North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Not all parents are sure that their kids appreciate them. But when they follow you into the family business and one of them writes an article describing you as a role model and all-around great guy, you can relax with a beer, put your... — Updated 8/26/2007

After several years of revision, Alaska is closing in on the goal of bringing its surface coal mining regulations in line with federal rules governing the same activities. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources says changes are... — Updated 4/29/2007

Should the mining industry's tax rate in Alaska be compared with that of the much larger oil and gas industry, because they both deal with non-renewable resources, or is it fairer to align mining with industries like fishing and... — Updated 3/25/2007 Full story

Q. Where is Usibelli Coal Mine located? A. It is located in Healy, Alaska, at mile 249 of the Parks Highway in the Alaska Mountain Range. The headquarters and maintenance shop complex is a three-story building on mine property situated... — Updated 12/24/2006

Alaska's governor-elect, Republican Sarah Palin, made the annual miners' convention in Anchorage the venue for her first official engagement after the election, promising to listen to the industry as she selects her advisors. Palin's... — Updated 11/26/2006

By most years' standards, the last month has been a barn burner for mining news. By 2006 standards it hardly measures on the Mining Industry Care-O-Meter, a highly subjective, totally unscientific measurement of what is happening in... — Updated 9/24/2006

The Usibelli coal mine in Healy, Alaska, is shipping coal to a power plant in Mejillones, Chile. The panamax vessel MV Coral Sapphire departed Seward Aug. 18 loaded with 73,000 metric tons of Alaska coal. There is an option for the custo... — Updated 9/24/2006 Full story

City officials in Seward are entertaining the idea of using coal to fuel an electricity generation plant in the Southcentral Alaska coastal town. But Seward's city council is also investigating the merits of tidal waves and wind and... — Updated 7/30/2006

A worldwide shortage of industrial tires is pushing up costs for Alaska's mining industry, just as soaring metal prices are fueling the sector's resurgence. The fast-growing economies of China and India combined with demand from the... — Updated 4/23/2006

Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. has seen the future, and the future - its Jumbo Dome project - is bigger and better than anything the company has mined in the past, says Steve Denton, Usibelli vice president of business development. Jumbo Dome p... — Updated 3/26/2006 Full story

Alaska's main rival in the international coal market is Indonesia, developer and rocket scientist Bob Stiles told an Anchorage audience at a myth-busting session Feb. 3. Stiles' goal in speaking to the World Affairs Council was to put... — Updated 2/26/2006 Full story

Pebble copper-gold mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay region is still on the drawing board, but a debate is already raging in the state Legislature over the best way to oversee the project. Although Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty has said... — Updated 2/26/2006

A report on the economic impact of Alaska's mining industry published in February provides a comprehensive look at the varied benefits mining brings to the state. The Alaska Miners Association commissioned the McDowell Group to prepare... — Updated 2/26/2006

Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, Alaska, has achieved an all-time safety record for no lost time injuries. The company said Jan. 17 that from Jan. 27, 2004, to the present, Usibelli's employees have collectively achieved more than 720 days... — Updated 1/29/2006

The stars may be in alignment at long last for a huge coal project that has been languishing for decades just 50 miles from Anchorage. Developer Bob Stiles has renewed confidence that a mine will be built to exploit the Beluga-Chuitna... — Updated 11/27/2005

Alaska's Department of Natural Resources may not have seen the last of Bob Loeffler. When he resigned as director of the Division of Mining, Land and Water in November, it was the third time he had quit the department that he first joine... — Updated 11/27/2005 Full story

A Homer electric cooperative is eyeing the closed Healy Clean Coal Plant as a future source of power. The $300 million state-owned plant, located 78 miles southwest of Fairbanks, was built in the mid 1990s to tap the Usibelli Coal Mine... — Updated 10/30/2005

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed Bartly Coiley, Usibelli Coal Mine's environmental affairs manager, to the Alaska Minerals Commission in August. Coiley fills the seat vacated by another Usibelli employee, Charles Boddy. The... — Updated 9/25/2005

An ambitious plan by Canadian junior Cash Minerals could bring 1.2 million tonnes of coal per year to Southeast Alaska's Skagway Ore Terminal for export to Pacific Rim markets. Cash has begun talks with the Alaska Industrial Development... — Updated 7/24/2005

Other mining projects may be jumping on the bandwagon, but Teck Cominco still leads the race to find local gas reserves to feed the voracious appetite of a large-mine power plant in Alaska. Seven years after discovering gas deposits in... — Updated 6/19/2005

There aren't many places in the United States where you drive on the left side of the road, but Usibelli coal mine is one of them. When you arrive at the gates to the mine in Healy, Alaska, you have to switch to the left because that... — Updated 5/22/2005