The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 149
Royal Gold Inc. Feb. 6 said it has two criteria for any mining company interested in buying the Peak Gold project in Alaska – a willingness to make building a mine at the high-grade gold project a priority and a commitment to use the highest standards to do so. "Royal Gold will remain committed to the project over the long term through our existing royalty interests, and our considerations for any potential transfer of ownership will include a commitment to advance the project...
Alaska boasts what many consider the most successful Aboriginal land claims settlement on Earth – a solution that has not only turned out to be a cultural success, but a brilliant business move for the more than 140,000 Alaska Natives and an economic boon for the state that covers the resource-rich lands these industrious and innovative peoples have called home for millennia. Signed into law by U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, comm... Full story
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. is working on a deal to lease Johnson Tract, a gold-rich polymetallic deposit in Southcentral Alaska, from Cook Inlet Region Inc., an Alaska Native regional corporation more commonly known as CIRI. Located about six miles west of Cook Inlet and roughly 125 miles southwest of Anchorage, the 20,942-acre Johnson Tract property hosts a gold and base metals deposit that is reminiscent of the historical Eskay Creek Mine in neighboring British...
Cook Inlet Region Inc., also known as CIRI, May 21 informed shareholders that its board of directors oppose "Yes for Salmon," a ballot initiative slated to be put before Alaska voters during the November general election. In Raven's Circle, a monthly newsletter to shareholders, CIRI said the Yes for Salmon, also referred to as Stand for Salmon, ballot initiative would overhaul regulations affecting virtually any type of project in Alaska. CIRI, one of twelve land-based Alaska...
Governments around the world are collaborating to focus on addressing Climate Change and Global Warming. The Paris Climate Accord adopted numerous measures to "limit a global temperature rise this century below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels". Although there are many things that can be done to address climate change, the most meaningful and obvious is to use cleaner forms of energy and transportation. Alaska has shown the world how energy resources can be... Full story
Born from an idea to create a vehicle that could provide Alaska businesses lower interest rates offered by tax-exempt financing, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, has been doing its part to create jobs and bolster Alaska's economy for five decades. "Fifty years ago, the Alaska State Legislature created the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, to develop, encourage, and improve the economic potential and welfare of the people of... Full story
Thanks to its own rich mineral endowment, Australia is a juggernaut in the world of mining, especially across the Southern Hemisphere. Over the past couple of years, however, a growing number of Aussie mining companies are looking north to Alaska, another minerals-rich land way north of the Equator. At least four Aussie juniors – White Rock Minerals Ltd., PolarX Ltd., Nova Minerals Ltd. and Riversgold Ltd. – and three Australia-based metals producers – South32 Ltd., North... Full story
Undoubtedly, one of the most fun parts of my vocation is introducing Cheechakos to mining in Alaska. Obviously, even the most experienced miners in the state can, and often do, get cross-wise with the impenetrable rules and regulations of which Alaska seems to boast. For these newcomers to Alaska, the risk of failure for political reasons far exceeds the risks of failing to find gold and other valuable minerals. The very first layer of complexity is the land status. As most... Full story
With rising metals prices helping to bolster the state's mining sector, Alaska mine leaders had good news to deliver to Alaska Senate and House resource committees during a Feb. 13 trip to Juneau. "I am happy to report that after four years of declining metals prices things started to improve in 2016, so we are able to report better economic numbers for 2017," Council of Alaska Producers Executive Director Karen Matthias informed members of the resource committees. The strong... Full story
Miners see mountains of federal regulations standing between them and the development of Alaska’s unparalleled mineral wealth. In the recently published Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies, 449 global mining executives ranked Alaska 59th, right below Zimbabwe, when it comes to uncertainty concerning environmental regulations. This perception is not just that of those observing Alaska from afar, but also one shared by the miners who are trying to develop and operate m... Full story
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has added 33 days to the comment period for the draft environmental impact statement for Donlin Gold, providing area residents and other interested parties more time to review the lengthy document and offer informed input on the enormous gold mine project proposed for the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Southwest Alaska. The Donlin Gold Mine being considered in the draft EIS includes a 53,500-metric-ton-per-day mill that is expected to produce an... Full story
Mining's contribution to Alaska's economy starts with the hefty paychecks being issued to the some 4,350 miners that work in the state, according to recent study completed by the Alaska Miners Association and McDowell Group. The report, "The economic benefits of Alaska's mining industry," found that the average miner working in Alaska during 2016 received a whopping US$108,000 for the year, about double the average income across all sectors in the state. That is nearly US$470... 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
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...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Dec. 11 announced the appointment of renowned Alaska Native leader William Iggiagruk Hensley to its board of directors. Born in Kotzebue, Northwest Alaska, Hensley was a key player in the settlement of Alaska's Native claims with the United States government. He attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and graduated with a degree in Political Science from George Washington University in Washington, DC. While attending graduate school in Fairbanks,...
Like all Americans, those of us who live in that part of America that is generally contained in a tiny inset on the lower left corner of traditional maps, have watched and waited as the most improbable of candidates for the White House, one by one, slew the dragons of tradition, aided and abetted by a press corps that is somehow able to draw a distinction between satire and fake news. The President-elect has nominated many of his picks for cabinet and other high-ranking...
In almost fifty years of having practiced law, it has consistently been my counsel to my clients to avoid litigation wherever possible, subject to a lengthy list of qualifications. Certain miscreants are entitled to a trial of their peers before lengthy incarceration or worse. Some bad actors simply don't understand the law. Occasionally, there are issues that require a referee in the personae of a judge. And then, there are matters of principle. Principles are tricky things....
The Nature Conservancy Jan. 26 announced a deal that secures the sale and permanent retirement of an Alaskan coal field, while ensuring long-term income for an Alaskan Native community. The deal will see the Chugach Alaska Corp., an Alaska Native regional corporation whose traditional lands stretch along the gulf of Alaska from the Kenai Peninsula to the Alaska Panhandle, sell the rights to its Bering River coal field to New Forests, a sustainable forestry and conservation...
On March 28, 2016, six days after the U. S. Supreme Court rendered its unanimous opinion in the matter of "Sturgeon v. Frost," I offered testimony before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on behalf of the Alaska Miners Association. My testimony concerned six specific statutory recommendations for resolving many of the ongoing issues Alaskans are laboring under as the result of wrong-headed interpretations by the four major federal land-managing agencies...
While not the official theme of the Arctic International Mining Symposium, the notion that Alaska is different was an undertone that permeated every facet of the Alaska Miners Association's spring mining convention in Fairbanks. Alaska's extraordinary mineral endowment and the unique physical challenges of realizing this potential in a vast and underdeveloped Arctic state are traditional topics for discussion at this biennial gathering in the "Golden Heart City." This year,...
God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. [T]he tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. - Thomas Jefferson, 1787 For openers, it appears that neither of the leading contenders for the presidency of the United States has identified any significant positions on the development of natural resources on public lands. Sen. (Hillary) Clinton, D-NY, it may be presumed, will emulate her predecessor and casually... Full story
Nearly three weeks after Teck Alaska, operator of the Red Dog Mine in northwest Alaska, sued the Northwest Arctic Borough over a steep tax hike implemented at the beginning of the year, the chasm between the two sides seems to have only widened. In preparation for its plans to "aggressively pursue a satisfactory legal resolution" to the charges brought by Teck, Northwest Arctic Borough has released information outlining its perspective on the argument. In a Jan. 26 statement,... Full story
The Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska is highly regarded as an example of a mining company and local aboriginal interests sitting down at the negotiating table and working out a deal that serves the economic and social interests of both. A steep tax hike, however, threatens to shorten the life of the world-class zinc mine and thereby the partnership forged between Teck Resources Ltd. and NANA Regional Corp. The tax increase was introduced recently by the Northwest Arctic...
After 20 years of exploration and permitting, the Donlin Gold project is on the downhill side of gaining the permits needed to develop a mine at the 39-million-ounce gold deposit in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Southwest Alaska. On Nov. 25, the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers released a draft Environmental Impact Statement for what will likely be among the largest gold-producing mines on the planet. The Donlin Gold Mine being considered in the draft EIS includes a... Full story
Barrick Gold Corp. and Novagold Resources Inc. Nov. 30 reported that the Donlin Gold Draft Environmental Impact Statement has been published by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, a significant permitting milestone for the 39-million-ounce Donlin Gold project located in the Kuskokwim region of Southwest Alaska. Leaders of Calista Corp., the Alaska Native regional corporation that owns the mineral rights at Donlin Gold, and Kuskokwim Corp., the village corporation that owns the... Full story
