Mining News: Pebble foes pay US$100K to end dispute 03/28/2010
A recent settlement between the Alaska Public Offices Commission and anti-Pebble campaigners has incited passionate responses from groups on both sides of the issue. The Renewable Resources Coalition,...

Mining News: Remote territory offers mineral bonanza 03/28/2010
Government, industry focuses on unlocking secrets of ancient rocks as modern mining industry finds firm footing in Arctic North
No discussion of opening Canada's Far North to mineral resource development could get far without the focus turning to Nunavut, the nation's newest and least-explored territory. At one-fifth the size...

Mining News: Alaskans make pitch at top mining show 03/28/2010
Some 22,000 reps of companies, governments and agencies from around the world rolled out projects in Toronto to see and be seen
I recently attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto where a buoyant, project-hungry crowd of 22,000 created enough of its own hot air to start the Greenland...

MMS director names science advisor 03/28/2010
The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service announced March 24 that Alan Thornhill has been named science advisor to MMS Director Liz Birnbaum. MMS said Thornhill will assist Birnbau...

Greening of Oil - Latest from Mac Ackers 03/28/2010
ALASKANS, GOO WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU ... Greening of Oil recently posted an article, Hydrokinetic proposition for Alaska at http://bit.ly/9KurPW about a Floridian who won an award for a device he wants...

Arctic Directory: A new Arctic paradigm 03/21/2010
Moving farther north in Arctic offshore stimulates drilling safety innovation
The potentially huge but largely untapped oil and gas resources of the Arctic offshore have become a major focus of attention, as access to new resources in traditional petroleum provinces has become...

Facing tough issues 03/14/2010
Salazar states his position on OCS leasing, NPR-A and oil development
Besieged on one side by development proponents and on the other by the environmental lobby, it seems that nowadays the U.S. Department of the Interior has difficulty keeping anyone happy when it comes...

USARC calls for more oil spill research 03/07/2010
Commission says more federal funds needed for research into Arctic oil spill prevention and response, especially in the offshore
Citing increased shipping and oil industry activity in Arctic seas, as sea ice recedes in the face of global warming, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission has published a white paper recommending addit...

Greening of Oil - Latest from Mac Ackers 03/07/2010
HEADED TO ANTARCTICA ... By now you've heard our big news: Greening of Oil has launched an Antarctica expedition blog at www.greeningofoil.com/antarctica.aspx - in English AND Arabic. Qatari engineer Ab...

Mining News: B.C. mining prepares for rally in 2010 02/28/2010
Though activity fell sharply in 2009, exploration spending in the province still outperformed all but five of the past 20 years
Mineral exploration activity in British Columbia fell 58 percent to $154 million in 2009 from C$367 million a year earlier, but one B.C. government official said the outcome still was the sixth-highes...

Mining News: Terrane wreck lures explorers to Alaska 02/28/2010
Nearly 400 million years of mineral-rich formations crashing into each other created among world's most prospective geology
Geologically, Alaska is a terrane wreck, with multiple tectonic plates dumping their mineral payloads over the landscape. Geologists are still sifting through the wreckage in many places across the st...

Mining News: Pebble opponents seek river protections 02/28/2010
Fishing interests urge special safeguards for Bristol Bay watershed, highest level of protection for Koktuli River near Pebble
Environmental groups are pushing for special protection of watersheds near the enormous Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit, which, according to the most recent estimate by the Pebble Partnership, c...

Mining News: To be a true Alaskan is to be pro-mining 02/28/2010
Lawmaker expresses confidence in regulatory process to ensure that development of the Pebble Project is positive for region, state
I am a great supporter of Alaska's mining industry. How could an Alaskan not be? In 2009, Alaska's mining industry paid a total of US$12.3 million to local governments, US$35 million to the state gove...

Mining News: Statistics show mining matters to Alaska 02/28/2010
Economic benefits of industry include paying state's second-highest average wages, substantial share of some local, borough taxes
The Alaska Miners Association recently released an economic benefits summary of the Alaska mining industry. This summary indicated that in 2009 the Alaska mining industry provided 3,300 direct jobs al...

Mining News: Red Dog Mine faces possible shutdown 02/28/2010
Teck says Aqqaluk permit needed by May to avoid closure in October of zinc-lead mine; environmentalists tie up permit in appeal
Coming off of a record year of zinc production, Red Dog partners Teck Resources Ltd. and NANA Regional Corp. are facing the possibility that operations at the zinc-lead mine will be shut down in Octob...

BP to use multiphase metering at Liberty 02/28/2010
Technology can save costs in measuring oil, gas and water; monster Parker rig soon to start drilling ultrareach Beaufort Sea wells
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. is asking federal and state regulators for permission to use multiphase metering equipment to measure production out of its planned offshore Liberty field. If approved, th...

Continuing challenge to Arctic OCS drilling 02/21/2010
Speakers pitch in on the debate about the appropriate level of environmental assurance for offshore oil and gas leasing and drilling
To drill or not to drill is the core question in the current controversy surrounding oil exploration in the outer continental shelf off northern Alaska. Shell is chomping at the bit, preparing to dril...

Moratoria may cost U.S. $2.36 trillion 02/21/2010
New study assesses the impact on U.S. economy of keeping closed federal land off limits for OandG exploration and development
In 2008, faced with energy security issues and soaring oil prices, President Bush and the U.S. Congress eliminated some decades-long moratoria on oil and gas development in huge tracts of federal offs...

Big Risk, Bigger Rewards: Two newcomers with two strategies 02/14/2010
Pioneer and Eni both sanctioned nearshore projects in the Beaufort Sea, but took different approaches to development
As resource basins mature, and production drops, companies can make smaller plays economic by using existing infrastructure - which has excess capacity as production peaks and drops - to bring down co...

Big Risk, Bigger Rewards: Alaska remains a sure, sound choice for America's future energy needs 02/14/2010
America needs energy, and it needs to become more self reliant
Alaska, like the rest of our nation, sits at an energy crossroads. In the coming months our country and its largest state will make crucial decisions about how to address their energy needs. The right...

Statoil acquires 25% of 50 Conoco OCS Chukchi leases 01/31/2010
In a deal involving cash and trades, Statoil is acquiring a 25 percent working interest in 50 ConocoPhillips Chukchi Sea leases while ConocoPhillips will acquire some of Statoil's acreage in the Gulf...

Point Hope appeals Shell Chukchi drilling 01/24/2010
In a move that has become de rigueur in response to any government agency decision supporting Shell's much-frustrated plans to drill in the Alaska Arctic outer continental shelf, the Native Village of...

Mining News: Junior finds REEs, niobium on gem claims 01/17/2010
True North Gems confirms significant mineralization at aquamarine property near the Ketza River gold mine south of Ross River
After focusing on its ruby-rich claims in Greenland for the past few years, True North Gems Inc. has returned to Yukon Territory to hunt for rare earth elements rather than gems. The junior has confir...

Mining News: Wanted: Mineral prospectors with skills 01/17/2010
Far North territories, B.C. governments use mining incentives to ease financial burden of grassroots exploration by individuals
Just as junior and major mining companies have important roles to play in the chain of developments that lead, hopefully, to discovery of substantial mineral deposits and subsequent commercial develop...

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....