The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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As the White House continues to dole out hundreds of billions of dollars to position America as the global leader in clean energy and digital technologies, Beijing initiates a strategy to put America in check with the global economy equivalent of pawns. These pawns in the technology chess match between the U.S. and China are gallium and germanium, a pair of semiconductor metals used to make the computer chips essential to every facet of modern life. Before all the major news o...
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...
From the Pentagon's multi-million-dollar investment in Graphite One Inc. to China's restrictions on the exports of gallium and germanium, Alaska's current critical minerals supply and future potential was in the headlines and subtext of American news stories over the past month. Alaska as a future source of minerals critical to the clean energy transition grabbed headlines after the mid-July news that the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Graphite One Inc. $37.5 million to...
Osisko Metals Inc. has finalized a joint-venture agreement with one of the world's leading mining and metals investment advisors that could propel its Pine Point project in Northwest Territories into becoming one of the top-10 zinc-lead producing mines in the world. Inked in late February, the estimated C$100 million deal with Appian Capital Advisory LLP, a unit of Appian Natural Resources Fund III LP, won speedy approval from Osisko Metals' shareholders in mid-March....
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...
From antimony historically mined near the Interior Alaska city of Fairbanks to the zinc and germanium produced at the Red Dog Mine, America's 49th State is a past producer, and a potential future source of the minerals and metals deemed critical to the United States. Earlier this year U.S. Geological Survey updated and expanded its list of critical minerals to include 50 minerals and metals essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. and which has a supply...
Tech metalloid boasts superior semiconductor, optical qualities From NASA's Gateway space station that will serve as a critical outpost circling the Moon to more down-to-Earth applications such as quantum computers that are millions of times faster than their classical counterparts and fiber optic cables that send data at the speed of light, germanium is among the techiest of the tech metals. "The extensive use of germanium for military and commercial applications has made it...
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...
The Bristol Bay region is home to two resources that beyond a doubt earn the moniker "world-class" – an annual run of sockeye salmon that is second to none and Pebble, the largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits known to exist on Earth. These world-renowned resources, however, have stirred up controversy in this Oklahoma-sized region of Southwest Alaska, as many of the roughly 7,400 Bristol Bay residents are concerned that mining the copper, gold, molybdenum, rhenium, and...
Decennially, the question of whether Alaska shall have a constitutional convention must appear on the ballot. Alaskans have voted on this issue five times since 1972 and defeated it soundly each time. The question will be on the ballot again in 2022, so it is timely for the voters (and potential voters) to give the matter some thought. As with most matters political, the best place to begin any discussion is to comprehend the context in which the question arises. An...
From the transistors in quantum computers that are millions of times faster than their classical counterparts to fiber optic cables that send data at the speed of light, germanium is a little-known semiconductor that is a small but extremely important ingredient in the technologies behind the future of ultrafast computing and communications. Germanium traces its technological roots back to the 1950s, when scientists developed the transistor to replace vacuum tubes in the...
Millrock Resources Inc. and Resolution Minerals Ltd. are gearing up for an early March start of drilling on the West Pogo property, part of the larger 64North gold project in Alaska's Interior. Previously known as the Goodpaster project, 64North includes nine claim blocks – West Pogo, Shaw, Eagle, LMS-X, South Pogo, East Pogo, North Pogo, Last Chance and Divide – covering roughly 160,000 acres in the Goodpaster District, a gold-rich area anchored by Northern Star Resources Ltd...
Millrock Resources Inc. Oct. 1 said it is investing the C$1.58 million it recently raised to position the company and its properties for expected improving markets for gold-focused exploration companies. "The moves Millrock has made over the past three months has positioned the company well for what appears to be a coming bull market in precious metals," said Millrock Resources President and CEO Greg Beischer. "We have developed an enviable gold project portfolio that is...
If you have watched the metals markets over the last month, you know why Alaska's mineral industry has surged, stalled, swerved, swooped, slowed, shelved and stuttered, sometimes all at the same time! Gold has gone above US$1,500 per ounce; copper pundits are predicting an increasingly dour future; zinc markets are looking to dive below $1.00 per pound; tin markets have marched strongly upward due to supply disruptions; and silver bulls are calling for annual worldwide...
Millrock Resources Inc. Sept. 23 announced that First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has been granted the exclusive right to enter an option agreement on Dragonslayer, a porphyry copper-gold project Millrock has identified in eastern Alaska. To earn the option right, First Quantum is funding C$100,000 of initial exploration that includes geochemical surveys, mapping, and prospecting. This work is focused on a geophysical anomaly located in a belt of Cretaceous-aged rocks southeast of...
The Bristol Bay region is home to two resources that beyond a doubt earn the moniker "world-class" – an annual run of sockeye salmon that is second to none and Pebble, the largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits known to exist on Earth. These world-renowned resources, however, have stirred up controversy in this Oklahoma-sized region of Southwest Alaska, as many of the roughly 7,400 Bristol Bay residents are concerned that mining the copper, gold, molybdenum and other m...
Nova Minerals Ltd. (formerly Quantum Resources Ltd.) July 31 said it plans to complete at least 8,000 meters of drilling over the next six to eight weeks at the Estelle gold-copper-silver project about 100 miles northwest of Anchorage. The Australia-based explorer optioned Estelle late in 2017 as part of a larger deal that included four other Southwest Alaska properties – Chip-Loy, a nickel-copper-cobalt-gold-silver-platinum group element project; Bowser Creek silver-zinc-lead...
An early spring coupled with low snow fall in many parts of Alaska have combined to enable companies large and small to start their summer field programs early this year. As expected, competition is stiff for people, drills, helicopters, heavy equipment and related services, awarding those who committed budgets early and penalizing those who did not or could not commit early. For the first time in half a decade, projects with money at hand may not be able to get the services t...
Nova Minerals Ltd. (formerly Quantum Resources Ltd.) completed an inaugural drill program in 2018 at its newly acquired Estelle gold-copper-silver project about 100 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The Australia-based explorer optioned Estelle late in 2017 as part of a larger deal that included four other Southwest Alaska properties – Chip-Loy, a nickel-copper-cobalt-gold-silver-platinum group element project; Bowser Creek silver-zinc-lead project; Windy Fork, a rare e...
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,...
In a framework agreement announced on Dec. 18, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was revealed as the major mining company that will complete the Pebble Limited Partnership. "We have made good progress in the partnering process and are very pleased to be in advanced-stage discussions with First Quantum, an industry leader in mine development and management," Ron Thiessen, president and CEO, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., currently the sole owner of the Pebble Partnership. While the...
CopperBank Resources Corp. March 7 said it has hired DOWL, an Alaska-based engineering firm, to provide initial infrastructure planning for Pyramid, an advanced exploration project on the Alaska Peninsula that hosts 172.8 million metric tons of inferred resources, averaging 0.35 percent (1.34 billion pounds) copper, 0.02 percent (74.4 million lbs) molybdenum and 0.09 grams per metric tons (488,000 ounces) gold. “Three very important components of any copper project of merit are geology, location and access to i...
Quantum Resources Ltd. Nov. 20 announced that it has entered into an option five Alaska projects prospective for gold, silver, zinc, nickel, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements. The primary property optioned by the Australia-based junior is Estelle, a district-scale gold-copper-silver project about 100 miles northwest of Anchorage. The other four properties, collectively known as the Farewell group are located northwest of Estelle and include: Chip-Loy-Roberts, a...
In a framework agreement announced on Dec. 18, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was revealed as the major mining company that will complete the Pebble Limited Partnership. "We have made good progress in the partnering process and are very pleased to be in advanced-stage discussions with First Quantum, an industry leader in mine development and management," Ron Thiessen, president and CEO, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., currently the sole owner of the Pebble Partnership. While the...
For the first time in five long years, the mood at the recently held Alaska Miners Association Convention in Anchorage was buoyant, the result of a slow but steady turnaround on mineral investments in the state. Additional new corporate interest in the state emerged during the past 30 days, and sources of exploration funds coming to Alaska continue to shift, with estimates for 2017 suggesting that 62 percent of this financing comes from Canadian concerns, 18 percent from...
