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

Over the past quadrennial, there has been a great deal of conversation about "truth." Especially in the political arena. Ostensibly, the number of "lies" that have emanated from the... — Updated 7/1/2021 Full story

Although new cases of COVID-19 are still appearing throughout the nation in general and Alaska in particular, at the moment they are hovering at the 40-per-day level apparently. The vacci... — Updated 6/24/2021 Full story

I always tend to look at the world through the wrong end of the telescope. For instance, many people regard the so-called political divisions in our country as being a problem, but for... — Updated 5/27/2021 Full story

In February, the Alaska Miners Association (AMA) released its annual report on the Economic Benefits of Alaska's Mining Industry. That report highlighted the fact that 4,700 direct and 9,... — Updated 4/1/2021 Full story

Without a doubt, 2020 was somewhat less than a perfect year. If you didn't like the way it started out, with an impeachment and a pandemic dominating the news, you might not have liked... — Updated 2/25/2021 Full story

It has often been said that one should never watch sausages or laws being made. There are good reasons for saying that, especially in our quasi-democratic environment. For just cause we... — Updated 2/11/2021 Full story

With 2020 in the rearview mirror, now is a good time to reflect on and prognosticate about Alaska and things mining. First, with regard to things past, from the impeachment to the... — Updated 1/14/2021 Full story

The fourth quarter in any given year, actually the period between Columbus Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is always an interesting period. Every eighth year (more frequently with... — Updated 11/25/2020 Full story

The successful appointment of Justice Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court has possibly put an end for the time being to the national drift to the political left. Without disparaging any... — Updated 10/29/2020 Full story

Northern Dynasty Minerals first set its sights on Alaska's Pebble deposit in the 1990s. After acquiring the property in 2001, the company spent more than a decade and close to $1 billion... — Updated 10/1/2020 Full story

N'tsi Tatay, more widely known as the Windy Craggy Project, is one of North America's largest resources of cobalt with excellent copper, zinc, gold, and silver grades hosted in an Upper... — Updated 9/26/2020 Full story

In what may be the world's grandest example of the Butterfly Effect, a microscopic organism in China has caused a hurricane of change for every person on Earth. For now, this change is... — Updated 9/26/2020 Full story

We all join in mourning the passing of one of the truly great Justices of the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Not because of her bent, but because she personified the finest... — Updated 9/24/2020 Full story

If anyone has not yet read Mike Satre’s excellent editorial in the October 2019 edition of the Alaska Miner magazine they should stop what they are doing right now and read what he has... — Updated 8/14/2020

Each July for the past four decades I have traveled to the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Annual Institute for the purpose of maintaining my credentials as a lawyer and to... — Updated 7/30/2020 Full story

Political differences, public demonstrations, a mortal pandemic, climate evolution, economic rebalancing plus a flood of other disasters have welled up over the past score of years to... — Updated 7/10/2020 Full story

If I were to write a letter to the President of the United States, it would probably go something like this: Dear Mr. President – Notwithstanding the aggressive Executive Orders that... — Updated 5/28/2020 Full story

Since statehood at least and, to a certain extent, since the earliest territorial days, Alaska has depended on the development of its resources for its prosperity. Fishing and mining... — Updated 4/30/2020 Full story

In the current environment, it is difficult to avoid discussing the elephant in the room. Essentially, we need to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect mining activities in... — Updated 3/26/2020 Full story

It is the very nature of the legislative process for the participants to endure conflict and controversy. Generally, the confrontations endemic to law-making begin when a citizen files... — Updated 2/28/2020 Full story

A priority of the Trump administration in 2016 was the reduction of the regulatory burden on America's businesses. Three years ago, the President signed Executive Order 13771, "Reducing... — Updated 1/30/2020 Full story

This author, in this column and elsewhere, has often taken the position that Alaska, especially in remote locations, is the safest, most environmentally-sound and worker-friendly mining... — Updated 1/10/2020 Full story

If you pay any attention to the popular press, it is difficult to avoid critical references to President Trump. He has become the effigy for everything from political division to global i... — Updated 11/27/2019

Alaska, like Canada to the east and Russia to the west, is well known for its elephantine mineral deposits. Recognition of those deposits surfaces regularly. Sometimes they are... — Updated 9/26/2019 Full story

It is no secret that much of the western United States was built on the back of natural resources found on federal land or within adjacent federal waters. Likewise, it is no secret that... — Updated 9/6/2019