2010 Mining Explorers: All eyes look North in 2010

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 Underworld Resources, the company that owned and discovered the White Gold deposit located 90 kilometers south of Dawson.

Kinross is a Canada-based gold mining company that operates mines around the world, including the Fort Knox Gold Mine near Fairbanks, Alaska. It was picked as one of the 50 top socially responsible corporations in 2009. The takeover offer by Kinross for Underworld Resources is an acknowledgement of the quality of the White Gold discovery, the exploration potential for more discoveries on Underworld's extensive claim holdings in the Dawson Range and the attractiveness of Yukon as a competitive mining jurisdiction on the world scale.

Many additional companies have acquired ground in the White Gold area and throughout the Dawson Range Belt and preliminary exploration work in 2009 has resulted in several companies starting extensive drill programs this season.

One of those companies is Kaminak Gold Corp., whose drill holes on the Coffee property in the White Gold District has found impressive results, including 17.07 grams per metric ton gold over 15.5 meters and 21.3 g/t gold over 8 meters. The exploration community will be watching Kaminak and others conducting drilling in the Dawson Range Belt very closely to see if the region can produce another significant discovery.

The Rau property of ATAC Resources is a new discovery that has caught the attention of the exploration world. The property, located to the northeast of Keno City, has been called the "Silent Rush," as the company has been conducting substantial claim staking under the radar and has expanded the property to 6,642 claims, approximately 1,300 square kilometers; larger than Hong Kong. Recent results from this summer's drilling have been impressive; among them is 51.68 g/t gold over 10.67 meters.

Development

Impressive progress has been made on construction of the Wolverine Mine by Yukon Zinc Corp. During the past year up to 300 people have been working at the site, and the mine is on schedule to achieve production this fall.

In 2008, Yukon Zinc was acquired by the Jinducheng Molybdenum Group and the Northwest Nonferrous International Investment Co. The new owners are proceeding with development of the Wolverine Mine and are currently in construction phase, having spent C$160 million in 2009 with a total development cost expected to be C$230 million.

Alexco Resources has made considerable progress on development of the Bellekeno mine, which has included mill and infrastructure construction. The company is now fully permitted and is anticipated to start production in the fall of 2010.

The Capstone Minto Mine has been in commercial production for three years. The Minto Mine is the first hardrock mine to operate in the Yukon in several years.

An amendment to the company's mining license has been approved, which allowed Capstone to increase production to 3,200 metric tons of ore per day. Ongoing exploration adjacent to the main ore body has produced very promising results and may extend the life of the mine well past its projected 7-year life span. Continuing exploratory drilling on the property from 2007 to 2009 has identified promising mineralization at areas adjacent to and near the main production pit.

Yukon Energy's construction of a hydro-transmission line from Carmacks to Pelly Crossing in 2009 has provided economic benefits and has allowed the Minto mine and the community of Pelly Crossing to switch from diesel-generated power to hydroelectricity - reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 24,100 tpa. This line is being extended to Stewart Crossing, where it will be connected to the Mayo-Dawson system.

The transmission line will connect Yukon's two established hydro-based transmission systems, the Whitehorse-Aishihik-Faro grid and the Mayo-Dawson system. When complete, renewable power generated anywhere in the two systems will be able to service loads throughout the integrated Yukon grid.

The interconnection of the grids will encourage further developments along the grid corridors, enhance overall Yukon power system reliability and flexibility and enable Yukon to increase its hydroelectric capacity. Enhancements to the Mayo hydroelectric facility were initiated this summer and will add energy to this growing system. The Mayo B project is expected to be complete in 2012.

Yukon's commitment

The Government of Yukon is committed in these challenging economic times to continue improving the investment climate by providing regulatory certainty.

Royalty regulation amendments recently approved for the Quartz Mining Act provide greater certainty to the mining sector and support direct sharing of mining benefits with local communities.

The regulations offer a modern and clear royalty regime for both government and industry which is comparable to other jurisdictions. The regulation is based on national, profit-based royalty standards, establishing a capped royalty rate at 12 percent of net profit. The regulation gives clear instructions for calculating deductions, depreciation and value of the mineral. It also outlines the format for filing, penalties and other administrative provisions for government.

The place to be

Success has been pervasive in every aspect of Yukon's growing mineral industry, including the operating Minto Mine, the mine development at Wolverine and Bellekeno and the exploration at White Gold, Rau and a host of other Yukon projects. Several other Yukon projects will be continuing their economic and environmental studies, adding to the number of potential near-term mines. 2010 has been an exciting one with mining clearly establishing itself as one of Yukon's main industries for the foreseeable future.

For more information on Yukon's advantage, visit: Miningyukon.com.