The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Throughout the relatively short modern history of Alaska, many nameless and oft unrecognized explorers have contributed to the Last Frontier state in ways that future generations will never be able to truly appreciate. This, however, is not the case for Bill Ellis, an explorer and geologist who has gifted his knowledge and experience for nearly half a century and personifies the attitude needed to succeed in mineral exploration, optimism. As if by providence, Bill was born in... Full story
Extremely hard and with the highest melting point of all the metals, tungsten's toughness is legendary. Like many of the other metals that have found their way onto critical mineral lists in Canada, Europe, and the United States, this durable metal is vulnerable to Chinese control. "World tungsten supply was dominated by production in China and exports from China," the U.S. Geological Survey inked in its 2021 mineral commodities report. It is estimated that mines in China... Full story
From jewelry at a black-tie soiree to scrubbing harmful emissions from the exhaust system of a farm truck, the six platinum group metals – platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium – are metals that are both precious and critical to the United States and Canada. Extremely rare, durable, and with a brilliance that does not tarnish, platinum and other metals in its group are a treasured choice for high-end jewelry that stands the test of time. Three of the... Full story
An unsung war hero that saved countless American troops during World War II, an overlooked battery material that has played a pivotal role in storing electricity for more than 100 years, and a major ingredient in futuristic grid-scale energy storage, antimony is among the most important critical metalloids that most people have never heard of. While antimony may not be part of the common lexicon, humans have been using this semi-metal for more than 5,000 years. "For example,... Full story
PolarX Ltd. Aug. 31 reported that the first three holes of its 2021 drill program at the Caribou Dome project in Alaska have cut multiple zones of copper-bearing massive sulfides. "These samples look spectacular," said PolarX Managing Director Frazer Tabeart, who is at Caribou Dome for the duration of the drill program. "They are close to holes from 2015 and 2016 which yielded up to 51.1 meters at 5.3% copper." Part of PolarX' larger Alaska Range property, Caribou Dome hosts...
Accounting for at least US$100 million invested in mineral exploration and mine development in Alaska during 2021, Australian companies continue to work along the entire breadth of the Last Frontier's mining industry – from discovery to doré. Following a year in which COVID-19 protocols and travel restrictions made exploring Alaska challenging, especially for companies headquartered half a world away, this impressive investment in Alaska's mining sector demonstrates that Do...
PolarX Ltd. June 22 announced plans to complete at least 1,500 meters of core drilling this year at Caribou Dome, a high-grade copper project on its Alaska Range property. Discovered in 1963, Caribou Dome hosts 2.8 million metric tons of combined measured, indicated, and inferred resources averaging 3.1% (189.6 million pounds) copper in nine lenses of volcanic sediment-hosted mineralization. PolarX says historical exploration revealed these lenses show strong copper anomalism...
From the Coast Mountains in the west to the lower parts of the Yukon's Boreal forest in the north, the Cassiar Mountain range in the east, and the headwaters of the Nass and Skeena Rivers in the south, an ancestral indigenous people known as Tahltans has called Northern British Columbia home for thousands of years. According to a 2003 sourcebook prepared by the Museum of Anthropology entitled "Mehodihi: Well-Known Traditions of Tahltan People," the Tahltan Nation, which... Full story
Benchmark Metals Inc. May 26 announced that it is mobilizing a crew to launch a planned 100,000-meter drill program at its road-accessible Lawyers gold-silver project in Northern British Columbia. Earlier this month, Benchmark published its initial resource estimate for Lawyers. According to this new calculation, the Cliff Creek, AGB, Dukes Ridge and Phoenix zones at Lawyers hosts 40.3 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.19 grams per metric ton (1.55 million...
Despite being challenged with a COVID-19 outbreak, Pretium Resources Inc.'s Brucejack Mine in Northern British Columbia was able to produce enough gold to turn a profit during the first quarter of 2021. As of Feb. 11, Pretium reported that it is managing 14 COVID-19 cases among employees and contractors at Brucejack, prompting BC Northern Health to declare an outbreak at the mine. As a result, Pretium quickly implemented enhanced COVID-19 protocols, including restrictions on...
Golden Predator Mining Corp. and Viva Gold Corp. have agreed to a merger that will bring two advanced stage gold mine projects – Brewery Creek in the Yukon and Tonopah in Nevada – under one roof. "This transaction brings together all of the key ingredients required to build a premier junior gold producer – two advanced stage gold development projects ready for permitting and development, exploration upside, excellent mining jurisdictions, strong management skillsets, a solid...
ATAC Resources Ltd. is focusing its 2021 mineral exploration program on the East Goldfield project in Nevada, a departure from more than a decade of primarily exploring its district-scale Rackla Gold property in the Yukon. Late last year, the Yukon government rejected ATAC's application to build a 65-kilometer (40 miles), private tote road that would have supported advanced exploration and potential mine development at Rau, the westernmost of three projects that make up the ex...
U.S. Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority have signed documents that provide a 50-year right-of-way across federal lands for the Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road. "This right-of-way is the culmination of years of research, planning, and collaboration," said AIDEA Executive Director Alan Weitzner. "The signing of this permit is a major milestone. It's the first step in a multi-year phase of...
From the first glimpse of a potential new discovery to watching the first load of ore pour into a new mill, mineral explorers working in Yukon Territory during 2020 reported experiencing the full gamut of mining highs. Encouraged by the commissioning of the Eagle Gold Mine, government grants for exploration projects, and metals prices, dozens of juniors rushed to the Yukon to chase prospects in the northern territory. "Based on the historic trends, coming into 2020, it looked... Full story
Strong metal prices and an infusion of cash from notable resource investors helped to salvage much of a 2020 mineral exploration season in Alaska that became lethargic with disruptions, delays, and shelving of field programs infected by the COVID-19 pandemic early in the year. At its onset, 2020 was looking like it would be the best year for Alaska's mining sector in a decade. Australia-based mining companies were slated to invest nearly US$100 million in mineral exploration... Full story
Already headed toward the lowest level of annual mineral exploration spending in nearly two decades, the mining industry in Nunavut got broadsided by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Travel and workplace restrictions quickly imposed last spring by federal and local authorities to prevent the spread of the disease to the northern territory led some companies to cancel or postpone planned exploration programs until 2021. In February, Natural Resources Canada released figures... Full story
Rich in battery metals, precious metals, platinum group elements, and copper, Garibaldi Resources Inc.'s Nickel Mountain project in the heart of British Columbia's Golden Triangle offers a wide range of some of the most important metals of the 21st century. And the grades of the deposits being outlined on this property about 18 kilometers (11 miles) southwest of the historic Eskay Creek Mine are remarkable. Garibaldi first tapped the nickel- and copper-rich E&L intrusion at... Full story
Whether it is the exponential growth in electric vehicles traveling global highways, the massive need for storing energy at solar and wind electrical generating facilities, or cutting the cords on our electronic devices, the world is becoming increasingly dependent on lithium-ion batteries. And this is driving up the demand for cobalt, a critical safety ingredient in the cathodes of these energy storage cells. "Globally, the leading use is in the manufacture of cathode materia... Full story
Cans, cups, roofs, and foil hats are likely the first things that come to mind when thinking about tin – none of which conjure images of a metal that should be considered critical to a modern country like the United States. According to a study carried out by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, however, tin is the metal expected that be most impacted by new technologies. Commissioned by Rio Tinto, the MIT study found that tin beat out more likely technology metals candidate... Full story
Considering the global shift to low-carbon energy and electric mobility, copper is the most vital metal not on the United States Geological Survey's list of 35 minerals and metals considered critical to America's economic wellbeing and security. Copper's importance is due to the rapidly emerging electric vehicle, wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies need a lot more copper than the combustion cars and power plants they are replacing. It is estimated that the... Full story
Best known for its ability to resist heat and corrosion, antimony is in a wide array of consumer goods – from paints and plastics to batteries and wind turbines. This critical mineral is also used to make clearer glass for smartphones, computer screens and solar panels. "Today, antimony is used in lead-acid storage batteries for backup power and transportation; in chemicals, ceramics, and glass; in flame-retardant materials; and in heat stabilizers and plastics," the U.S. G... Full story
America's supply of tungsten, an extremely durable metal that is vital to a broad range of American industrial sectors, is at high-risk. A recent U.S. Geological Survey assessment to identify which mineral commodities are most at risk to supply disruptions ranked tungsten near the top of the list – alongside rare earth elements, cobalt and graphite, platinum group metals and tungsten. Like many of its neighbors at the top of the mineral commodity supply risk list, much of the... Full story
With it becoming increasingly apparent that Joe Biden will be confirmed as the 46th President of the United States, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski believes the coming years will be "interesting times" for the state's resource sectors. "There is near certainty that he is going to be taking office on Jan. 20, 2021," Alaska's senior senator said, referring to Biden, during the Resource Development Council for Alaska annual convention. "If he follows through on some of his campaign... Full story
Doyon Ltd. is seeing a resurgence of mineral exploration on its lands across Interior Alaska, especially on gold properties held by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act regional corporation. Running the breadth of Alaska between the Brooks Range to the north and Alaska Range to the south, the Doyon region blankets a mineral-rich swath of Alaska's Interior that is nearly the size of Texas. Doyon itself, owns 12.5 million acres of land within this vast region, making it the... Full story
The U.S. Department of Interior issued two decisions that mark a major milestone along the path of permitting a road to the incredibly rich and strategically important Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska. On July 23, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service (NPS) with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, issued a record of decision that authorizes a right-of-way for the proposed 211-mile-long road...
