The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Mining's benefits to the state's economy are poised to grow as the world seeks sustainable sources of the minerals Alaska is enriched with. A new study carried out by Alaska-based McKinley Research Group found that mining and minerals exploration contributed over $2.5 billion to Alaska's economy during 2023. "The mining industry continues its role as a powerhouse of Alaska's economy, partnering with local communities to drive significant economic benefits and support...
Northwest Alaska Native corporation disengages from proposed road; will continue to defend right to build future road to the Ambler Mining District. The Ambler Road suffered another setback with NANA Regional Corporation's decision to withdraw its involvement with the proposed 211-mile industrial access to the mineral-rich Ambler Mining District within the NANA region of Northwest Alaska. NANA, which owns lands within the Ambler District enriched with copper, cobalt, and...
Ambler Metals LLC, a joint venture equally owned by Trilogy Metals Inc. and South32 Ltd., dialed back 2023 exploration at its Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects as it waited for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to reevaluate previously issued federal permits for a proposed 211-mile industrial access road to the metal-rich Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska. Covering 448,217 acres of the famed Ambler District, UKMP hosts the advanced staged Arctic Mine project and more... Full story
State's inaugural sustainability report details the ESG advantages of looking North to Alaska for energy transition metals. The global energy transition has steered Alaska to a critical minerals crossroad that will shape the economic future of America's Last Frontier. On the one hand, the push for low-carbon energy is expected to put a dent in the demand for petroleum, which has been Alaska's economic lifeblood for more than five decades. On the other, Alaska happens to be... Full story
Colorado School of Mines thesis confirms that the germanium values at Bornite deposit have long been underreported. In addition to hosting 6.3 billion pounds of copper and 88 million lb of cobalt critical to the energy transition, the Bornite deposit in Alaska's Ambler Mining District may also be a significant source of the germanium essential to both clean energy and high-tech. "Germanium is an important metal with numerous applications, particularly in the manufacture of sem...
First stand-alone zinc processing site in the world to meet high ESG criteria for Zinc Mark certification. Teck Resources Ltd.'s Trail Operations in British Columbia is the first stand-alone zinc processing site in the world to be awarded the Zinc Mark, a certification that the facility meets high environmental, social, and governance standards. Established six months ago, Zinc Mark is an extension of the Copper Mark framework established by the International Copper...
Strong zinc price, production drive increased profit for Teck; NANA gets extra boost from royalty rise. Due to a combination of strong zinc prices and production, the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska generated strong profits for Teck Resources Ltd. and revenues for NANA Corp. during 2022. Red Dog produced 553,100 metric tons (1.22 billion pounds) of zinc during 2022, a nearly 10% increase over the 503,400 metric tons (1.11 billion lb) produced during 2021. The Northwest Alaska...
On Feb. 22, 2022, Teck Resources Ltd.'s Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska became the largest critical minerals operation in the United States, both in terms of quantity and value of the materials produced at this world-class base, precious, and critical minerals operation. Being catapulted to America's top dog when it comes to critical minerals production is not due to the germanium produced, though this semiconductor metal vital to ultrafast computing and communications is... Full story
Trilogy Metals Inc. Jan. 25 reported that consistent high-grade intercepts from its 2022 infill drill program at Arctic confirm the continuity of high-grade copper-zinc-lead-gold-silver mineralization within this volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit within the famed Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska. "As expected, the 2022 infill drill program continues to yield high grades of copper, zinc and precious metals, demonstrating the continuity of the high-grade zones of...
Ambler Metals LLC, a joint venture company equally owned by Trilogy and South32 Ltd., invested roughly US$28.5 million into a 2022 exploration program that included 10,738 meters of drilling targeting resource upgrades within the Arctic deposit and testing earlier-stage copper-rich prospects across the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska. Covering 448,217 acres of the famed Ambler Mining District, UKMP hosts the advanced staged Arctic Mine project and more than a...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Nov. 29 reported that the first assays from the 2022 program at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects are from infill holes that cut multiple zones of high-grade copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver mineralization that has come to be expected within the Arctic deposit. The 10,738-meter drill program at UKMP this year included 8,376 meters of drilling at Arctic, the most ever drilled into this world-class volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit during a single seaso...
Federal agency is accepting public input on second Ambler Road EIS until Nov. 4 After months of uncertainty, the United States Bureau of Land Management has provided some clarity to the plans to carry out further review of the Ambler Access Project – a proposed 211-mile road that would link Ambler Metals' Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP) in Northwest Alaska to the Dalton Highway. BLM, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service issued a joint record o...
A blue-collar metal that is vital to weatherizing envisioned green energy future Critical minerals are typically thought of as obscure rare earth elements cloaked in geopolitical intrigue, or exciting metals and metalloids that have risen to stardom due to the special properties they bring to cutting-edge technologies such as quantum computing, smartphones, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Zinc – a blue-collar metal better known for galvanizing guardrails, light p...
With zinc prices on the rise and strong production of the galvanizing metal, the Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska generated strong profits for Teck Resources Ltd. and revenues for NANA Corp., the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation for Northwest Alaska. During the first quarter of this year, Red Dog produced 131,600 metric tons (290.1 million pounds) of zinc, a roughly 10% increase over the 119.7 metric tons (263.9 million lb) produced during the...
United States District Court Judge Sharon Gleason confirmed the U.S. Department of Interior's request to remand the previously issued federal permits for construction of the proposed 211-mile Ambler Access Project but ruled the permits will not be terminated altogether. Earlier this year, DOI requested a voluntary remand of the previously issued joint record of decision that authorized a right-of-way across federal lands for building the industrial-use-only road that would...
May 10, 2022, celebrates the ninth annual Alaska Mining Day. Established in 2013, Alaska Mining Day was created through legislation sponsored by Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, "to recognize and honor the intrepid individuals and industry that played an enormous role in settling and developing the territory and the state that continue to contribute to the economy of the state." Why May 10? On this day in 1872, the General Mining Act of the United States was approved – w... Full story
While hailing President Joe Biden's use of the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic production of critical lithium-ion battery minerals and metals as good news for the Far North State's mining sector, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says this move contradicts actions taken by the administration to reevaluate a road to the Ambler Mining District. "I fully support the President making the development of these minerals a priority in our nation's interest. But the Biden...
Trilogy Metals Inc. March 17 reported additional "outstanding but not unexpected" results from the 2021 infill drilling at the Arctic deposit on the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska. The company also provided a brief update on the U.S. Department of Interior's suspension of permits to build a road to the Ambler Mining District where UKMP is located. Being advanced by Ambler Metals LLC, a joint venture operating company equally owned by Trilogy and South32... Full story
In a move criticized by a wide swath of Alaska policymakers and trade organizations, the Biden administration has filed a motion to reverse the federal authorizations for a proposed 211-mile road to the mineral-rich Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska. "You would think President Biden would want to improve access to American sources of copper and other strategic minerals that are needed in our combined efforts to increase renewables. Instead, actions like this only...
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and Ambler Metals LLC have agreed to equally fund $30.8 million for a 2022 field program to advance the Ambler Access Project, a proposed 211-mile road that serves as an Alaskan epitome of connecting the aspirations of a low-carbon future with the large volumes of minerals and metals required to build the electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure that will make the green energy future a reality. The World Bank...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Jan. 25 reported that the latest batch of assays from the infill drilling at Arctic continues to confirm that high copper and zinc grades are the rule and not the exception at this volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwest Alaska. A 2020 feasibility study details plans for a financially robust mining operation at this world-class deposit that would produce 1.9 billion pounds of copper, 2.3 billion lb of zinc, 388...
While much of Teck Resources Ltd.'s investment and focus during 2021 was on the implementation of its long-term sustainability strategy, the British Columbia-based miner continued to carry out exploration behind the scenes. In Alaska, Teck operates the Red Dog zinc mine on lands owned by NANA Corp., the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation for the Northwest Arctic region where the world-class operation is located. This operation, which produces... Full story
Alaska boasts what many consider the most successful aboriginal land claims settlement on Earth – a solution that has not only turned out to be a cultural success but a brilliant business move for the more than 140,000 Alaska Natives and an economic boon for the state that covers the resource-rich lands these industrious and innovative peoples have called home for millennia. Signed into law by U.S. President Richard Nixon on Dec. 18, 1971, the Alaska Native Claims S... Full story
From the wide distribution of the massive resources provided by a bowhead whale harvested in the icy waters of the Beaufort Sea to sharing the catch from successful fishing in the Gulf of Alaska, sharing the bounty nature has to offer is among the most important core values of Alaska Natives across the state. This millennia-long tradition of sharing the hunt has been enshrined in the sections 7(i) and 7(j) provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. From the early... Full story
It is my good fortune to be asked to write a short piece on the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. My mother, Naungagiaq, would have been proud. She set me free to seek an education in a Tennessee boarding school when I was 14 – just at the time of my life that I could have been of help to her and the family in our hunting, fishing, and trapping world of the 1940s and 1950s. We had lived in three sod homes along the Little Noatak about a dozen miles from Kotzebue. She, in a... Full story