture team, as well as thank our Native corporation partners, Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corporation, on successfully completing drilling despite the...
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. Sept. 21 reported that it received US$89 million from the sale of 210,661 carats of diamonds from the Gahcho Kué Mine in Northwest Territories. This Sept. 19 sale in Antwerp, Belgium represents the company's first traditional commercial sale since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mountain Province owns a 49% joint venture interest in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories – De Beers Canada Inc. owns the rem...
StrikePoint Gold Inc. Sept. 9 said its 2020 exploration programs in British Columbia's Golden Triangle are being challenged by COVID-19, weather, and a slow return of assay results. Despite these difficulties, however, crews have met their targets at the company's high-grade Willoughby gold-silver and Porter Silver projects near the mining town of Stewart, BC. "I am exceptionally proud of our team's productivity and success in meeting operational milestones and goals, despite...
An invisible line that divides a community in the towns of Stewart, British Columbia and Hyder, Alaska has become a lot more tangible with COVID-19 and the international travel restrictions that comes with it. Now, residents of these remote border towns are asking provincial, state, and federal governments to create a figurative bubble that will reunite neighbors now separated by a mandatory 14-day isolation period and other border crossing limitations. A close-knit community...
Rising metal prices are helping to soften the blow COVID-19 has landed on Alaska's mining sector in 2020. While mining has been deemed an essential business in Alaska, which has helped keep the six large mines in the state operating during the pandemic, measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 are weighing on production at some of these operations. Efforts to flatten the curve on the spread of coronavirus also disrupted several winter drill programs in Alaska,...
Alaska Miners Association Aug. 4 announced the difficult decision to cancel its annual convention and trade show scheduled for Nov. 1-7, 2020 at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage, Alaska. "We understand this is a major loss for AMA and our industry. We are losing our chance to make the networking contacts and business deals that are done each year," AMA penned in a notice to its membership. "We're going to miss seeing our extended AMA family and catching up. We'll miss the...
Though world diamond markets remain closed after their shutdown this spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, diamond mining in Canada's North is showing signs of life. One mine, Ekati, shut down in the spring remains closed and most explorers have delayed field work until 2021, an intrepid few are reporting pre-pandemic progress and post-pandemic activities. In the spring, the governments of Northwest Territories and Nunavut imposed strict operating guidelines for all...
The COVID-19 pandemic has led NANA Corp. and its mining partners, Teck Resources Ltd. and Ambler Metals LLC, to adjust their mineral exploration and mine development plans in order to meet the ever-evolving health and safety mandates to keep shareholders, employees and residents of Northwest Alaska as safe as possible. "Although the pandemic was unexpected, learning to adapt is nothing new for the region and Iñupiaq people. For 40 years, NANA shareholders have supported...
Trilogy Metals Inc. July 8 confirmed that the 2020 field programs at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska has been deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ambler Metals LLC, a joint venture operating company equally owned by Trilogy Metals and South32 Ltd., had budgeted US$22.8 million for the 2020 program. Following the novel coronavirus outbreak, Ambler Metals met with NANA Corp., the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation for...
Northern Star Resources Ltd. June 8 reported that its Pogo Mine in Alaska produced 49,353 ounces of gold during the second quarter of 2020, despite several cases of COVID-19 at this operation about 90 miles southeast of Fairbanks. "The results at our Pogo mine in Alaska were particularly pleasing given the challenging circumstances emanating from COVID-19, where we effectively managed safe operations with 36 confirmed cases through the quarter," said Northern Star Resources Ex...
Hecla Mining Company July 10 said silver production at its Greens Creek silver mine exceeded expectations during the first half of 2020, due to the higher grade ore mined there. The Southeast Alaska operation produced 5.53 million ounces of silver during the first six months of this year, a 20% increase over the 4.61 million oz produced during the first half of 2019. During the three months ending June 30, Greens Creek produced 2.75 million oz of silver, a 16% increase over...
After a two-month suspension due to COVID-19, drills are once again turning at the Donlin Gold project in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Southwest Alaska. Donlin Gold LLC – a 50-50 joint venture between Novagold Resources Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. – began gearing up for a roughly 22,000-meter drill program at Donlin in February and had drills turning on the 39-million-ounce gold project by March. With the novel coronavirus outbreak elevating to pandemic levels, the par...
Nighthawk Gold Corp. June 24 said it is gearing up to resume an exploration program on its Indin Lake gold property in Canada's Northwest Territories that was put on hiatus in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To determine a course of action for safely resuming exploration, Nighthawk has been in discussions with the territorial government and health officials. Based on recently updated public health orders pertaining to transient workers in the mineral exploration...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. June 24 announced a US$2.15 million budget for 2020 activities related to the Palmer zinc-copper-gold-silver project in Southeast Alaska. Funded by the Constantine Mining LLC Joint Venture, which is co-owned by Constantine (51%) and Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd. (49%), the program includes summer field work, environmental and project permitting work for future underground exploration development, and continued outreach to keep the Haines...
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. June 8 announced it has found a buyer of US$50 million of diamonds in a market otherwise closed to the sale of the gems due to COVID-19. Mountain Province owns a 49% joint venture interest in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories – De Beers Canada Inc. owns the remaining 51%. As its sole producing asset, Mountain Province relies on the sale of its share of Gahcho Kué diamonds to fund its portion of the operation, as wel...
National Mining Association President and CEO Rich Nolan says the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the risks associated with America's overreliance on foreign supply chains for nearly every sector of the economy, especially when it comes to minerals. "As states continue to open across the country, we must focus on investing in and establishing domestic supply chains to help speed our economic recovery and make us more resilient to future crises," he penned in a June 9 letter....
Skeena Resources Ltd. June 4 announced it is implementing a vigorous infection prevention and control strategy ahead of resuming exploration and development activities at its Eskay Creek and Snip gold projects in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. Skeena launched a 28,000-meter drill program at Eskay Creek earlier this year but idled the drill after completing 4,237 meters due to COVID-19 restrictions. Planning to resume this program later this month, the company is...
Alaska Department of Natural Resources has finalized COVID-19 guidance for placer gold miners planning to carry out operations on their claims in the state during the 2020 field season. Placer and lode mining are both considered "critical infrastructure" under Alaska's essential services and critical workforce infrastructure order, which means that miners are considered essential workers in the state. These workers, however, must comply with Alaska's existing mandates aimed...
In another example of mining companies across the North stepping up to help their local communities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria Gold Corp. donated C$100,000 to the Food Bank Society of Whitehorse, which provides emergency food to Yukoners. "We're so pleased to be able to support Yukoners in need as COVID-19 continues and our food banks face the front lines of the pandemic," said Victoria Gold President and CEO John McConnell. "The health, safety and...
Northern Star Resources Ltd., owner of the Pogo gold mine, has donated more than US$1.5 million of medical personal protective equipment to communities throughout Alaska, with a focus on the greater Fairbanks and Delta regions. "This is the largest donation we've received from private industry," said Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. "We are extremely grateful to businesses such as Northern Star which have stepped up, provided procurement and logistics expertise, and donated $1.5...
Victoria Gold Corp. May 11 reported strong performance at its newly developed Eagle Gold Mine in the Yukon, thanks in part to the company's COVID-19 action plan. Mining, crushing and stacking ore on the leach pad at Eagle increased significantly during April. As a result, the company reported a significant increase in gold production last month, a trend that is expected to continue in the coming months. Eagle produced 6,768 ounces of gold during April, compared to a total of...
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...
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...
Teck Resources Ltd. June 22 said COVID-19 and water challenges resulted in a significant decrease in the production of zinc and lead at its Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska. Red Dog produced 83,900 metric tons (185 million pounds) of zinc during the second quarter, which is a roughly 47% drop from the 158,000 metric tons (348.3 million lb) produced during the same period of 2019 and a 35% drop from the 128,400 metric tons (283.1 million lb) produced during the first three...
