The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 390
Despite owning a Pacific Rim deposit of gold, copper, zinc and silver worth some US$1.44 billion, Heatherdale Resources Ltd. has not completely escaped the financial paralysis gripping the junior mining sector. While the value of Heatherdale's stake of the Niblack Project has nearly doubled over the past year, its share price has plummeted more than 70 percent. Still, the Hunter Dickinson-affiliated junior has successfully pulled together funds to continue to advance the... Full story
The unseasonably, interminably, unspeakably cold spring that is delaying mineral exploration and development work in Alaska this year is being mimicked by a financial chill that is affecting Alaska exploration efforts just like it is the rest of the world. Not to put too fine a point on it, but from a mineral exploration standpoint, Alaska is shaping up to be as dead as a doornail this summer (ever wonder where that saying came from ... but I digress.). How dead? Try this statistic on for size: Of the 49 exploration projects...
This month's mining news is a smorgasbord to delight the appetites of explorers, developers and miners alike. We had quarterly reports out from Teck, Kinross, Hecla and Coeur d'Alene discussing their respective results from operating mines around the state. We had one preliminary economic analysis by NovaCopper on its Arctic massive sulfide project and one feasibility study announced by International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. on its Livengood gold project. We had Freegold and... Full story
Following a rising chorus of junior companies touting impressive exploration programs on mineral prospects across Alaska that reached its crescendo in 2011, a deafening silence is resonating across the Far North expanse in 2013. And in the junior mining sector, no news is bad news. Mineral exploration expenditures in Alaska, which were a meager US$23.8 million in 2001, climbed to US$347 million by 2008. The "Great Recession of 2008" tightened the equity markets, resulting in...
Copper Fox Metals Corp. recently completed a positive feasibility study of its Schaft Creek porphyry copper, gold, molybdenum and silver project in northwestern British Columbia that could mark an important turning point for the project. The Calgary, Alberta-based company holds title and a 100 percent working interest in Schaft Creek, which is located due east-northeast of Petersburg, Alaska, about 61 kilometers (38 miles) south of the village of Telegraph Creek. The feasibility study prepared by Tetra Tech in late December...
In a year that has started off with more than its share of mining industry gloom and doom, this year's Fraser Institute "Survey of Mining Companies, 2012/2013" provided a bit of sunshine for Alaska. The annual survey of exploration and mining companies gauges the pros and cons of working in various political jurisdictions around the world. This year's results came from 742 mineral industry companies working in 96 jurisdictions worldwide and represented cumulative 2012 explorat... Full story
The 6.4 million ounces of low-cost silver recovered from the Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska during 2012 is funding growth aspirations at Hecla Mining Co., including a foray into Canada's mining sector. "This past year, with the Lucky Friday down, Greens Creek generated strong silver production and cash flow to allow record capital investments that are expected to generate not only higher silver production in 2013, but expected organic growth well into the future," said... Full story
In today's difficult financing climate, Homestake Resources Corp. is living the dream of most junior mining companies. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., an aggressive intermediate gold producer, has signed on to pay the bills at the Homestake Ridge project located in northwestern British Columbia in a deal where the gold producer could spending up to C$25.3 million and earn up to a 70 percent interest in the exploration and development venture. Formerly Bravo Gold Corp., the junior changes its name to Homestake Resources in April....
Alaska miners are on the cusp of topping 1 million ounces of gold produced, an annual milestone that has not been achieved since Gold Rush pioneers recovered copious amounts of alluvial aurum at the turn of the 20th Century. "When you think about what a million ounces of production means, it is all the more amazing that it was first accomplished by placer miners and a few lode miners, a few shovelfuls at a time, more than a century ago!" Curt Freeman, a well-known Alaska...
A recent letter distributed to the minerals industry by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development's Division of Economic Development is seeking faster and more efficient ways to gather, collate and publish Alaska's Annual Minerals Industry Report. The agencies are looking for feedback regarding what items the industry thinks is important to retain in the report, what items are not in the report that should be...
HL: NYSE Chairman: Ted Crumley President and CEO: Phillips Baker, Jr. Vice President, Exploration: Dean McDonald Plagued with a series of accidents that ultimately resulted in a year-long hiatus of operations at its Lucky Friday Mine in Idaho, Hecla Mining Company is leaning on Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska to sustain its strong financial position and fund a series of growth initiatives aimed at catapulting the 120-year-old mining company to a 15-million-ounce-per-year silver producer by 2017. "We will spend US$140...
An employment forecast published by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development in October pegged the state's mining sector job growth from 2010 to 2020 at 19 percent. That is second only to health care, at 31 percent, and outpacing the 12 percent average growth across all Alaska industries. Expansion of current operations coupled with prospects of building mines at the world-class Livengood and Donlin gold deposits were cited as drivers behind adding new miners t...
Over a year ago, Natural Resource Holdings published a report entitled "How Rare are One Million Ounce Gold Deposits?" At that time, the publisher ranked 296 gold deposits that have more than 1 million ounces of gold in all resources categories. The same firm recently published a follow-up report titled, "Global Gold Mines & Deposits 2012 Ranking." The report ranks gold deposits above 1 million ounces, whose numbers have increased to 439 deposits with total resources of...
Despite owning a Pacific Rim deposit of gold, copper, zinc and silver worth some US$1.44 billion, Heatherdale Resources Ltd. has not completely escaped the financial paralysis gripping the junior mining sector. While the value of Heatherdale's stake of the Niblack project has nearly doubled over the past year, its share price has plunged some 75 percent. Notwithstanding, the Hunter Dickinson-affiliated junior has successfully pulled together the funds it needs to continue to...
Although spring took its good old time in arriving across much of Alaska, the mining industry's busy summer exploration and development season has arrived. Five of Alaska's major mines reported strong first-quarter operating results, and two new companies acquired exploration properties in Alaska in the last month. These new acquisitions are not expected to be the last, as the prolonged venture capital drought continues with no end in sight. The news this month is sparse, prim...
The Fraser Institute's "Survey of Mining Companies, 2011/2012" was recently released to the public. This annual survey of exploration and mining companies gauges the pros and cons of working in various countries around the world. This year's results came from over 800 mineral industry companies working in 93 jurisdictions and representing cumulative 2011 exploration expenditures of over US$6.3 billion. The perception of Alaska from the companies that work here was about the... Full story
Plagued with a series of accidents that ultimately resulted in a year-long hiatus of operations at its Lucky Friday Mine in Idaho, Hecla Mining Co. is leaning on Greens Creek Mine in Southeast Alaska to sustain its strong financial position and fund a series of growth initiatives aimed at catapulting the 120-year-old mining company to a 15-million-ounce-per-year silver producer by 2017. "Hecla faced significant challenges in 2011; however, what is different today than at any...
There are some new statistics just out from the Alaska Miners Association that I thought you might like to see. For 2011, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 4,500 direct jobs and 9,000 indirect jobs. The industry paid US$620 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$100,000 per year, which is double the statewide average for all sectors. The industry paid US$148 million in rents, royalties, taxes and other fees to the State of Alaska (up 170 percent over...
By consolidating ownership of the Niblack copper-gold-silver-zinc-silver project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, Heatherdale Resources Ltd. is taking long strides in advancing the volcanogenic massive sulfide project toward development. "After three years of successfully operating the Niblack project as a joint venture, the boards of directors of Heatherdale and Niblack (Niblack Mineral Development Inc.) have agreed that the best way to efficiently advance...
As a busy year in the Alaska and global mining industry starts to slide closer to its end, I figured now was a good time to gaze into my crystal ball (rutilated quartz, of course) to see what next year might bring. While strong metals prices promise another busy year for Alaska, a dose of global reality was provided by the financial giant Ernst & Young, who recently published a list of the top 10 business risks for the mining and metals industry for the coming year. Resource n... Full story
While geological and engineering savvy have always been important components of advancing a promising prospect into viable operation, building a modern mine also requires a working knowledge of the complex social, biological and economic systems surrounding a project. "There is only one entity in Alaska that has any depth in all the broad technical areas that span mineral resource extraction - the University of Alaska," said Rajive Ganguli, chairman of the Department of Mining...
The implementation of Alaska's anti-degradation policy is an emerging battlefield in the ongoing conflict between environmental groups seeking maximum protection for waterways in the state and resource development companies hoping to prevent added layers of red tape and too stringent water quality guidelines. While strict water quality standards have been established on state and federal levels, many streams, rivers and lakes in Alaska have naturally occurring waters that...
Is the "Yukon Gold Rush" about to spill into Alaska? Since the 1896 discovery of gold on the aptly named Bonanza Creek sparked a stampede of fortune seekers to the rivers and streams of the Klondike, these world-class mining jurisdictions that share a common geological and mineralization history have been engaged in a cross-border rivalry of drawing prospectors and miners to their mineral-rich deposits. While 19th Century miners seeking their fortunes in Alaska's Fortymile...
Whether it is multimillion-ounce gold discoveries, copper deposits that measure in the billions of pounds or massive ore-bodies of 20 percent zinc, Alaska is renowned for its mammoth deposits. The prospect of finding another Donlin, Pebble or Red Dog continues to draw explorers to this vast and underexplored corner of the United States. In the Survey of Mining Companies: 2010/2011, conducted by the Fraser Institute, top executives from 494 mining and mineral exploration...
Despite the abundance of good news from the Alaska mining industry this month, there is an unusual black cloud hanging over the industry that threatens to rain on our parade of projects. Domestic and international markets got a severe case of the jitters during the recent United States debt crisis. The resulting economic uncertainty contributed to significant metal price volatility. For example, the London gold price jumped 20 percent, from about US$1,480 to US$1,770 during the month prior to the debt deferral and has since d...
