The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Caught between an updraft caused by dwindling supply and the gravity of slowing growth in global demand, zinc prices seem to have reached a cruising altitude above US$1 per pound. Recent closures of two large zinc mines - Century in Australia and Lisheen in Ireland - wiped out more than 600,000 metric tons of the world's annual supply of the galvanizing metal. Analysts expected these looming supply deficits to send zinc prices soaring well above US$1/lb. in 2015. While the...
Hecla Mining Co. Oct. 18 said it Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 2.4 million ounces of silver in the third quarter, accounting for more than half of the company's silver production for the period. This silver production is a 23 percent jump over the same period last year, thanks to higher grades. Gold production, however, dropped 17 percent to 14,376 oz. due to lower grades. Hecla estimates Greens Creek silver production to be 8.5 million oz. in 2016, significantly higher than the company's original guidance of... Full story
Over the last month the inevitable termination dust has begun to show up across Alaska, bringing with it completion of mineral exploration programs and transition of development and production projects to winter operational modes. Explorers, developers and miners will soon be gathering to compare notes at the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage, an event that always overlaps national and local election night. Alaska's mineral industry outlook brightened... Full story
Anniversary celebrations, golden milestones and rising metals prices are providing Alaska's metal miners with plenty to cheer about in 2016. Roughly 1 million ounces of gold will be mined in Alaska this year, when you tally the amount of the precious metal produced at four of Alaska's large metal mines – Fort Knox, Pogo, Kensington and Greens Creek – and the placer aurum produced at the family-scale operations across the state. Fortunately for all these miners, gold shot up... Full story
Established in 1891, Hecla Mining Company has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression and numerous crests and troughs of a cyclical metals market that has sunk many of the silver miner's contemporaries over the past 125 years. Over this century-plus span, the Idaho-based miner has grown adept at navigating tumultuous markets in a way that enables the company to be well-positioned for smooth sailing in calm waters. "We have operated through many price cycles; from recessions and depressions to boom times, and it is a tes... Full story
When judging the health of global mineral exploration, British Columbia seems to be the perfect model. In 2015, roughly C$272 million was invested in discovering and delineating mineral deposits in B.C., down some C$66 million from 2014. This 19.5 percent drop is in lockstep with the decline in global mineral exploration budgets for the same period, according SNL Metals & Mining's World Exploration Trends report. Likewise, B.C. exploration decreased about 60 percent from the...
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,...
As tangible buoyancy returns to the mining industry, I began to wonder if any of the multitude of forecasters had actually predicted the recent return of stronger metals prices. Since most "forecasters" are actually "hindsighters," I was drawn to a November 2013 summary of gold mines by Roy Sebag of Natural Resource Holdings. The summary, entitled "Global Gold Mines & Deposits 2013 Ranking," indicated that we were nearing peak gold production because the total in-situ ounces...
Earlier in November, the Alaska Miners Association held its annual convention and trade show in Anchorage and as always, the well-attended convention overlapped with election Tuesday. While the lead up to, and results of, the national and state elections were hot topics throughout the week, one comment I heard from a colleague on the morning after the elections distilled the feelings of a lot of people at the conference. When asked what he thought of the election results, he...
Most of Alaska is now enjoying a warm, early spring, allowing field programs to get off to an quicker start this year. While budgets are still tight, interest in Alaska projects has steadily increased as the mining and metals markets slowly recover from a four-year slowdown. Current estimates for 2016 exploration expenditures are looking like they will end up in the US$50 million to US$60 million range, down from the US$75 million range of last year but less precipitous than... Full story
With metal prices stabilizing, physical stockpiles dwindling and demand again on the rise, things are beginning to look up for the beleagered mining industry. Gold's performance over the past several months is a case in point. The World Gold Council reported that during the first quarter, buying of exchange-traded gold funds rose to its highest level since early 2009, wiping out the deep sell-offs of 2014 and 2015 for this instrument. Uncertainties in the fiscal stability of...
As a follow-up to last month's realization that once again "the game is afoot" in the mining industry, major gold producer Goldcorp recently presented some arresting statistics at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Metals, Mining and Steel Conference. The presentation showed gold discovery and production information for the global mining industry that indicated that peak gold discovery occurred in 1995, this despite three periods between 1995 and 2015 when exploration...
Hecla Mining Co. Jan. 10 reported that its Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska produced 9.25 million ounces of silver in 2016, the highest production since the Idaho-based miner bought full ownership of the operation in 2008. This strong performance helped push Hecla's total silver production to a record 17.2 million oz, 48 percent higher than 2015. In addition to the silver, Greens Creek produced 53,912 oz of gold, along with healthy quantities of zinc and lead. For the fourth quarter, 2.2 million oz of silver and 14,415...
The year just past was many things for the mining industry, but one of the bright spots came from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, an agency not known for awarding happy faces or gold stars. In 2016, the mining industry experienced only 25 deaths in U.S. mines, the lowest level ever recorded. This, despite the industry having more than 330,000 miners working in 13,000 mines across the country. The leading cause of death in both coal and metal/nonmetal mines was...
Hecla Mining Company Dec. 6 recognizes its miners, past and present, on National Miner's Day. Established in 1891, Hecla has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression and numerous crests and troughs of the notoriously cyclical metals market. "I want to thank the more than 10,000 hardworking men and women who have been part of the Hecla team over the past 125 years on National Miner's Day," said Hecla President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. "Together, through good times and...
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. July 25 reported that the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission denied a request by Hecla Mining Company to stop Dolly Varden from completing a previously announced private placement financing. Hecla, which owned roughly 19.8 percent of Dolly Varden's shares on a partially diluted basis, has argued that the financing would be destructive to the junior's share value. In late June, Hecla made a bid to buy all of...
Hecla Mining Company July 11 said it produced 4.24 million ounces of silver and 62,965 oz. of gold during the second quarter of 2016, both significant increases compared with output during the same period last year. "Our strategy of accelerating growth has silver and gold production up 71 percent and 41 percent (respectively) over last year just as prices are starting to rise," said Hecla President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. "With increased production and higher prices we...
Dolly Varden Silver Corp. July 4 said a special committee of independent directors has been appointed to review and evaluate an unsolicited takeover bid by Hecla Mining Co. On June 27, Hecla announced plans to acquire all of the shares of Dolly Varden Silver that it does not already own at C69 cents per share, or roughly C$12 million to acquire full ownership of the junior with assets in northwestern British Columbia. The Dolly Varden special committee, comprised of Thomas...
Hecla Mining Company June 27 reported a takeover bid for all of the outstanding shares of Dolly Varden Silver Corp. that it does not already own. At C69 cents per share, Hecla's offer reflects roughly a 97 percent premium based on the volume-weighted average price of the Dolly Varden shares on the TSX Venture Exchange for the 20 trading days ending on June 24. Assuming exercise of the 1.25 million warrants it currently holds, Hecla owns and controls 3,870,291 Dolly Varden... Full story
Hecla Mining Company April 14 reported record silver production of 4.64 million ounces in the first quarter, a 61 percent increase over the 2.88 million oz. produced in the first quarter of 2015. Additionally, gold production climbed 37 percent to 55,688 oz.; zinc production rose 7.9 percent to 17,364 tons; and lead production increased by 12 percent to 11,038 tons. As a result, Hecla produced a record 12.03 million silver-equivalent oz. during the first quarter. Much of the...
Brixton Metals Corp. April 7 reported the closing of the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement financing consisting of 6,233,000 units for C10 cents each and 4 million flow-through shares at C10 cents each for aggregate gross proceeds of C$1,023,300. Each unit consists of one common share and one transferable purchase warrant exercisable into one common share of the company at a price of C15 cents per share for a period of 36 months from the closing date. Robert...
Long, grueling, arduous, treacherous and painful are among the many adjectives, and sometimes expletives, used to describe the mining sector's nearly four-year bear market that is showing signs it is ready to hibernate. While Alaska's metal mines have not emerged from this enduring downturn unscathed, the sector remains largely intact and ready to ride metals prices higher. Together, Alaska's mines produced roughly US$2.76 billion of precious and base metals during 2015, down... Full story
Established in 1891, Hecla Mining Company has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression and numerous crests and troughs of a cyclical metals market that has sunk many of the silver miner's contemporaries over the past 125 years. Over this century-plus span, Hecla has grown adept at navigating tumultuous markets in a way that enables the company to be well-positioned for smooth sailing in calm waters. "We have been in business longer than iconic American companies such as...
Hecla Mining Company Feb. 23 reported US$443.6 million in sales and gross profit of US$38.5 million for 2015. The net loss applicable to common stockholders for the year was US$87.5 million, or US23 cents per basic share, and the adjusted net loss applicable to common stockholders was US$34 million, or US9 cents per basic share. Hecla's average realized silver price for 2015 was US$15.57 per ounce, down 16 percent from 2014. The company's average realized price for gold last...
Although there is plenty of Alaska mining industry news this month, the big dog in the pen is the dramatic and unexpected run-up in the price of gold, which moved from a low of $1,078 per ounce to a high of $1,246/oz., most of which occurred after Feb. 1. Although profit-taking and other factors have caused the price to back off a bit, the move was both dramatic and unexpected. As you might guess, the ether is full of talking heads telling us why it went up, why it either won'... Full story
