MINING NEWS: A message from the editor

Patricia Jones

Mining News Editor

If it can’t be grown, it’s got to be mined” is a popular bumper sticker slogan in Fairbanks, an Interior Alaska town founded more than 100 years ago by miners who struggled for gold found in creeks draining the surrounding rugged hills.

The connection to mining is still strong in this community, something I have appreciated throughout my 12 years of living in the Fairbanks area.

My first landlord in Fairbanks was a former placer miner, and through that connection, I came to know others in the industry. That personal introduction was extremely helpful when working at the local newspaper, as many miners were initially skeptical about a reporter interested in writing about their industry. They were used to one-sided views depicting an industry with a reckless disregard for land in pursuit of metals desired by the wealthy of this world.

Within the Fairbanks area mining community, I met prospectors who work in winter on frozen ground to minimize surface impacts, miners who produce gold under scrutiny of a myriad of regulatory agencies and people using reclaimed mining land that is lush and green with an abundance of vegetation to support wildlife.

Not only has the industry provided economic means for hundreds of Fairbanksans through the years, it produces valuable minerals that are used every day, regardless of philosophical view about mining. Supporters and detractors of mining use cell phones, computers and vehicles in everyday life, equipment requiring gold, platinum and numerous other metals.

I grew up on the other side of that bumper sticker slogan, experiencing the uncertainty of farming in the Midwest. There, nearly all land is privately owned, blocks are measured in acres and farmers typically plow right up to their fence lines to maximize potential crop yield.

Alaska is so large, mining claim blocks are frequently measured in square miles. Little of the state is privately owned and there are no fences or well-defined borders, just data on global positioning systems.

Alaska’s size is also reflected in its underground mineral deposits. It’s considered elephant country by the mining industry.

World-class mineral deposits identified in Alaska include the Red Dog zinc and lead deposit in northwest Alaska, the 28 million ounce Donlin Creek gold deposit in southwest Alaska and most recently, the Pebble porphyry mineralized zone near Lake Iliamna, believed to contain 26.5 million ounces of gold and more than 16 billion pounds of copper.

These developments, combined with a resurgence in metal market prices, have generated new interest and excitement in Alaska’s mining industry.

Starting a year ago, Petroleum News provided space in its weekly publication for mining news. It has been difficult to select among the numerous newsworthy happenings in the industry for additional reporting.

Therefore, we have decided to create a supplement dedicated to covering the mining industry in Alaska, and in the future, in northern Canada and the Russian Far East. The new publication will be called North of 60 Mining, or Mining News for short.

Currently, publication will be on a monthly basis, although we hope to increase the frequency with additional support from the industry. The amount of news definitely warrants more frequent publication.

I’m excited to serve as editor of Mining News. Working on a publication dedicated to mining will fulfill a journalistic goal I have hoped for in recent years. I look forward to learning more about the mining industry and sharing that experience through factual-based news reports in Mining News.