The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Trade groups are incensed; many Alaska Natives feel ignored; DC delegation and governor vow to fight what is seen as a "politically motivated" ruling. Politically motivated, Illegal, hypocritical, irresponsible, unacceptable, and disgusting; this is how Alaska business leaders, policymakers, and Natives are characterizing the Biden administration's denial of permits to build a road that would link the critical mineral-rich Ambler Mining District to North American markets. "To...
Project proponents make midnight hour appeal for Biden administration to reconsider "irresponsible and unacceptable" permit decision for road. National media reports that the Biden administration is set to deny permits to build a 211-mile access road to the Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska has project proponents making a midnight-hour appeal to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to adhere to laws that led to the formation of the 49th State and were meant to...
"What happens to our communities and Tribal members if a road is not built, and no jobs or opportunity exists for our children and future generations?" Trilogy Metals Inc. March 26 announced that yet another rural Alaska Native community has passed a resolution in support of the Ambler Access Project – a proposed 211-mile, industrial-use-only road that would connect the mineral-rich Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska to the Dalton Highway and global markets. Hughes Vil... Full story
Zinc contributed most to state's mine production value during 2023; gold is poised to take the crown and make run toward 1 million ounces per year. At a value of $1.5 billion, zinc held onto its throne as the most valuable metal produced in Alaska during 2023. With production forecasts and price trends headed in opposite directions for zinc and gold, however, the gleaming precious metal that drew fortune-seekers North at the turn of the 20th century could soon regain the... Full story
With Donlin Gold reentering the feasibility study stage, Ambler Metals waiting on the reevaluation of the permit needed for a road to the Ambler Mining District, and an overall lack of investment capital, mineral exploration spending in Alaska dropped during 2023. While the overall sector was down, there continued to be some bright spots – most notably, a growing interest in Alaska's critical minerals potential. In July, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Graphite One I... Full story
With its sights set on establishing a large volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit with the potential to outshine its contemporaries in Alaska's Ambler Mining District, Valhalla Metals Inc. launched its inaugural drill program at the Sun copper-zinc-silver-gold project in 2023. After working behind the scenes to secure Sun and Smucker – VMS projects at opposite ends of the highly mineralized Ambler District in Northwest Alaska – Valhalla raised C$10.2 million (US$7.5 mil...
The first high-grade gold ore from the Manh Choh Mine in Alaska fed into the Kinross Alaska mill at the Fort Knox Mine near Fairbanks is elevating Contango Ore Inc. from a unique Alaska focused mineral exploration company to the newest gold producer in the state. "We are indeed excited to report that mining operations have commenced at Manh Choh and that the construction phase has been achieved on budget and on schedule," Contango ORE President and CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse... Full story
Valhalla Metals Inc. Oct. 30 reported that all four step-out holes drilled this year at its Sun project in the World Class Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska cut significant zones of volcanogenic massive sulfide mineralization enriched with copper, zinc, silver, and gold. Lying alongside the route of the proposed Ambler Access Project, colloquially known as the Ambler Road, Sun hosts VMS deposits similar to the Arctic Mine project being advanced by Ambler Metals about...
Valhalla Metals Inc. Sept. 18 reported the completion of an exploration program at Sun that included camp upgrades, geophysics, relogging of historical core, and four new holes drilled on the polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide project in the world-class Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska. "A lot was accomplished in a short amount of time during this first exploration program undertaken by Valhalla," said Chairman Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. This work began with the...
Valhalla Metals Inc. July 19 announced the start of its 2023 exploration program at Sun, which is slated to include up to 4,000 meters of drilling focused on expanding the high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit on this property in Alaska's Ambler Mining District. "We are excited to get our drill program underway. The Sun deposit is ripe for expansion," said Valhalla Metals Chairman Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. According to a 2018 calculation, Sun hosts 1.71 million metric...
A growing and increasingly vocal group of Alaska Native leaders are joining the 49th State's delegation in Washington DC on pressing the Biden administration to carry out a timely review of the proposed 211-mile road to the Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska. "We are asking lawmakers in Washington to listen to the voices of the people who have lived on these lands and stewarded Alaska since time immemorial," said Naasri Fred Sun, president of the Shungnak Tribe in the...
The North of 60 Mining area hosts billions of pounds of copper ready to be delivered to a world craving this metal in sky-high demand for wiring the electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure that would enable the envisioned low-carbon future. Whether enough of these copper-rich projects are developed in time to circumvent a short circuit of the clean energy transition remains to be seen. Global Market analysts such as S&P Global have predicted that copper... Full story
Seeking a balance between their traditional lifestyle and economic opportunities that allow their villages and the people that live there to thrive, the tribal councils of Allakaket and Huslia have unanimously voted to withdraw from a lawsuit against a federal decision to issue permits for a road to the Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska. "Our council and community have considered both the concerns and potential benefits from the responsible development of our lands,"...
Originally formed as a private company in 2018, Valhalla Metals Inc. launched onto the TSX Venture Exchange in the fall of 2022 with two high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide projects at either end of Alaska's famed Ambler Mining District that are enriched with copper, zinc, silver, and gold. "In a time when the United States is working to secure domestic sources of critical minerals, we are happy that we could successfully complete the transaction to acquire two high-grade... Full story
As Alaska-based company preps for 2023, Alaska Delegation calls for swift Ambler Road resolution. After spending this summer preparing for its initial drill program at the Sun copper-zinc-silver-gold project in Northwest Alaska, Valhalla Metals Inc. commends the Alaska Delegation's support for the proposed Ambler Road that would run right by this potential domestic source of green energy metals that lies along the route to the Arctic Mine project to the west. According to a...
Alaska-focused Valhalla Metals lists on TSX-V, raises C$10.2M Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, a longtime Alaskan geologist renowned for founding and serving as the top executive of both Novagold Resources Inc. and Trilogy Metals Inc., has launched yet another publicly traded company focused on exploring Alaska's incredible mineral potential – Valhalla Metals Inc. Originally formed as a private company in 2018, Valhalla picked up two high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide projects a...
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...
Goldman Sachs' declaration that "copper is the new oil" may serve as a foreshadowing of Alaska's economic future, one that is not so heavily reliant on the revenues from petroleum flowing from the North Slope and leans more heavily on the state's rich endowment of precious, critical, and base metals. The investment bank's suggestion that copper is to become the strategically most important commodity on Earth is due to the vital role the conductive metal plays in global... Full story
Valhalla Metals Inc., a privately held junior mining company focused on the exploration of the Sun and Smucker properties in Alaska's Ambler Mining District, may soon have easier access to funding through a merger with SolidusGold Inc., a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Under a tentative agreement announced on Nov. 29, Solidus would acquire Valhalla through an exchange of shares that would result in current Valhalla shareholders owning 80% of the resulting company...
Valhalla Metals Inc. is excited about new targets identified by airborne geophysics flown over Sun, a volcanogenic massive sulfide exploration project in Alaska's Ambler Mining District that is rich in zinc, lead, copper and silver. Valhalla is a private Alaskan mineral exploration company formed in 2018 by a team of geologists and industry professionals to acquire and explore Sun and potentially other projects in the Ambler district and across the state. According to a...
Trilogy Metals Inc. Nov. 7 reported copper- and zinc-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide intersections in all six holes drilled at the Sunshine prospect on its Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP) in Northwest Alaska. UKMP is a roughly 353,000-square-acre land package that covers most of the Ambler Mining District. This massive land package covers two world-class deposits – Arctic and Bornite –and numerous other prospects and targets across a roughly 60-mile-long stretch of the...
As the rest of the country suffers through the Dog Days of summer, Alaska is approaching the end of a topsy-turvy summer season that saw unseasonably hot, dry weather in some parts of the state during some parts of the summer, while other parts of the state have seen record rainfall and unseasonably early snowfall. Gold prices have skyrocketed over the $1,500 per ounce mark and silver prices have moved strongly up, now trading at a one-year high. However, copper and zinc are a... Full story
A group of Alaskans led by renowned geologist Curt Freeman have created Valhalla Metals Inc., a private Alaska exploration company that has nabbed exciting volcanogenic massive sulfide projects that bookend the Ambler Mining District, one of the richest known undeveloped mineral regions on Earth. Anchored by the Arctic deposit on lands held by Trilogy Metals Inc., this region of Northwest Alaska is celebrated for a 70-mile- (110 kilometers) long belt of world-class VMS...
When it comes to mineral exploration incentives, currency exchange and infrastructure, Alaska is at a disadvantage in the realm of attracting exploration investments from Canada and Australia, countries that are home to the majority of mining companies. The Far North State's vast and underexplored mineral potential, however, trumps these handicaps in the minds of a growing number of miners and mineral explorers. Mining executives from around the globe perennially rank Alaska... Full story
Thanks largely to increased investments from Aussie mining explorers, mineral exploration spending across Alaska topped US$100 million in 2018. This is well above the roughly US$95 million invested last year and nearly double the US$58 million spent at the bottom of the market in 2015. "Canadian and Australian companies continue to be the source for the bulk of funds spent in Alaska in 2018, together comprising well over 80 percent of the exploration expenditures earmarked... Full story