Mining can return to being a sunrise business in British Columbia, the province's Energy and Mines Minister Richard Neufeld said in unveiling a broad plan to build on the industry's recent recovery after a long slump through the 1990s. He said... — Updated 1/30/2005 Full story

Pele Mountain Resources, a junior exploration company, says it has discovered two large diamond-bearing zones in northern Ontario. Exploration at the Festival diamond project is being financed by gold producer Goldcorp, which has an option to... — Updated 1/30/2005

Management and employees at the Red Dog zinc mine near Kotzebue expect a decision from the National Labor Relations Board in February on holding a union election there. The mine's electrical workers have asked to join the International Brotherhood... — Updated 1/30/2005

The finders of Newfoundland's huge Voisey's Bay nickel deposit are cashing in their royalty interest for C$180 million and 1 million shares of a new mining royalty company. Christopher Verbiski and Albert Chislett, the prospectors who uncovered... — Updated 1/30/2005 Full story

The age of claim staking - with all of its excitement, intrigue and even hand-to-hand combat - is over in British Columbia. Now you can acquire mineral rights without even leaving your office. The provincial government has joined two other... — Updated 1/30/2005

Gold mining companies are reacting cautiously to the latest spikes in gold prices in valuing their assets, unsure where the U.S. dollar is headed, an annual survey by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers has concluded. Ignoring a peak of close to $460 an ounce... — Updated 1/30/2005

De Beers and Inco, world powers in the diamond and nickel industries, have linked up to explore for gems and base metals on Baffin Island in Canada's Far North. The two companies signed a precedent-setting, two-year agreement Jan. 19 to share explo... — Updated 1/30/2005 Full story

Sarah Hurst has been selected as the editor of North of 60 Mining News starting with the February issue. Hurst has more than 15 years experience as a journalist and editor. Most recently she was editor of Russian Far East News; before that she was... — Updated 1/30/2005

Drilling for diamonds is getting under way at Shulin Lake, 47 miles northwest of Anchorage. This year's $1 million drill program is a joint venture between Calgary-based Golconda Resources (51 percent), Shulin Lake Mining and Shear Minerals. The... — Updated 1/30/2005 Full story

A recent Dow Jones report puts a slightly more definite timetable on what NovaGold Resources has been telling Alaskans for the last year: That it's getting ready to make the leap from explorer to mine operator when it starts production at what... — Updated 1/30/2005

When Andrew Olson first came to Alaska from Sweden, in February 1907, he had to hike the 400 miles from Valdez to Fairbanks. Mining pioneer David Strandberg paid Olson $7 a day to shovel dirt and gravel into sluice boxes and pan for gold. In 1938... — Updated 1/30/2005

Homer Electric Association and Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., will conduct a joint initiative to review the feasibility of a phased power development plan for the Pebble gold-copper-molybde... — Updated 1/30/2005 Full story

Full Metal Minerals plans an "aggressive" exploration program in southwest Alaska this summer, having signed a second agreement with a Native corporation, the Vancouver-based company said Jan. 22. The second agreement is with Bristol Bay Native... — Updated 1/30/2005

Robert Buchan, the president and CEO of Toronto-based Kinross Gold, has announced that he will step down following the company's AGM on April 27 and assume the role of non-executive chairman. Buchan, 57, who is from Scotland, founded Kinross in... — Updated 1/30/2005

Mining, of course, is the oldest profession in Alaska. In the late 19th century the "fancy ladies" followed the miners up to outposts like Juneau and Nome, and then came the lawyers. A motley crew of Alaska mining history buffs told entertaining... — Updated 1/30/2005

A new mining company has staked out a future in Alaska with the acquisition of the Shorty Creek prospect near Livengood. Select Resources, formed last December, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bakersfield, Calif.-based Tri-Valley. Gold Range Ltd.,... — Updated 1/30/2005 Full story

In a rebound year for Canadian coal, it was no surprise that Grande Cache Coal topped the performance list of companies that made initial public offerings in 2004. Bolstered by a threefold rise in the price of metallurgical coal, the Alberta-based... — Updated 1/30/2005