The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Russia's invasion of Ukraine, America's tenuous relationship with China, and global competition for the enormous volume of mined materials needed to build the envisioned clean energy future has elevated the urgency for the United States to bolster domestic critical mineral supply chains. For many, these geopolitical and economic realities have elevated the development of Alaska's incredible critical mineral resources to a national imperative. The urgency of this matter is why...
From flashlights to supercomputers, tin is the glue for an electronic age Lost in the clamor for lithium, nickel and other metals needed for the batteries powering electric vehicles and modern electronics, or the rare earth elements that turn stored energy into motion, is the enormous need for a much more modest metal that is so fundamental to the advancement of technology that it almost goes unseen – tin. While other technology metals are critical to certain products and s...
Tungsten could be held ransom unless domestic mines open Tungsten, or wolfram, is the 74th element on the periodic table of elements and, like many other metals that have found their way onto critical mineral lists in Canada, Europe, and the United States, this sturdy metal is vulnerable to supply disruption. Tungsten has been known since prehistoric times, and as far back as 350 years ago, Chinese porcelain makers were using this element as a pigment to incorporate a unique...
Noted Alaskan prospector Rudy Vetter once told me, "At my age, I don't even buy green bananas anymore." I heard this sage remark during a mineral property lease negotiation after I offered Mr. Vetter a production royalty, rather than the cold, hard cash he wanted. Mr. Vetter was in his 80s at the time and clearly knew his own investment risk timeline. He also clearly knew that Alaskan mines require a number of years to move from discovery to production. So not surprisingly,...
Felix Gold Ltd. Aug. 1 announced additional near surface gold intercepts from the 15,000-meter drill program being carried out this year on the Treasure Creek project about 20 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Situated about 13 miles west of Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine, Treasure Creek hosts numerous prospects with interesting drill intersections reported by previous explorers on the property. Roughly 2,000 soil samples collected last year identified two key targets...
Freegold Ventures Ltd. July 28 reported strong gold mineralization encountered in the Dolphin deposit, the Cleary Hill Vein System, and the vanishing gap between these two primary targets of drilling at the company's Golden Summit project about 20 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. According to a 2016 calculation, the Dolphin deposit hosts 61.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.69 grams per metric ton (1.36 million ounces) gold; and 71.5 million metric tons...
With the recently completed feasibility study showing an economically robust project, Kinross Gold Corp. has officially decided to move forward with developing a mine at the Manh Choh gold-silver project near the Village of Tetlin, Alaska. "At Manh Choh in Alaska, we completed a feasibility study ahead of schedule, and are proceeding with a project that we expect will add approximately 640,000 lower-cost gold ounces to our production profile over its life of mine in one of...
With an earlier than expected feasibility study on its way for Manh Choh, drilling started at Lucky Shot, and the addition of geologist Curt Freeman to its board of directors, Contango ORE Inc. has a lot to look forward to as 2022 progresses. Freeman's addition to the Contango ORE board coincides with the departure of Joseph Greenberg, an oil and gas executive that has been a director of CORE since it was spun out of Texas-based Contango Oil and into a public company in 2010....
Whether you are involved in the mining industry or not, lifelong Alaskans, at some point or another, have most likely heard the name Usibelli. Perhaps, however, many Alaskans may not be aware that behind the Usibelli Coal Mine is the Usibelli family – owners and operators of the largest coal mine in Alaska. Yet before a titan of Alaskan industry was born, generations of sweat, elbow grease, and raw determination was needed before the name Usibelli would be known. Built from f...
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency, citing section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, announced its intention to prohibit the use of the Bristol Bay watershed for discharging dredged or fill material from the Pebble Project. Both of our Senators issued statements giving qualified support for the proposed decision. Senator Murkowski, however, took the position that she has "never supported a blanket, preemptive approach for any project" recognizing "that this could be...
Cutting 28.9 meters averaging 1.43 grams per metric ton gold in its second hole, Felix Gold Ltd. is off to a strong start at its Treasure Creek project a few miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Felix is an Australian mineral exploration company that was founded specifically to explore for gold in the Fairbanks Mining District, which was discovered by the company's namesake, Felix Pedro, in 1902. Early in 2022, Felix entered into a strategic alliance with Millrock Resources Inc....
Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. June 6 announced the appointment of Ernie Siemoneit to the position of project manager and senior engineer for the Palmer copper-zinc-silver-gold-barite project in Southeast Alaska. Based in Fairbanks, Alaska, Siemoneit brings more than 30 years of experience in management, mining engineering, and operations to the Palmer project. This includes deep knowledge of underground mine design, engineering support, mine system reporting, and...
Nearly all the 50 minerals critical to the United States can be found at mines, deposits, and prospects across Alaska. Intriguing lithium occurrences, however, have not been identified in America's Last Frontier – until now. Discovery Alaska Ltd. says it has identified lithium at the Coal Creek prospect on its Chulitna property about four miles west of the Parks Highway midway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska. Discovery acquired the Chulitna property early last year t...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (May 10, 2022) – "We truly have a bright future for mining in the state if we are allowed to pursue it," was the message Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivered to the more than 250 people that gathered to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Alaska Mining Day. While commemorating the intrepid pioneers that first ventured North in pursuit of Alaska's rich mineral potential and celebrating the mining's current contributions to the state's economy, Dunleavy said t...
Felix Gold Ltd. May 25 announced that it has leased 6,203 acres of gold prospective properties in the Fairbanks Mining District from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office. Lying between Felix' Northeast Fairbanks and Treasure Creek claim packages, this newly leased MHT group of claims lies within 400 meters of the mill at Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine and roughly 200 meters from the Dolphin deposit on Freegold Ventures Ltd.'s Golden Summit project. Felix says the...
Millrock Resources Inc. May 4 announced that Felix Gold Ltd. has begun drilling on the Treasure Creek gold project north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Early in 2021, Felix entered into an alliance with Millrock on several Interior Alaska gold exploration projects – Treasure Creek and Ester Grant near Fairbanks, plus the Liberty Bell project about 70 miles to the southwest. Earlier this year, Felix completed a A$10 million (U$7.1 million) initial public offering and listed on the A...
On April 12, 2013, Governor Sean Parnell signed into law Senate Bill 1, "An Act establishing May 10 of each year as Alaska Mining Day; and providing for an effective date" (Chapter 6, SLA 2013), sponsored by State Senator Cathy Giessel and thirteen other senators as well as nineteen members of the State House of Representatives, commemorating the enactment of the General Mining Law of 1872. This year, on the 150th anniversary of the General Mining Law, the Alaska Miners...
Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities March 25 announced that it will perform an independent analysis of the route between the proposed Manh Choh gold mine near the community of Tetlin and Kinross Alaska's mill at the Fort Knox mine north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Peak Gold JV – a partnership between Kinross Gold Corp. (70%) and Contango ORE Inc. (30%) – plans to truck high-grade ore mined at Manh Choh to the Fort Knox mill for processing. Utilizing the pro...
Avidian Gold Corp. Feb. 28 announced an update from the Copper King and Long Creek 2021 reverse-circulation drill program at its district-scale Golden Zone project strategically located in Southcentral Alaska. "The 2021 drilling results suggest that in the Copper King & Long Creek area, a nearby mineralized intrusive provided gold, copper and silver-bearing solutions that precipitated into favourable permeable sedimentary units that can be traced for over 2 kilometers and...
From an expected multimillion-dollar exploration program on the hardrock sources of the placer gold discovered by Felix Pedro in the Fairbanks Mining District 120 years ago to preliminary investigations of the Nikolai nickel-copper-cobalt-chromium-platinum group element project recently added to its portfolio, Millrock Resources Inc. is looking forward to a busy year of exploration on the properties it has generated in Alaska. "Millrock is looking forward to a very active...
Roughly a 90-minute drive from Anchorage, it can be easy to miss Willow as one makes their way northbound. The view of Denali on the horizon, perhaps a visit to the Princess Lodge or a journey to Fairbanks. Even many lifelong residents may miss it for the more scenic destinations such as Talkeetna, yet the short blip that is Willow used to mean a lot more than buying fireworks. From 201 residents at the start of the new millennia to 190 in 2020, not much has changed in the...
While copper has the potential to be a major contributor to Alaska's economic future, this "new oil" of the low-carbon economy will be hard-pressed to beat out the old money being produced at current and coming gold mines across the Last Frontier. This is due in large part to Kinross Gold Corp.'s new "Kinross Alaska" strategy that is leveraging the underutilized 14-million-metric-ton-per-year mill and storage capacity at Fort Knox to process higher-grade ore mined from...
Felix Gold Ltd. Jan. 31 announced the completion of an A$10 million (U$7.1 million) initial public offering and listing on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ASX symbol FXG. "This is a significant milestone for your company and the board of Felix would like to thank all shareholders for their strong support," Felix Gold Managing Director and CEO Kylie Prendergast penned in a Jan. 31 letter to shareholders. "Listed or unlisted, our overarching objective of becoming a...
Goldrich Mining Company Feb. 8 announced that it plans to carry out a roughly 4,000-meter drill program this year at its Chandalar gold property in northern Alaska. Located about 190 miles north of Fairbanks, the 23,000-acre Chandalar property hosts rich deposits of placer gold and several hardrock gold occurrences and historic mines. Drilling carried out by Goldrich in 2010 outlined an estimated 250,000 ounces of placer gold in 10.5 million cubic yards of gravel in the Little...
Goldman Sachs' declaration that "copper is the new oil" may serve as a foreshadowing of Alaska's economic future, one that is not so heavily reliant on the revenues from petroleum flowing from the North Slope and leans more heavily on the state's rich endowment of precious, critical, and base metals. The investment bank's suggestion that copper is to become the strategically most important commodity on Earth is due to the vital role the conductive metal plays in global...