The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 156
As termination dust settles over Alaska, the diversity of mineral exploration, development and production news this month covers the entire spectrum of mining industry activities. The last of the seasonal early-stage exploration projects are reporting in, a major producing company has entered the state for the first time, Alaska finished its first off-shore mineral lease process in more than a decade, several projects reported on resource definition and feasibility studies, a gold deposit was sold, a ballot initiative aimed... Full story
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...
The last month has seen a massive transition in Alaska from planning to execution, from getting ready to go to the field to boots on the outcrop and drills in the ground. Each year the hustle and bustle of the Alaska summer exploration season subsumes virtually everything else (except the Stanley Cup) as field programs launch around the state. This year has been no different with base metal programs in the Brooks Range, gold programs in Interior Alaska and the Seward... Full story
Although the mining news for the last month was rather on the thin side in terms of volume, a number of significant milestones were reached by the Alaska mineral industry. Over the past 30 days or so, we have had new mineral resources published on three gold deposits and one polymetallic deposit. We've had the first preliminary economic analysis released on a deposit from the Ambler Mining District and the schedule for a second preliminary economic analysis announced for...
From college students seeking their first job in the minerals industry to executives of the world's leading mining companies, a record-setting 7,003 people packed the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., Jan. 24-27 to attend the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia's 2011 Mineral Exploration Roundup. "The theme this year is 'Exploring Today for Tomorrow's Resources' - it couldn't be more important a theme, and it couldn't be more important an activity,"...
The Last Frontier, as Alaska has long been labeled, is as applicable a moniker today as it was to prospectors who ventured to the territory at the end of the 19th century. Alaska is considered one of the most mineralized provinces on Earth, but due to an inter-related combination of Arctic weather, rugged terrain, limited infrastructure and high exploration costs, the state's vast mineral potential remains at the edge of exploratory expansion. Though the Far North state...
Corvus Gold Corp., a new junior formed to explore International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.'s non-Livengood assets, hit the ground running with C$8 million worth of partner-funded exploration on its four Alaska properties and a 10,000-meter drill campaign on its sole-owned gold property in Nevada. By the time the Corvus' ticker symbol, KOR, lit up on the Toronto and New York Stock exchanges in August the new explorer was well into the summer exploration its promising Alaska...
Since its inception in 2007, Millrock Resources Inc.'s modus operandi is to seek out early-stage mineral prospects in Alaska and Arizona, complete initial exploration and then joint venture the projects to other industry players. Utilizing this project generator model the junior has amassed a portfolio of 10 gold and copper projects, seven of which received partner-funded exploration in 2010. Estelle, Millrock's flagship gold property in Alaska, had been the one caveat to the...
FS: TSX-V President and CEO: Bill Wishart Vice President Exploration: Karsten Eden First Star Resources Inc. is exploring West Pogo and LMS, two gold properties in the vicinity of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd.'s Pogo Mine in Interior Alaska. The junior signed an option agreement with International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. to earn up to a 100 percent interest in the properties, and in August Tower Hill rolled these assets into a new junior exploration company, Corvus Gold Inc. (See Corvus Gold). West Pogo is situated 2.8 miles,...
FVL: TSX-V President and CEO: Kristina Walcott Chief Financial Officer: Gordon Steblin Vice President, Exploration: Michael Gross Weighed down with about C$11 million in debt in mid-2009, it appeared Freegold Ventures Ltd. would become another casualty of the market collapse. Stepping into the leadership role, former Freegold Vice President of Corporate Development Kristina Walcott leveraged the value of the company's four gold assets in Alaska and Idaho. Over the course of a few short months, the new president and CEO... Full story
Privately held company President: Nori Ushirone Pogo General Manager: Todd Roth Pogo Chief Geologist: Paul Jensen Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo LLC, an 85/15 partnership between Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. is boosting the gold reserves at Pogo while seeking new deposits on the property surrounding the high-grade gold mine in Interior Alaska. The Tokyo-based miner planned about 40,800 meters of surface and underground drilling at Pogo in 2010. The 21,150-meter surface program split between... Full story
When Corvus Gold Inc.'s ticker symbol, KOR, first lit up on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange AMEX boards in late August, the junior explorer already had multimillion-dollar exploration campaigns under way on its promising exploration projects in Alaska. The Vancouver B.C.-based junior, formed to explore International Tower Hill Ltd.'s non-Livengood projects, holds four exploration properties in Alaska and the North Bullfrog project in Nevada. Under the... Full story
Japan is an important player in Alaska's mining industry. The island nation imports more than US$125 million in minerals from the Far North state annually and Tokyo-based businesses own the Pogo gold mine and are making significant investments in other mining projects across the state. To further strengthen this mutually beneficial bond, Alaska accepted an invitation by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. to update the country's minerals business community about the state...
Corvus Gold Inc., a Vancouver B.C.-based junior company being formed to explore International Tower Hill Ltd.'s early stage properties, will initially hold four projects in Alaska and the North Bullfrog project in Nevada. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Tower Hill will retain all assets relating to the Livengood gold project in Alaska and about C$41 million in working capital. Corvus will get the five properties and about C$3 million in cash. The spin-out... Full story
Larry Davey, the general manager of the Pogo Gold Mine since 2007, passed the torch to his successor May 12. The transfer of leadership marks the completion of the transition of Alaska's highest producing gold mine to its new owner, Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo LLC, a partnership between Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. (85 percent) and Sumitomo Corp. (15 percent.) "The transition has proceeded smoothly with great support from Teck. The first portion of the transition was to move... Full story
When the financial storm of late 2008 wreaked havoc on global markets, Millrock Resources Inc. refrained from splurging its precious cash on expensive drill campaigns. But it didn't it sit idly by waiting for better economic times either. Instead, the Vancouver, B.C.-based junior invested its wealth of geological experience in identifying promising grassroots gold and copper projects. Millrock also formed key alliances with financially stable miners wanting to invest in projec...
Left leaderless and weighed down with about C$11 million in debt in mid-2009, it appeared Freegold Ventures Ltd. would become another casualty of the market collapse of 2008. Many believe this surely would have been the case if not for the tenacity of Kristina Walcott, then the company's vice president of corporate development. Stepping into the leadership role at Freegold, Walcott leveraged the value of the company's four gold assets in Alaska and Idaho. Over the course of a...
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corporation closed a deal in July to purchase Teck Resources Ltd.'s 40 percent interest in the Pogo Gold Mine in Interior Alaska. The transaction required the Japanese companies to pay Teck US$245 million, plus an undisclosed amount of working capital. As a result, Sumitomo Mining and Sumitomo Corp. now own 100 percent of Pogo, with the former increasing its share to 85 percent from 51 percent, and the latter to 15 percent from 9...
Alix Resources Corp. geologists spent the summer investigating the junior's two new gold properties in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Joining the 2009 gold rush to the White District south of Dawson City, Alix purchased lode quartz mineral claims six kilometers, or nearly 4 miles, east and slightly north of the White Gold Project where Underworld Resources Ltd. made a significant gold discovery in the Golden Saddle zone in 2008. Alix said its 500-plus-hectare, or about 1,205-... Full story
They say when it rains, it pours, and that is just what is happening with news from field programs all over Alaska. Results from summer 2009 programs are pouring in from the Brooks Range to Prince of Wales Island, from Eastern Interior Alaska to Southwestern Alaska. Commodities of interest range from the expected gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc to the nearly unpronounceable, including praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, thulium, lutetium and yttrium. Go ahead, drop a...
Teck Resources Ltd. and affiliates of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. said they completed the sale of Teck's 40 percent interest in the Pogo Gold Mine in Interior Alaska July 7 after several months of negotiations. The transaction, first announced April 30, required the Japanese conglomerate to pay Teck US$245 million, plus an undisclosed amount of working capital. As a result, Sumitomo Metal and Sumitomo now own 100 percent of Pogo, with the former increasing its share to 85 percent from 51 percent, and...
Spring has arrived in Alaska and the mining industry is heading to the hills to do its work. Compared to last year, the state is a quiet place in the sun due to drastically reduced exploration and development budgets. Alaska's mines continue to benefit from the sharply reduced costs of power, diesel fuel, labor and other goods and services, but worldwide economic uncertainties have dried up the availability of venture capital for smaller exploration companies and have made... Full story
Last month we talked about economic impacts of the Alaska mining industry. This month, the world mineral exploration industry is in our crosshairs. Halifax-based Metals Economics Group reported that 2008 worldwide nonferrous mineral exploration reached $13.2 billion, more than 2.5 times the previous peak exploration spending level reached in 1997. Add uranium exploration expenditures, and the total expands to $14.4 billion. Exploration spending would have been even higher...
There are some new stats out from the State of Alaska that I thought you might like to see. For 2008, the Alaska mining industry accounted for 3,500 direct jobs and 5,500 indirect jobs. The industry doled out US$350 million in payroll with the average salary totaling US$82,600 per year, which is 90 percent higher than the statewide average for all sectors. Mining salaries were higher than all other sectors, except for the oil and gas sector. The industry paid US$105 million in...
Teck Pogo recently briefed state and federal government agencies on its 2008 activities and provided an update of the company's plans for 2009 at the Pogo underground gold mine which it operates in Interior Alaska. Teck Pogo operates the mine on behalf of the Pogo Joint Venture, a partnership between Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (51 percent), Sumitomo Corp. (9 percent) and Teck Cominco Limited (40 percent). The company said the focus of milling in 2008 was consistency...
