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 116
Underscoring the interconnected nature of the global mining market, not 48 hours after the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law, the mining industry began wondering out loud how they were going to produce rare earth element, tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum in the near future. Why these metals and why the worry now? Because one of the many impacts the Defense Authorization Act will have on the U.S. economy is its ban on the U.S. Department of... Full story
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Aug. 21 reported results from four holes from this year's 10,000-meter drill program that continue to expand the South Wall and AG zones at the Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. South Wall-RW, the primary volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit outlined so far at Palmer, contains 8.1 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 5.25 percent (940.4 million pounds) zinc, 1.41 percent (252.6 million lb) copper, 0.32 g/t (83,600 ounces) gold...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Aug. 13 reported that results from metallurgical testing demonstrate a premium-quality barite concentrate can be produced as a co-product to the copper, zinc, gold and silver found in the volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit at the Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. According to a resource calculated in 2015, the South Wall-RW deposit at Palmer hosts 8.1 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 5.25 percent (940.4 million pounds)...
Although the Alaska mineral industry is in better health in the middle of 2018 than it has been in the last five years, the spirited recovery that was in progress in the first quarter of the year is now looking more like a dead-cat bounce – a minor recovery after a long down trend. This is particularly true of the exploration sector. Reviewing the Alaska minerals industry, you will note that several exploration projects are only now commencing their 2018 exploration p... Full story
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. said the first two holes of a 10,000-meter drill program at its Palmer joint venture project encountered wide intervals of silver-gold-zinc-lead-barite volcanogenic massive sulfide mineralization 150 meters southeast of the AG Zone, increasing the strike length of this 2017 discovery to 350 meters. Being carried out by a joint venture between Constantine Metal Resources (51 percent) and Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd. (49 percent), this year's...
The summer field season is in full bloom across Alaska with programs stretching from the Brooks Range to southeastern Alaska, and from the Yukon border to southwestern Alaska. Exploration targets range from grassroots to mine-site, focused on commodities including gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, cobalt and graphite. For Alaska's exploration industry, planned, announced and estimated expenditures are well over the $100 million mark for 2018. This expenditure level is well... Full story
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. June 6 reported the start of a 10,000-meter drill program to expand the resource and test new targets at the Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Southeast Alaska. Being carried out by a joint venture between Constantine (51 percent) and Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd. (49 percent), this year's drilling will target the definition and expansion of the copper-zinc-silver-gold resource at the South Wall-RW deposit; expansion of the AG...
One of the most common complaints I hear from companies and individuals working in the mineral industry in Alaska is our deplorable lack of modern, usable-scale digital geophysical and geologic maps. How bad is it? Consider this: the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that less than 2 percent of Alaska has acceptable geophysical data coverage, and less than 20 percent has been geologically mapped at a scale useful to evaluate the state's mineral resources. Nobody will deny... Full story
11 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the Palmer copper-zinc-silver-gold project in Southeast Alaska. A roughly US$9 million exploration program outlined by Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. on May 10 proposes not only the annual tradition of resource expansion and new discoveries but also plans to provide the first peek into the economics of mining the copper- and zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits found there so far. Being carried out by a joint venture...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. May 1 said it intends to raise C$10 million through a non-brokered private placement that will include a major strategic investment from Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund II L.P., an investment fund managed by The Electrum Group LLC. Altius Minerals Corp. and John Tognetti, a major shareholder and Constantine Metal insider, are also slated to participate in the financing. "We welcome the Electrum 'family' as a major shareholder, who we...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Jan. 6 named Ian Cunningham-Dunlop as the company's vice president of advanced projects, an appointment that signals the transition to advanced stage exploration and evaluation work at the Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. South Wall-RW zone, the most advanced of the high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits and prospects identified at Palmer, hosts 8.1 million metric tons of inferred resource grading 1.41 percent copper, 5.25 percent...
From wide zones of high-grade copper and zinc in resource expansion drilling to a discovery hole with grades worthy of being compared to Greens Creek, Constantine Metals Resource and Dowa Metals & Mining's 2017 drill program at the Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Southeast Alaska is off to a great start. After investing US$22 million into Palmer over the previous four years, Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska Ltd. earned a 49 percent joint venture interest in the... Full story
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. April 12 announced plans for 7,000 meters of drilling this year at the Palmer project, Alaska in Southeast Alaska. This will mark the first program under the newly formed joint venture between Constantine (51 percent) and Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska Ltd (49 percent). The partners have developed a new multi-year plan for Palmer that includes exploration for new resources across the district-scale property, as well as expanding and upgrading the current inferred copper-zinc polymetallic...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Aug. 17 reported additional long, high-grade intercepts from exploration drilling at the Nunatak AG zone, a volcanogenic massive sulfide discovery located about 3,000 meters south of the South Wall-RW deposit at the Palmer project in Southeast Alaska. The discovery hole at Nunatak AG, reported in July, cut 9.2 meters of massive barite-sulfide averaging 312 grams per metric ton silver and 0.9 g/t gold. CMR17-92, drilled about 140 meters south of the discovery hole, cut 17.8 meters grading 11.7...
Reuters recently reported that the 10 largest gold-producing companies worldwide have steadily increased their near-mine exploration budgets over the past few years to 56 percent in 2015 from 45 percent in 2013. They also reduced their higher-risk greenfields exploration budgets to 21 percent from 25 percent in the same time period. This retrenchment of exploration by the larger producers is occurring, while global gold output is declining with an expected reduction of 9...
Over the past four years, Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. has been able to carry out roughly US$20 million of exploration at its Palmer copper- and zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Southeast Alaska. This steady exploration through the recent downturn in mining markets was made possible by a timely partnership with Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd. At the onset of 2013, Dowa and Constantine inked a deal that provides the Tokyo-based smelting and mining company with the opportunity to earn a 49 percent stake in... Full story
Mineral exploration spending in Alaska hit an apex of US$365 million in 2011, but as venture capital for mining explorers dried these expenditures plummeted 78 percent to US$80 million in 2015. However, rising gold prices and a loosening of venture capital in 2016 seems to have marked an end to a painfully long bear market for mining explorers in Alaska. “After taking head shots for the past four years, the industry suddenly came to life over the past month, with new budgets,...
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
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Jan. 5 reported that Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska Ltd. opted to exercise its option to become a 49 percent joint venture partner in Palmer, a copper- and zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide project near Haines in Southeast Alaska. Early in 2013, Dowa and Constantine inked a deal that provides the Tokyo-based smelting and mining company with the opportunity to earn a 49 percent stake in the Palmer project by investing US$22 million over a four-year span. Dowa invested roughly US$20 million...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. is a metals exploration company focused primarily on its Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide project in Southeast Alaska. Dowa Metals & Mining Co. Ltd., which joined Constantine in advancing exploration and potential development of Palmer in 2013, had invested US$20 million in advancing the VMS project through the end of 2016. This, along with US$2 million deposited into a joint venture account, earned the Tokyo-based smelting and mining company a 49 percent stake in the Palmer. Constantine...
Alaska's minerals exploration sector is on an upswing, thanks to Australian mining explorers looking north and mining majors upping their activities in the state. South32 Ltd., a Perth, Australia-based miner spun out of BHP Billiton Plc, is the largest mining company from Down Under to express an interest in Alaska's mineral potential this year. South32, which has eight operating mines in the Southern Hemisphere, secured an option to acquire a 50 percent interest in Trilogy... Full story
With winter programs winding down and summer efforts rapidly ramping up, it is becoming clear that 2017 will be a much more vigorous year for the Alaska mining industry than the 2013 to 2016 period. For example, my internal estimates are already pushing $75 million for exploration activity alone and a significant number of projects that have announced exploration plans have not yet announced budgets for 2017, so that number is likely to rise. Compare this to estimates of less...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. June 13 announced the start of a 7,000-meter drill program with two drills at the Palmer volcanogenic massive sulfide project near Haines, in Southeast Alaska. This is the first program under the newly formed Palmer joint venture between Constantine (51 percent) and Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska Ltd (49 percent). The majority of this year's drilling is dedicated to discovery of new mineral deposits. Palmer is host to numerous high-quality prospects with large hydrothermal alteration zones and...
As the Alaska mining industry prepares for and kicks off exploration, development and production activities for 2017, the question on everyone’s lips at the recent Cordilleran Roundup mining convention in Vancouver, B. C., was the same: “Have we seen the bottom of this down cycle?” While signs of life were seen for short periods during the 2008 to 2015 period, the reality was an overall downward spiral of commodities prices and global demand. However, in a recent editi...
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Nov. 7 said it has entered an agreement to sell a portion of its gold properties in Ontario for C$4.5 million, funds that it can apply to furthering exploration at the Palmer project near Haines, Alaska. "Upon closing the transaction Constantine will have more than $5 million in cash to co-fund the exploration development of our advanced flagship Palmer copper-zinc-silver-gold project in Southeast Alaska," said Constantine Chairman Wayne...
