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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (24949)	11/8/2007 5:59:45 PM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 217542

Mining development is really heating up in Alaska. I'll post a few recent articles... Allure of metals in state sets records for mining industry 2006: Investment in development and on exploration at a high. adn.com By MARY PEMBERTON, The Associated Press Published: November 8, 2007 Last Modified: November 8, 2007 at 03:55 AM Alaska's mining industry posted a record-breaking year in 2006, largely because of the high prices for zinc and other metals, state officials said Wednesday. Last year, mining was a $3.5 billion industry in Alaska, according to the state Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. Actual minerals -- including zinc, lead, silver and gold -- produced in Alaska were worth $2.9 billion, more than double the previous year, when they were valued at $1.4 billion. The volume of metals produced in 2006 was up for all commodities except zinc. The industry posted its first-ever $2 billion-plus year of production. Not only were the minerals worth more, but investment in mining and development, as well as the number of people employed in mining, also increased in 2006, according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. "Mining has become a significant contributor to our economy," Tom Irwin, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, said in a statement. "Rural Alaskans in particular stand to benefit tremendously from the potential economic input to their regions." The Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue is the world's largest zinc producer. According to a state report, it accounted for more than 60 percent of the total value of Alaska's mineral industry in 2006. The mine produced 614,538 tons of zinc and 136,135 tons of lead in 2006. The report said the main pit at Red Dog has an expected life of seven years at current production rates, and additional reserves have been identified. The report said the mineral industry paid a record-breaking $172.3 million in taxes, rents, royalties, and various fees to the state of Alaska and municipalities in 2006. That amounted to an increase of more than $111 million paid over the same fees paid in 2005. Mining companies were the largest taxpayers both in the city and borough of Juneau, and in the Fairbanks North Star, Denali and Northwest Arctic boroughs. Continued high prices for zinc played a key role. Zinc prices rose to nearly $2 a pound last year, a far cry from when prices dipped to 35 cents a pound in 2003, according to the report. Last year, mining generated about 3,523 jobs in Alaska, about 700 more than in 2005. Most of the increase in jobs came from gold mining, exploration and development. With the Pogo Mine beginning full commercial production this year, the number of jobs was expected to increase significantly in the lode gold production sector. Money spent on mineral exploration in Alaska was nearly $179 million last year, a record, and significantly higher than the $104 million spent in 2005. More than $123.7 million, or 69 percent of the money spent on exploration last year was in Southwest Alaska, home of the huge copper and gold Pebble mine project. Gold continued to be a major exploration commodity. Gold production at the Fort Knox Mine near Fairbanks was 333,383 ounces last year. The Pogo Mine about 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks, which poured its first bar of gold in mid-February, produced 112,500 ounces. Investment in mining development totaled $495.7 million, a 42 percent increase over the previous year and also a record. The increase was due to continued construction at Pogo, the Kensington gold mine near Juneau and the Nixon Fork project near McGrath. Construction work also began last year at the Rock Creek gold mine near Nome.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (24949)	11/8/2007 6:08:50 PM
From: Snowshoe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217542

The Pebble East prospect west of here is now up to 42.6 billion pounds of copper, 39.6 million ounces of gold, and 2.7 billion pounds of molybdenum, and they haven't found the edge yet... Pebble mine prospect keeps getting richer DRILLING: Two years of searching fails to locate outer edge of deposit. adn.com By MARY PEMBERTON, The Associated Press Published: October 13, 2007 Last Modified: October 13, 2007 at 02:06 AM Exploratory drilling this year at the huge Pebble mine prospect near the world's most productive wild sockeye salmon fishery supports earlier findings: It's extraordinarily rich with copper and gold. The Pebble East deposit in Southwest Alaska is so large that despite two years of exploratory drilling, its outer edges have yet to be found, Sean Magee, a spokesman for Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., said Friday. The company is an American subsidiary of Northern Dynasty Minerals, a Canadian company developing the prospect. The 2007 drilling program at Pebble East -- the deposit Northern Dynasty discovered two years ago when it was scoping out the less-rich Pebble West prospect -- confirms earlier findings, Magee said. "It is more good news from a geological perspective," he said. The value of the minerals at Pebble are worth hundreds of billions of dollars if they're mined. This year, 72,700 feet of core drilling was completed in 17 holes. The results of six more holes are being evaluated. Drilling is ongoing with seven rigs working on new holes, and two more drill rigs are expected to be mobilized at drill sites later this year. Northern Dynasty's drilling program at Pebble East last year consisted of 19 holes with 74,000 feet of core drilling. "We are still trying to find the geographic extent of the ore body," Magee said. "We have not found the outside edges." Pebble is located on state land designated for mining about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. It lies in the headwaters of some rivers of the big Bristol Bay salmon fishery. When questioned about the latest findings from Pebble, Bobby Andrew of Dillingham said he would redouble his efforts to keep the mine from being developed. The mine has drawn strong opposition from fishermen, conservationists and many locals. "I am going to fight harder," Andrew said. "They will be using more chemicals that will affect the salmon. I would hate to see that happen." Magee said no decision has yet been made on whether both Pebble West and Pebble East will be developed. It could be that only the Pebble East project with its higher-grade ore will go forward. If developed, Pebble West would be an open pit mine. Pebble East would be underground. Exploratory drilling this year at Pebble East shows mineralization going north to south for more than 9,000 feet, 600 feet beyond the previous boundary. The company estimates the Pebble East deposit contains 42.6 billion pounds of copper, 39.6 million ounces of gold, and 2.7 billion pounds of molybdenum, a mineral used to strengthen metal. Northern Dynasty expects to issue a revised estimate in February to reflect the 2007 drilling results. The Pebble Mine deposit is estimated now to be the second-largest ore deposit of its type in the world, superseded just slightly by Indonesia's Grasberg Mine. Pebble likely will become the largest once Pebble East is fully delineated. "We are within 4 billion pounds and we have a significant drilling program under way that will expand the mineral resource estimate," Magee said. Northern Dynasty is partnered with London-based mining giant Anglo American in a 50-50 joint venture to develop the mine near Bristol Bay. Anglo American has pledged to provide $1.4 billion in financing. Anglo began financing the venture on Aug. 1. By the end of the year, Northern Dynasty expects to have invested about $225 million in the project, with about $85 million of that in environmental and socio-economic studies. Magee said a feasibility study should be completed by the end of 2008. Drilling would begin in 2009 with the finalization of permits, he said. It will cost an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion to build the mine, Magee said. Annual operating costs would run hundreds of millions of dollars. "In our view, it would benefit three to five generations of Alaskans directly," he said. "This one has the potential to go for as many as 100 years." That's just the kind of talk that worries Andrew. "I have the future generations that I have to take into consideration," said Andrew, a retired fisherman and community leader. "It will be contaminating the air, the water ... It is the future we are talking about, not the money." In 2007, the Bristol Bay salmon fishery was valued at $108 million with 31.6 million salmon harvested, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.