Mining News: Seasoned mine builder joins NovaGold 01/17/2010
Gil Leathley's five decades of experience is expected to be invaluable as the company continues to build world-class mines
NovaGold Resources Inc. tapped a wealth of mining experience recently when it appointed Gil Leathley as senior advisor to the junior's president and CEO, Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. "Mr. Leathley is one of...

Mining News: Junior jumps in with both feet at Ambler 01/17/2010
NovaGold agrees to buy Arctic VMS project for US$29 million; opts to focus on environmental studies, Northwest community in 2010
NovaGold Resources Inc. has cut a deal with Rio Tinto subsidiary Kennecott Exploration Co. to purchase 100 percent interest in the precious-metal-rich Ambler copper-zinc property in Northwest Alaska....

Mining News: Zazu orders Lik transportation study 01/17/2010
AIDEA agrees to evaluate expanding transportation system to accommodate mine development at lead-zinc-silver deposit near Red Dog
Zazu Metals Corp. has signed an agreement with the state-owned Alaska Industrial Development and Export Agency to complete due diligence for transportation infrastructure needed to support a mine at i...

Mining News: New year, decade brings opportunities 01/17/2010
Alaska mining industry will continue to supply world's demands for mineral resources, despite ups and downs in global markets
As we plunge headlong into a new year and a new decade, the broad economic indicators for the mining industry suggest continued strong prices for most commodities in 2010 followed by slightly lower av...

Mining News: Terrane seeks partner to build mine 01/17/2010
Terrane Metals Corp. has decided to move ahead with construction of a C$900 million open-pit copper-gold mine at the Mt. Milligan Project in north-central British Columbia. Robert Pease, Terrane's pr...

Mining News: Movie gives industry a big black eye 01/17/2010
James Cameron's 'Avatar' exploits outdated stereotype; gifted earth scientists and engineers lead most successful mining companies
I must join what appears to be a growing parade of voices criticizing some aspect of the mega-blockbuster sci-fi movie, Avatar, and add my two cents. Critics have complained about the movie's story l...

Greening of Oil magazine launches 01/17/2010
Anchorage-based Petroleum News has launched a new, international online magazine at www.greeningofoil.com. Greening of Oil is a science-based publication that tracks the environmental footprint of fos...

Chukchi air permit takes Shell closer to 2010 drilling program 01/17/2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Jan. 7 decision to propose an amended air quality permit for Shell's planned exploration drilling in the Arctic Alaska outer continental shelf of the Chukchi...

West Alpine on hold 01/17/2010
Without corps permit, ConocoPhillips can't start work in 2010-11 winter season
Work on ConocoPhillips Alaska's Alpine West or CD-5 satellite - the first satellite planned for development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska - has been delayed by at least a year. The company...

Oil Patch Bits: Stoel Rives expands corporate services in Alaska 01/10/2010
Stoel Rives LLP said Dec. 14 that corporate attorneys William H. Timme and John D. Kauffman have joined the firm's Anchorage office. Timme has spent more than 35 years counseling mostly Alaska Native...

Olgoonik, UIC to support Shell operations 01/10/2010
Shell is partnering with Olgoonik Corp., the Native village corporation for the Chukchi Sea coast village of Wainwright, and Ukpeaegvik Inupiat Corp., the Native village corporation for Barrow, to ope...

Oil Patch Insider: Gazprom CEO: U.S. firms lack knowledge for Arctic projects 01/10/2010
Alaskans need help from Russians with projects in the Arctic, the CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, has told Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Gazprom said in a release Dec. 25. Mil...

Ho-ho-hold the holidays 01/10/2010
Proponents of Mackenzie gas have tight deadline to respond to 679-page report
It landed Dec. 30 with a thud on desks in the high-rise petroleum towers of downtown Calgary, spoiling whatever hopes employees working on the Mackenzie Gas Project might have had to put their feet up...

Assuring your approval 01/10/2010
Modern permitting involves doing due diligence, proving sustainable benefits
There was a time when people tended to view permitting as simply a question of obtaining government agency approval for certain specific actions planned for a project. But that's no longer a viable ap...

Noah tells legislators time to choose 01/03/2010
Says Legislature funding too many options, confusing market; Irwin says information isn't in for standalone or AGIA line to market
Alaska legislators heard two different views in mid-December of what they should do about gas projects in the state: Harry Noah, the outgoing project manager for the state's in-state gas project, said...

New Chukchi lawsuit schedule proposed 01/03/2010
The plaintiffs and defendants in an appeal in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska against the February 2008 Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sale have filed a propo...

Gas could be answer in warming fight 01/03/2010
Utilities looking at natural gas because it emits half as much carbon as coal when burned to generate same amount of electricity
An unlikely source of energy has emerged to meet international demands that the United States do more to fight global warming: It's cleaner than coal, cheaper than oil and a 90-year supply is under ou...

State intervenes in Beaufort Sea litigation 12/27/2009
The State of Alaska has filed a motion to intervene in an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope...

ANGDA resolves EIS project description 12/27/2009
Authority's board approves moving ahead with Beluga to Fairbanks gas line permitting work, exclusive agreement on propane project
The Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management appear to have come to an agreement on a project description of ANGDA's Beluga-to-Fairb...

Our Arctic Neighbors: Russian investment climate needs a boost 12/27/2009
Russia needs to make itself more attractive to investment from foreign energy companies, the country's minister of natural resources, Yuri Trutnev, said in an interview with the newspaper Vremya Novos...

Watchdog wants to zap tanker stowaways 12/27/2009
Prince William Sound group suggests treatment plant at Valdez to rid ballast water of potentially harmful nonindigenous organisms
An oil industry watchdog group is pushing for construction of a special treatment plant to kill invasive species in ballast water carried aboard oil tankers calling on Valdez to load Alaska North Slop...

Power from the North Slope by HVDC? 12/20/2009
State-of-the-art high-voltage direct current, or HVDC, technology is changing the rule book for long-distance power transmission, thus perhaps making feasible the export of large-scale power supplies...

Mining News: Pebble bobs to, fro on waves of opinion 12/20/2009
Fisheries board rejects plan to establish Bristol Bay fish refuge; Native corporations differ sharply on mining project's impact
The Pebble Partnership, a 50-50 joint venture between Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and Anglo American plc, can chalk up one win and one potential loss toward the development of a mine at its copper-...

Mining News: Kinross signs JV pact to explore claims 12/20/2009
Gold producer joins Millrock Resources in targeting grassroots prospects on Seward Peninsula; drill program scheduled for 2010
Kinross Gold Corp. has agreed to team up with Millrock Resources Inc. to explore more than 900 square kilometers, or 222,000 acres, of gold properties in the Council Mining District about 60 miles, or...

Taking another look at Susitna hydropower 12/20/2009
To some an elegant dream but to others a gargantuan nightmare, the prospect of a mega hydropower project on the Susitna River, in the upcountry somewhere between the Talkeetna Mountains and the Alaska...