Teck bullish on new zinc prospect

  Teck Resources is very bullish about its Aktigiruq prospect in northwest Alaska, on state lands about seven miles north of the existing Red Dog lead-zinc mine operated by Teck. Company officials called it “one of the best undeveloped zinc prospects in the world,” in a briefing at the Alaska Miners Association annual conference, held in Anchorage last week. Red Dog is already one of the world’s largest zinc mines. Unlike Red Dog, Aktigiruq is not on lands owned by NANA Regional Corp. and would pay royalties to the state rather than NANA, but taxes (most likely a payment-in-lieu-of tax, like at Red Dog) would be paid to the North West Arctic Borough. Also, NANA-owned or joint-venture support companies would be involved at Aktigiruq.

 New company at “Sun” prospect

A new company has taken over the old “Sun” copper and zinc prospect in the Ambler Mining District, the easternmost of several mineral finds in the region. Valhalla Minerals now owns 230 mining claims covering 36,000 acres that include the Sun prospect, which was originally discovered in 1974. Several companies have explored Sun over the years and to date drilling has defined an ore body with 10.7 million metric tonnes of indicated and inferred resources with grades of 4.2 percent zinc, 1.5 percent copper and 1.4 percent lead. Some silver and gold are also present. If developed, Sun would likely be an underground mine. The mineralization appears to go very deep, the company says.

 BLM’s EIS on Ambler road

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to publish a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 211-mile Ambler industrial road next March.  The state’s Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is leading the project, which if built would be paid for by tariffs on ore shipped from mines that could be developed in the region. This is essentially the development model used for the Red Dog Mine road and port, which is owned by AIDEA to support Red Dog Mine production.

Ucore plans for Ketchikan plant

Ucore Rare Metals told local Ketchikan officials that it is still in the due diligence phase in planning for a rare earths processing plant in Ketchikan and has a tentative site chosen. But the company is holding off, for now, in construction of a rare earths mine on south Prince of Wales Island. The plant would process rare earth ores from elsewhere to demonstrate new technology.

 Employment in producing mines is up so far this year to 3,126, state labor officials said. Last year there were 3,076 at work, and 2,945 the year before.