The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 83
Alaska's mining industry captured the attention, not only of Alaskans but also the country during the past year when a controversy over the proposed Pebble Project in Southwest Alaska bubbled to the surface. Supporters and opponents of a ballot initiative aimed at blocking the mining venture squared off in a vocal and often strident campaign that made headlines nationwide. Alaska Miners Association director Steve Borell cited the contest over development the world-class...
The last month has seen a massive transition in Alaska from planning to execution, from getting ready to go to the field to boots on the outcrop and drills in the ground. Each year the hustle and bustle of the Alaska summer exploration season subsumes virtually everything else (except the Stanley Cup) as field programs launch around the state. This year has been no different with base metal programs in the Brooks Range, gold programs in Interior Alaska and the Seward... Full story
As termination dust falls across most of Alaska, the curtain has come down for the bulk of the exploration projects around the state; however, mine development programs as well as mine-site exploration continue apace as does some exploration work in tropical Southeast Alaska. With few exceptions, preliminary conclusions drawn from 2010 work indicate that 2011 is going to be a busy year. And though a lot of exploration and development is still going on for gold, copper... Full story
Two seminal events related to the Alaska mining industry occurred in the past month. First, in late June, Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. reported the commencement of production at it Kensington gold mine near Juneau. The mine has now joined the ranks of large-scale producers here in Alaska but only after lots of years and lots of dollars, capped by a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court! Hat's off to Coeur for its commitment to Alaska and for its desire to do this job right. Secondly,...
As the long-awaited summer solstice comes and goes, Alaska's mining industry is deep in the midst of its summer exploration, development and production programs. Mineral exploration programs are under way from far Southeast Alaska to the Brooks Range, from eastern Interior Alaska to the Seward Peninsula. The commodities being explored for, developed and mined are equally diverse and include gold, silver, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, platinum and palladium. Two new exploration...
As Alaska's mining industry moves into the frenetic summer exploration and development season, the rest of the world is being buffeted by wild financial and commodity "mood swings" that are affecting the metals markets. The big markets shake the little markets and the little markets shake Alaska. Perfect example: the World Gold Council recently reported that China's growing middle class is expected to double its demand for gold for jewelry and investment purposes over the...
Geologically, Alaska is a terrane wreck, with multiple tectonic plates dumping their mineral payloads over the landscape. Geologists are still sifting through the wreckage in many places across the state to determine which mineral deposits were dumped by which terranes and when - a task not always easily accomplished as pileups have resulted, in many cases, from multiple mineralization events happening in the same geographical regions over time. A terrane is a series of...
Metals markets continue to climb out of the basement as the world demand for metals resumes its upward trend. Fueled by this growing demand, numerous Alaska precious, base and rare metal projects reported results of their 2009 exploration, development and production programs. The recent Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage felt this surge of interest with the highest attendance in more than a decade. The atmosphere at the conference was charged with optimism, a co...
Exploration in 2009 at Goldrich Mining Co.'s Chandalar property in northern Alaska could pay golden dividends. Utilizing a gravity gold recovery plant of its own design and fabrication, the explorer-miner began a 200-cubic-yard-per-hour test mining operation at its 14,993-acre property, located 200 miles north of Fairbanks. "We have constructed a large and unique double drum trommel and triple sluice system wash plant that we believe will have the capacity to process... Full story
Goldrich Mining Co. completed a brief pilot program during the final weeks of the short Arctic placer mining season at Little Squaw Creek on the miner's 14,993-acre Chandalar property located in the foothills of the Brooks Range about 200 miles north of Fairbanks. The three-week trial run involved a full-scale mining test that produced 593.5 ounces of placer gold. The Spokane-based miner said the test also yielded valuable mining and engineering data that will enable it to... Full story
As the active exploration season winds down in Alaska, both good news and bad is afoot and both sets of news turn out to be the same data. Double speak you say? Read on and judge for yourself. Halifax-based Metals Economics Group announced some preliminary numbers relating to worldwide mineral industry exploration for 2009. The group estimates that worldwide exploration spending will drop to US$8.4 billion in 2009, a 40 percent decrease from the US$14 billion spent in 2008.... Full story
Although Alaska's summer field season is quickly coming to an end, the mineral industry continues to gain momentum thanks to rapidly increasing metals prices, fueled in part by growing industrial demand and an astonishing increase in investment demand for metals like gold and silver. Goldfields Mineral Service reported that for the period 1993 to 2000, world gold investment averaged about 383 metric tons of metal per year, while annual gold investment for the period 2001 throu...
They say when it rains, it pours, and that is just what is happening with news from field programs all over Alaska. Results from summer 2009 programs are pouring in from the Brooks Range to Prince of Wales Island, from Eastern Interior Alaska to Southwestern Alaska. Commodities of interest range from the expected gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc to the nearly unpronounceable, including praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, thulium, lutetium and yttrium. Go ahead, drop a...
I have been reading the tea leaves and think there is an extremely important sequence of events unfolding that represents a golden opportunity for Alaska. Please bear with me as I try to wade through the logic of this and you can tell me what you think. About two months ago, Brent Cook, a well-known mining analyst and owner of Exploration Insights, published a rather illuminating article entitled "Where Have All the Gold Mines Gone?" The upshot of his article was that most...
Alaska saw robust mining activity in 2008 across the full spectrum of the industry, from small placer operations to major producers, and from exploration programs to advanced development projects. Here is a look at companies reporting significant progress during the year. Placer mining Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. has recovered 26,879 ounces of placer gold from channel and bench deposits in the Nolan Valley through 2007. The largest nugget recovered from the property, located about 280 miles north of Fairbanks, weighed 41.35...
Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. has recovered 26,879 ounces of placer gold from channel and bench deposits in the Nolan Valley through 2007. The largest nugget recovered from the property, located about 280 miles north of Fairbanks, weighed 41.35 ounces and was valued at $16,000 by weight, and sold for $50,000. Due to the coarse nature of the placer gold recovered, Silverado has begun exploration for the lode source of the gold. This season, the company completed 34 drill holes totaling 11,597 feet as part of its 2008 exploration d... Full story
After decades of doggedly chasing the legendary allure of the gold-rich Chandalar District northern Alaska, Little Squaw Gold Mining Co. is showing signs of closing in on its recent goals. The Spokane, Wash.-based junior changed its name in May to Goldrich Mining Co. It also released findings April 30 from an independent, conceptual economic scoping study of its alluvial gold deposit discovery in the Little Squaw Creek drainage on the property. Goldrich controls key acreage in the Chandalar district, which is about 190 air... Full story
Let me extend my apologies to all those looking for a quick summary of the Alaska mining industry this month. There is nothing "quick" about the tome you are about to read, but don't blame the messenger. I just report what I read, and this month it's a sack full! No need for more words, just read on! Western Alaska NovaGold Resources announced results of a newly released report on the Rock Creek project, nearing commercial production outside of Nome. The revised feasibility... Full story
For any of you who have experienced that odd quiet before a big storm hits, I'd suggest you grab Toto and head for the root cellar because the "quiet" is about to end and the perfect storm is about to begin! I say this because the mining industry took its collective breath during the last month and recharged its batteries in preparation for what looks to be a wild and woolly 2008. Commodities prices remain high; worldwide demand for metals and energy minerals remains strong, and investment capital is there for quality mining... Full story
Little Squaw Mining Co. reported encouraging assay results from 68 of 99 holes drilled this year at Little Squaw Creek in the Chandalar Mining District, about 190 miles north of Fairbanks. The Spokane, Wash.-based company controls 14,993 acres in mining claims covering most of the Chandalar district on the southern slope of the Brooks Range. This includes 22 patent claims. A 15,500 foot drilling program at Little Squaw Creek in 2007 was designed to delineate a placer gold...
In days gone by the Alaska mining industry thought of December as a time of decreased activity and a chance to catch your breath before the New Year started. Well, in case you have not noticed, those days are long gone! This month's activities stretch from one side of Alaska to the other with metals of interest spanning the periodic table of elements. Results from a number of programs are still outstanding and likely will not be seen until the New Year, blurring transitions...
For those of you who could not attend the Alaska Miners Association convention in Anchorage in early November, you missed what I understand was a record attendance and presentations on some of the most exciting mining developments in the last decade. In addition, I noticed a lot more business being conducted around the conference hotel than is normally the case. Geologists and engineers from companies large and small could be seen hunkered down over reports and maps with... Full story
Alaska's summer exploration season is in full swing with strong budgets on a number of projects around the state. Alaska's mines also weighed in with strong quarterly results as metal prices remain strong. The hot spots in the state this month include Southeast Alaska, Interior Alaska and the Alaska Range but don't think that silence means there is nothing going on! We are entering the period where everyone has his nose to the ground and has little time for news releases or...
The exploration season has started but not before a bevy of new corporate competitors have entered the Alaska mineral scene and not before a number of past producing mines have been dragged into the 21st century. During the last month, three new companies have acquired properties in Alaska and two old Alaska producers have been brought out of mothballs to have new exploration done on them. This month's commodities of interest include gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver, uranium,...
Okay, the lull is over. It lasted about 25, maybe 30 minutes, after I wrote those prophetic but ill-considered words in late January! Shortly after that point I was in Vancouver for the annual Cordilleran Roundup mining conference, an annual barometer of mining activity in western North America if not the world. What I saw at the 2007 conference was a crowd well in excess of 5,000, populated by two types of people: those who were smiling from ear to ear and those whose terrified eyes reminded me of a whitetail deer in the...
