Mining News: Junior producers plan Mexi-Can merger  09/28/2008
Sherwood Copper Corp. and Capstone Mining Corp. Sept. 8 said they signed a letter of agreement to combine their operations to create a copper mining company with two producing mines in mining-friendly jurisdictions in North America. The two companies agreed to combine on an “at–market” basis with S...

Mining News: Mantra Mining emerges as spin-out vehicle  09/28/2008
Mantra Mining Inc. became a major mineral property landholder in Alaska literally overnight when it agreed to purchase more than 485,000 acres of mining claims from NovaGold Resources Inc. and Rio Tinto PLC. In a C$20 million deal Mantra bought NovaGold’s interest in six western Alaska projects incl...

Mining News: Mining has much at stake in November  09/28/2008
Laura Skaer, executive director of the Northwest Mining Association, recently told miners in Nevada that the November general election will have major significance for U.S. miners with the election of a new U.S. president and a new Congress. In a presentation to the Nevada Mining Association convent...

Mining News: Impact of pipeline proposal worries regulators  09/28/2008
Nome Alaska regulators are expressing concerns about a proposal to build a 55-mile pipeline to discharge wastewater from the Red Dog zinc-lead mine in Northwest Alaska. The proposed pipeline, one of the items included in a lawsuit settlement between Teck Cominco Alaska Inc. and six residents of the...

Mining News: Opportunities will mushroom for the bold  09/28/2008
With termination dust settling ever lower throughout Alaska, the bulk of the 2008 exploration season has been completed, but lots of results are still pending from projects around the state. As the exploration industry winds down, the Rock Creek gold mine started production bringing owner and operat...

Mining News: Dark clouds harbor some golden linings  09/28/2008
Is there anyone anywhere who was caught by surprise by the domestic financial crunch that has recently occurred? Those of us who aren’t players in world economics have watched the symptoms develop for several years. When commodities move up in lockstep, it doesn’t mean their value is increasing, it...

Mining News: Junior, partner sample uranium property  09/28/2008
Uravan Minerals Inc. and Cameco Corp. Aug. 27 said they recently completed a multi-faceted surface sampling program on the Boomerang North Uranium Project, in Southwest Thelon Basin, 300 miles east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Project operator Uravan granted Cameco an option to earn 60 pe...

Mining News: Exploration advances in Selwyn Basin  09/28/2008
HOWARD’S PASS, Yukon Territory – In this wide, alpine valley that snakes across the border into the Northwest Territories at its southeastern tip, one of the world’s largest zinc-lead-silver properties may slumber. First drilled by a joint venture between Placer Dome and Cygnus Mines Ltd. in the 19...

Mining News: YOW agrees to buy historic Caribou Dome  09/28/2008
Ontario-based YOW Capital Corp. is taking a fresh look at the Caribou Dome high-grade copper property in Southcentral Alaska, about 160 miles, or 257 kilometers, northeast of Anchorage. Caribou Dome was known as the Denali copper prospect when it was staked in 1963 for Leo Mark Anthony, owner of C-...

Mining News: Selwyn Project poised to meet surge in zinc demand to arise from supply shortfall  09/28/2008
Selwyn Resources Ltd., the Vancouver, B.C.-based junior that owns the giant zinc-lead property also called Selwyn in the eastern Yukon and southwestern Northwest Territories, says the project is perfectly poised to meet future market demand. Though zinc prices are currently depressed, prospects for...

Mining News: Involvement is keystone of Pebble plan  09/28/2008
We feel strongly that an informed public is an empowered public,” the Keystone Center said in an early September report that attempts to identify the principle issues people have raised in regard to the proposed Pebble mine and to evaluate the desirability and feasibility of a process to discuss and...

Mining News: Coeur gives up on alternative permitting plan  09/28/2008
Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. has terminated a permitting process for building a paste tailings facility for the Kensington gold mine project, which is located 45 miles north-northwest of Juneau. The decision, which leaves the company relying on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Southeast Alaska mine...

Mining News: BHP releases interests in Iliamna to TNR  09/28/2008
BHP Billiton has completed an ownership transfer of the Iliamna property in Southwest Alaska to TNR Gold Corp. and Geocom Resources Inc. in early September. Two weeks later, TNR incorporated a new subsidiary in Alaska, Bristol Explorations Co., Inc., which has taken over TNR’s properties in Alaska,...

Mining News: Investors approve funds for Tulsequah plan  09/28/2008
Redcorp Ventures Ltd. and subsidiary Redfern Resources Ltd. said holders of more than the required two-thirds of the company’s 13 percent senior secured notes have agreed to certain amendments to the note terms between the junior mining company and CIBC Mellon Trust Co.  The proposed amendments wil...

Mining News: Junior reopens historic gold mine  08/31/2008
Full Metal Minerals Ltd. has taken the first step in transitioning from explorer to miner at its Lucky Shot high-grade gold property in the historic Willow Mining District about 145 kilometers, or 90 miles, north of Anchorage. The company is tunneling into the mountain to recover a 5,000 metric-ton...

Mining News: Alaskans say ‘No’ to unclear measure  08/31/2008
The majority of Alaska voters followed the lead of their governor the August 26 primary, turning down Ballot Measure 4 at polling booth by a margin of nearly three to two. When Gov. Sarah Palin took her governor’s hat off Aug. 25 and threw it in the “Vote No on Measure 4” ring; she joined leaders...

Mining News: More money for mapping Canada’s Arctic  08/31/2008
The Canadian government Aug. 26 said it will invest $100 million over the next five years in its new Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals program. The funding is an extension of the $34 million Canada committed to the geo-mapping program earlier this year. “As I’ve said before, ‘use it or lose it’ is...

Mining News: Greens Creek transforms Hecla  08/31/2008
Hecla Mining Co.’s purchase of the remaining 70.3 percent interest in Greens Creek Mine from its partner Rio Tinto earlier this year resulted in both cash losses and increased silver production for the second-quarter of 2008. The Idaho-based silver producer said the purchase of the Southeast Alaska...

Mining News: Teck profits from copper, coal  08/31/2008
Teck Cominco Ltd. reported that the second-quarter was highlighted by the strong performance of the Vancouver, B.C.-based major’s copper division. Elk Valley Coal was also a large contributor, benefiting from the phase in of the 2008 coal year prices of $275 per ton, up from $93 per ton 2007 coal ye...

Mining News: Red Dog discharge lawsuit unsettled  08/31/2008
Teck Cominco Aug. 1 filed a motion in a U.S. district court, asking the court to enforce a settlement between the operator of the Red Dog Mine and six residents of Kivalina, a Northwest Alaska village 66 miles, or 106 kilometers, downstream from the mine. Teck Cominco wants U.S. District Judge John...

Mining News: Miners head into second half of 2008  08/31/2008
Several drilling programs started in the last month and several others began reporting initial results from programs commenced earlier in the summer. Two of Alaska’s operating mines reported strong operating results and two new mineral resource estimates have been released. Alaska’s seasonal explora...

Mining News: Loose change, or be careful what you wish for  08/31/2008
Change is on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days, and it is inevitable that change will occur. It is a perfectly normal law of nature; however, it is equally demonstrable that the more things change the more they remain the same. Newton captured the concept which is as true in politics as it i...

Mining News: Junior chases vein gold in western Yukon  08/31/2008
DAWSON CITY, Yukon — Atop a wooded peak in this land of mountains and deep valleys near the confluence of the White and Yukon rivers, a New Zealand-based miner is hard at work exploring for gold. Underworld Resources Inc., a junior organized in 2007, has come to the Far North in hopes of making a co...

Mining News: Ucore seeks uranium, rare earths  08/31/2008
Ucore Uranium Inc. is reporting positive assay results from core samples drilled by two rigs churning at the Bokan Mountain uranium and rare earth elements exploration project 60 kilometers, or 37 miles, southwest of Ketchikan. The company is also awaiting assay returns for mineable quantities of RE...

Mining News: Modern prospecting digs decent payday  08/31/2008
DAWSON CITY, Yukon Territory — Underworld Resources Inc., like a growing number of juniors, owes its chance to make a huge mineral discovery in Yukon to a couple of modern-day prospectors, Shawn Ryan and Cathy Wood. But Ryan and his wife and partner, Wood, are a far cry from stereotypical prospector...

Mining News: More production, less debt at Minto  08/31/2008
Only nine months after reaching commercial production at its high-grade Minto copper-gold mine, Sherwood Copper Corporation made a significant dent in its bank debt. The company said strong copper prices along with increased production and decreased operating costs allowed for the payment. Second-qu...

Mining News: Junior chases molybdenum under Gold Hill  08/31/2008
MAX Resource Corp. Aug. 18 said it has completed a 10-hole diamond drill program totaling 7,664 feet, or more than 2,358 meters, at its Gold Hill molybdenum project located about 212 miles, or 342 kilometers, north northeast of Anchorage. The first drill hole of the 2008 program tested the zone to...

Mining News: Toronto firm wins Faro mine contract  08/31/2008
Denison Environmental Services, a division of Denison Mines Inc., has won a three-year, $21.6 million contract for care and maintenance at the Faro Mine Complex in the Yukon. A subsidiary of Canadian uranium producer Denison Mines Corp., the company was chosen after a six-month competitive bidding...

Mining News: New junior partners with Sherwood to explore Yukon  08/31/2008
Northern Tiger Resources Inc. began drilling in July at its Sonora gold-silver-copper-molybdenum project, located 110 kilometers, or 68 miles, northwest of Carmacks, Yukon. The 5,244-hectare, or 12,952-acre, Sonora property is located within 40 kilometers, or 25 miles, of the Minto copper-gold mine...

Mining News: Two more diamond mines open in Canada  08/31/2008
De Beers officially opened its first two mines outside of Africa in northern Canada in late July. The Snap Lake Mine in Northwest Territories and the Victor Mine in northern Ontario, together, are expected to produce 2 million carats a year. They are Canada’s fourth and fifth diamond mines. Snap Lak...

Drilling expands Donlin resource potential  10/02/2008
NovaGold Resources Inc. Sept. 30 provided an update for the Donlin Creek gold project in Southwest Alaska, with additional drill results from the 2008 drill programs, which now totals more than 32,000...Comments

Highway 37 power line back on track  10/02/2008
British Columbia premier, Gordon Campbell, Sept. 26 said the province will immediately start the environmental assessment process and First Nations consultation on the Northwest Transmission Line alon... Comments

News Nuggets  10/02/2008
GOLD - International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. Sept. 30 reported the latest drill results from the ongoing 2008 resource expansion program at its Livengood gold project north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Drillin... Comments

Coeur cancels paste tailings plan  09/25/2008
Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. has terminated the permitting process for building a paste tailings facility for the Kensington gold mine project, which is located 45 miles north-northwest of Juneau. The de... Comments

Production begins at Rock Creek gold mine  09/25/2008
NovaGold made the highly-anticipated transition from explorer to miner on Sept. 18, when production began at its Rock Creek gold mine on the outskirts of Nome. NovaGold president and CEO, Rick Van N...Comments

High-grade gold at Freegold Mountain  09/25/2008
Northern Freegold Resources Ltd. Sept. 25 announced results from the 2008 drill program at the Goldy Zone located in the eastern portion of the district scale Freegold Mountain Project, Yukon. The 200... Comments

News Nuggets  09/25/2008
URANIUM - Ucore Uranium Inc. Sept. 25 reports significant assay results for rare earth elements and associated metals have now been received from drilling at Bokan Mountain’s I&L zone. Jim McKenzie, P... Comments

Keystone recommends three-stage Pebble stakeholder dialogue plan  09/18/2008
Denver-based Keystone Center released a draft report on Sept. 2 that attempts to identify the principle issues people have raised with regard to the proposed Pebble mine and to evaluate the desirabili... Comments

Note holders endorse Tulsequah funding changes  09/18/2008
Denver-based Keystone Center released a draft report on Sept. 2 that attempts to identify the principle issues people have raised with regard to the proposed Pebble mine and to evaluate the desirabili...Comments

Competition authorities approve Fording Coal acquisition  09/18/2008
Teck Cominco Ltd. Sep. 15 said it has received a competition clearance in the form of a notice of non-opposition from the European Commission competition authority with respect to Teck’s proposed acq... Comments

News Nuggets  09/18/2008
Redcorp Ventures Ltd. and its subsidiary, Redfern Resources Ltd., Sept. 18 reported that the holders of more than the requisite 66.66 percent of the company’s 13 percent senior secured notes have agre... Comments

  09/18/2008
COAL - Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. Sept. 15 said it is sending two trial shipments of coal to new Pacific Rim customers in 2008. The fourth generation family-owned Alaska coal producer’s exports are expec... Comments

Rock Creek gold, Galore Creek plan  09/11/2008
NovaGold President and CEO, Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, Sept. 8 told attendees of the Denver Gold Forum that the Rock Creek gold mine in Northwest Alaska is nearing regulatory approval by Alaska regulators... Comments

Junior copper producers propose Mexi-Can merger  09/11/2008
Sherwood Copper Corp. and Capstone Mining Corp. Sept 8 said they signed a letter of agreement to combine their operations to create a copper mining company with two producing mines in mining-friendly...Comments

Niblack reports 2.8 million ton Lookout resource  09/11/2008
Niblack Mining Corp. September 10 released an initial NI 43-101 compliant independent resource estimate for the Niblack polymetallic volcanic massive sulfide property located in Southeast Alaska. The... Comments

News Nuggets  09/11/2008
GOLD - Freegold Ventures Ltd. Sept. 8 reported that its first step-out hole, 100 feet south of holes 6 and 7, has continued to intersect high-grade, gold mineralization along the Grey Lead vein at the... Comments

Mantra to purchase Ambler, other Alaska properties  09/04/2008
Vancouver, B.C.-based Mantra Mining Inc. Sept. 2 said it has entered into two separate agreements with affiliates of Rio Tinto PLC and NovaGold Resources Inc. and an affiliate of NovaGold, to purchas... Comments

BHP releases Iliamna to TNR  09/04/2008
TNR Gold Corp. and Geocom Resources Inc. Sept. 2 said that the companies and BHP Billiton have concluded the transfer of ownership of the Iliamna property from BHP Billiton to TNR. The transfer of BHP...Comments

News Nuggets  09/04/2008
GOLD - International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. September 4 reported the drill results from an additional 21 drill holes of the ongoing 2008 resource expansion program at its bulk tonnage Livengood gold pr... Comments

Alaskans say ‘No’ to unclear measure  08/28/2008
The majority of Alaska voters followed the lead of their governor the August 26 primary, turning down Ballot Measure 4 at polling booth by a margin of nearly three to two. When Gov. Sarah Palin took... Comments

Sherwood reports strong Minto performance  08/28/2008
Sherwood Copper Corp. Aug. 27 reported a net loss of C$200,000 for the second quarter, reflecting a dramatic improvement over the C$21.3 million net loss the company incurred in the same period in 200...Comments

Freegold borrows from flush miner  08/28/2008
Freegold Ventures Ltd. August 25 said it has closed its second tranche of $2 million in financing. This financing has been provided by Toronto-based Tiomin Resources Inc. and has the same terms as the... Comments

News Nuggets  08/28/2008
COPPER - Sherwood Copper Corporation August 26 said exceptionally high rainfall during the past several days, on top of an already wet summer, resulted in the temporary closure of the Klondike Highway... Comments

MAX completes 2008 drilling at Gold Hill  08/21/2008
MAX Resource Corp. Aug. 18 said it has completed a 10-hole diamond drill program totaling 7,664 feet, or more than 2,358 meters, at its Gold Hill molybdenum project in Alaska. The 2008 drill program f... Comments

State launches Ballot Measure 4 Web site  08/21/2008
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, working with the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Law on August 19 launched a Web site to provide Alaska voters factual inform...Comments

Dawson-area placer gold project gets OK  08/21/2008
Klondike Gold Corp. Aug. 19 said the board of directors of joint venture partner Klondike Star Mineral Corp. recently determined that the Indian River property near Dawson City, Yukon has probable min... Comments

News Nuggets  08/21/2008
GOLD - Geoinformatics Exploration Inc. August 18 announced it has entered into binding agreements with Geologic Resource Partners LLC of Boston, Massachusetts to receive a C$5.5 million short-term sec... Comments

Anti-ballot measure group reports spending, protests opponents  08/14/2008
Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown July 29 reported spending $5.5 million through July 25 in its campaign to persuade voters to reject Measure 4 in the Aug. 26 primary election. In filings to the Al... Comments

Contractor fined for accident at Rock Creek  08/14/2008
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration on Thursday fined Alaska Mechanical Inc. $115,000 for inadequate training and unsafe equipment use. The fines were the result of an...Comments

Freegold vested in Rob property  08/14/2008
Freegold Ventures Limited August 12 announced it has now has 100 percent interest in the underlying long-term lease of the Rob property 20 miles east of the Pogo gold mine. To earn its 100 percent in... Comments

News Nuggets  08/14/2008
The Alaska Oil & Gas Association Board of Directors passed a resolution on August 7 opposing Ballot Measure 4 on the August 26 Alaska Primary Election ballot. AOGA said it opposes the measure because... Comments