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: Geophysics reveal deep targets at Man 01/17/2010
Pure Nickel plans to drill targets in large conductive bodies located below two areas of its nickel-copper-PGE property in Alaska
During their first exploration season as joint venture partners at the Man nickel-copper-platinum group element project in Interior Alaska, Pure Nickel Inc. and Itochu Corp. said they discovered compe...

Mining News: Junior scores 'major' coup in Far North 01/17/2010
AngloGold Ashanti Holdings Plc joins Commander Resources Inc. quest for 'elephant' gold on district-scale Baffin Island property
Among juniors actively working to attract majors to invest in mineral exploration projects scattered across Canada's Far North, one Vancouver, B.C.-based company leaped to the front of the pack recent...

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...

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...

Mining News: Panel seeks staking ban for most of Peel 12/20/2009
Mining group worries recommendations will lock up valuable resources; start anti-mining trend in Yukon's other mineral-rich areas
A review panel has recommended that most of the Peel River watershed region in northeast Yukon Territory be withdrawn from industrial use, including mineral resource development. In long-awaited reco...

Mining News: Junior lauded for innovative reclamation 12/20/2009
Western Copper cleans up abandoned workings on Casino property, while targeting zero environmental impact from current activities
Western Copper Corp. won the coveted Robert E. Leckie Award for 2009 for outstanding reclamation of old abandoned workings on the Casino Property in west-central Yukon Territory. But the junior explo...

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: Interior property shows huge potential 12/20/2009
Junior cuts 400 meters of gold mineralization during 2009 exploration program aimed at seeking prospects beyond Whistler zone
Kiska Metals Corp. cut long intercepts of gold-rich mineralization in two of the five holes that it drilled during the newly formed company's fall 2009 exploration program. These intercepts indicate t...

Mining News: Junior plans drilling program at Niblack 12/20/2009
Heatherdale intends to spend US$15 million on aggressive exploration to earn majority interest in precious metal-rich VMS project
Heatherdale Resources Ltd., the Hunter Dickinson subsidiary that joined forces with CBR Gold Corp. on the Niblack project, plans an aggressive exploration campaign at the copper-gold-silver-zinc proje...

Mining News: Miners, like boats, rode tide in 2009 12/20/2009
But the fortunes of some mining companies foundered even as commodities prices marched steadily higher during the past 12 months
Although commodities prices have improved for the mining industry over the past year, 2009 has been the kind of year most of us hope not to repeat. The best analogy I can come up with is the one that...

BBNC opposes offshore leasing, Pebble 12/20/2009
Native regional corporation says oil and gas leasing, mine development are too risky for fish-rich Bristol Bay; others fire back
A major stakeholder in the Bristol Bay region has come out against offshore oil and gas leasing in the North Aleutian basin. The Bristol Bay Native Corp. announced Dec. 11 its board passed a resolutio...

Mining News: Romios finds deposit near Galore Creek 11/22/2009
Junior reports values as high as 6.21 percent copper, 2.2 g/t gold and 20.7 g/t silver in samples from its new Dirk discovery
Romios Gold Resources Inc. Nov. 11 reported the discovery of significant copper, gold and silver mineralization on its Dirk Property located about 37 kilometers, or 24 miles, southeast of NovaGold Res...

Mining News: Fortune chooses Saskatoon for refinery 11/22/2009
Junior agrees to purchase land in Saskatchewan to process ore mined at the Nico polymetallic project in Northwest Territories
Fortune Minerals Ltd. has identified a site in Saskatchewan for a processing facility for its Nico Project located 160 kilometers, or 99 miles, northwest of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The jun...

Mining News: Parnell lauds Alaska permitting process 11/22/2009
"The state will continue to defend our permits that we issue, and our permitting process. That is the least I can do as governor"
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell reflected on Alaska's rich mining history and vowed to defend the state's mining regulatory process and to oppose unjust attacks on the industry during an address to miner...

Mining News: Race heats up for territory's next mine 11/22/2009
Alexco Resource and Yukon Zinc are rolling into home stretch of competition to develop Yukon's second operating mine after Minto
The race to become the next operating mine in Yukon Territory is heating up as two projects, Alexco Resource Corp.'s Bellekeno silver project and Yukon Zinc Corp.'s Wolverine volcanic massive sulphide...

Mining News: Big brains and why mining needs them 11/22/2009
With six major mines poised to come on line, British Columbia's industry is ready to challenge the best and the brightest thinkers
The first thing that makes mining a complex business is the science of finding a mine. We have over 12,000 mineral occurrences in BC and less than 20 major mines. It takes years just to locate, evalua...

Mining News: Victors may be 'the biggest losers' 11/22/2009
Shortsighted opponents of mining industry will suffer along with everyone else if America loses access to its mineral resources
Although there are innumerable differences between any point in the past and the present, modern political activists of all political stripes routinely draw on one half-recalled and poorly understood...

Mining News: Optimism surges among Alaska miners 11/22/2009
As metals prices climb and world demand resumes upward trend, mineral industry prepares for period of robust activity in 2010
Metals markets continue to climb out of the basement as the world demand for metals resumes its upward trend. Fueled by this growing demand, numerous Alaska precious, base and rare metal projects repo...

The Explorers 2009: Rutter and Wilbanks Corp. 11/15/2009
Over its five years in Alaska, the Texas-based independent Rutter and Wilbanks has been persistent in the face of continued challenges, but its future in the state is now more uncertain than ever. Ru...

The Explorers 2009: Interior Alaska basins 11/15/2009
Although analysts think that the majority of Alaska's oil and gas resources lie within the major basins of northern Alaska, Cook Inlet and the Bristol Bay area, there are several other basins around t...

Valdez refinery returns to full output 11/15/2009
Safety systems improved as cause of last December's fire remains undetermined; plans laid to make low-sulfur diesel at refinery
Petro Star Inc. has resumed full operations at its small Valdez crude oil refinery following a fire last December that local fire officials estimated did about $20 million in damage. Petro Star, a sub...

Mining Explorers 2009: Sabina Silver Corp. 11/01/2009
SBB.V: TSX-V President and CEO: Anthony P. Walsh Lead Director: Roy E. Wilkes Exploration Manager: John F. Whitton Sabina Silver, an explorer in Canada since 2001, is a Canadian precious metals explor...