The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Grande Portage Resources Ltd. Oct. 10 said channel sampling of a recently exposed section of quartz vein supports the company's belief that Goat Vein could be another prolific, high-grade gold structure on the company's Herbert Gold property in Southeast Alaska. Herbert Gold hosts 1.1 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 7.25 grams per metric ton (267,950 ounces) gold; and 423,200 metric tons of inferred resource averaging 6.04 g/t (82,200 oz) gold, according to...
HEALY: Hundreds of friends, family and colleagues arrived at Usibelli Coal Mine Inc.'s Healy operation to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the longest lived large mining operation in Alaska – an event that highlighted the coal company's pioneering past, current growth and bright future. During a speech to kick off the celebration, Usibelli Coal President Joe Usibelli, Jr. said the Healy operation is currently delivering roughly 1 million tons of coal per year to five power p...
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...
Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Usibelli Coal Mine (UCM) is Alaska's only operational coal mine. The company is proud to have an all-Alaska workforce of approximately 100 employees, of which more than one-third represent the second, third or fourth generations within their families to have worked at the mine. Today, Joe Usibelli Jr., the third generation of the Usibelli family, leads the mine as president, a position he's held since 1987. Each year UCM produces...
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...
Grande Portage Resources Ltd. May 28 filed an NI 43-101-compliant technical report with an updated resource estimate for the company's Herbert Gold project in Southeast Alaska. Incorporating the results from 12 holes drilled last year, the first drilling at Herbert Gold since 2012, the updated estimate outlines 1.1 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 7.25 grams per metric ton (267,950 ounces) gold; and 423,200 metric tons of inferred resource averaging 6.04 g/t...
As we transition from 2017 into 2018, the weight of evidence pointing to a long-awaited mining industry up-tick is being trumpeted from every financial institution, brokerage house and mining pundit across the globe. For example, RBC Capital Markets' newly released "2018 New Year Preview" has this to say: "We are in the mid-stages of a stock market recovery and the early stages of an economic cycle recovery. Gold is already in a phase where it out-performs other financial...
I always get a giggle when I hear the stark warnings about the death and destruction that are going to occur as the result of the huge contribution that anthropomorphic activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, makes to global warming. Before you ask, I am not a denier. I think that global warming is real and furthermore, I think that mankind is a contributor. My attitude is not that global warming doesn't exist, but more like "So what?" What brings this to mind is a...
Grande Portage Resources Ltd. Sep. 6 announced that sampling of a newly exposed outcrop at its Herbert Gold project about 15 miles (25 kilometers) north of Juneau, Alaska , returned 6.75 ounces per metric ton gold. This outcrop of the Goat vein was exposed by the rapid erosion of loose boulders and gravel. The vein here consists of approximately 4 feet of quartz with disseminated arsenopyrite, pyrite, galena and sphalerite and visible gold. Hanging wall alteration of the quartz diorite host rock reaches width of at least six...
In an earlier column (Dec. 24, 2017), the question of proposed regulations affecting mining on State land was flagged for readers’ attention because the initial scope of the contemplated changes did not bode well for the industry. Unfortunately, space constraints precluded in-depth analysis of the half-dozen ideas that had been laid on the table. Since that column, however, the problems identified in the suggested regulations have evolved into broad disarray, due in part to th...
TerraX Minerals Inc. is carrying out year-round exploration aimed at unlocking a multimillion-ounce gold camp at its Yellowknife City Gold Project, which extends north and south of the capital of Northwest Territories. Blanketing the same geological trend that hosts the historic Con and Giant mines, which produced a combined 14.2 million ounces of gold, the company's 118-square-kilometer (45.5 square miles) Yellowknife property blankets a region known for yielding deposits of a scale and grade to be among Canada's great gold...
While most mining jurisdictions have seen sharp drops in mineral exploration spending, such investments in Northwest Territories has largely held steady at about C$100 million annually during the past five years. As a result, this diamond-rich territory accounted for roughly 7 percent of mineral exploration spending in Canada in 2016, compared with only about 2 percent in 2011. The ultimate measure of mineral exploration success is not the amount of exploration dollars spent...
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...
TerraX Minerals Inc. Dec. 21 posted results from surface mapping and prospecting on the Southbelt property of the Yellowknife City Gold Project. Southbelt is about five kilometers (three miles) south of the city of Yellowknife and extends from the mine leases of the historic Con Mine, where more than 6 million ounces of gold was produced duringr a 60 year mine life. TerraX says extensions of several mineralized trends previously mined at Con, including the namesake Con Shear, which appears to extend up to five kilometers...
TerraX Minerals Inc. is carrying out year-round exploration aimed at unlocking a multi-million-ounce gold district at its Yellowknife City Gold Project, a 418-square kilometer (161 square miles) property north, south and east of the capital of Northwest Territories. Blanketing the same geological trend that hosts the historic Con and Giant mines, which produced a combined 14.2 million oz of gold, the three properties that make up the YCGP - Northbelt, Southbelt and Eastbelt - cover a region known for yielding deposits of the...
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...
TerraX Minerals Inc. Jan. 24 said it has received the permits needed to drill Southbelt, one of two large land packages that make up its Yellowknife City Gold project. With permits approved, the company plans to begin drilling this highly prospective property around the end of February. Southbelt is about five kilometers (three miles) south of the city of Yellowknife and extends from the mine leases of the historic Con Mine, where more than 6 million ounces of gold was produced during a 60 year mine life. TerraX says...
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...
Grande Portage Resources Ltd. Oct. 5 announced the completion of a 3,700-meter drill program at its Herbert Gold property about 16 miles north of Juneau, Alaska. So far, the company has outlined 821,000 metric tons of indicated resources averaging 6.91 g/t (182,400 oz) gold; and 51,600 metric tons of inferred resources averaging 7.73 g/t (12,800 oz) gold. This year's 12-hole program aims to add to this high-grade gold resource by testing extensions of three major veins and their satellite structures. Grande Portage said core...
In early November, the Alaska Miners Association will hold its annual convention in Anchorage. Unlike the past four or five years, the excitement surrounding the convention this year is palpable due to the steady increase in exploration, development and production activities in Alaska in 2017. Clear signs of the industry's long-awaited revival include the fact that 11 new project acquisitions have taken place in 2017, half of which involve companies that are newcomers to the...
As the first snows of the coming winter began to fall at high elevations across Alaska, results of summer programs likewise began to trickle in from far-flung areas of the state. Meanwhile, second- and third-quarter production data began to show up and mining industry analysts released a series of reports covering a wide range of industry-wide trends. For example, SNL Metals and Mining Research released information on how long it takes to move a new discovery to production....
The Alaska mining industry continued its increased pace of activities in August, even as the first hint of autumn starts to be felt across the state. Metals prices were relatively stable with increasing demand for zinc and gold, the two metals that generate the most revenue from Alaska's operating mines. Wood Mackenzie is forecasting a 3 percent increase in global refined zinc demand in 2017 to 14.7 million metric tons. With refined zinc production limited to a 2 percent...
TerraX Minerals Inc. is on a mission - outline a multimillion-ounce resource along the many high-grade gold zones located at its Yellowknife City Gold Project, which is located about 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of the capital of Northwest Territories. A C$3.5 million cash infusion by Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. along with nearly C$2.7 million raised separately is helping the explorer to reach its goal. "TerraX has always been committed to putting our dollars into the groun...
For those of you that could not attend, the annual Alaska Miners Association Convention and Trade Show was well-attended, with most people pleasantly surprised by the strong turnout. Compared to a year ago, more companies are planning to get back in the field with exploration and development programs in 2014, a sentiment making up one of the few bright spots in a recent IntierraRMG resource sector exploration summary. This report and a similar snapshot of the exploration...
The ongoing scarcity of venture capital available to junior companies coupled with a retreat in metals prices has landed a one-two blow that sent mineral exploration spending in Alaska plunging for the second straight year. A handful of big-budget projects scattered across Alaska, though, is softening the hit to exploration spending across the Far North State during 2013. Mineral exploration expenditures in Alaska, which were a meager US$23.8 million in 2001, topped US$365...
