The Economic Impacts of Alaska's Mining Industry - Alaska Miners ...

Exploration Expenditures in Alaska, by Region, 2004
Total:
$70.8 million
Source: Special Report 59, Alaska’s Mineral Industry 2004, Division of Geological & Geophysical
Surveys/Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, October 2005.
Key Alaska Exploration Projects
Exploration expenditures often have direct impacts
on local and regional economies through spending
made on local accommodations, camp services
(including catering, housekeeping, and
communications), air transportation and other
forms of transportation and logistics, drilling labor,
security, and environmental services (such as
collecting information on water and air quality, as
well as biological baseline research).
Following are brief profiles of several projects that
are in the advanced exploration phase and have
potential to become operating mines, and some
examples of how their exploration expenditures
impact the local, regional and Alaska economies.
These projects are listed in order of potential
timeline to development, with the Nixon Fork most
likely to reach the mine development stage first.
Nixon Fork
Nixon Fork is located 35 miles northeast of
McGrath in Interior Alaska. The deposit has been
mined for many years, beginning with placer gold
discovered in 1917 and lode gold in 1918. More
recently, Nevada Gold Fields operated the mine in
the 1995 to 1999 period. The project is now owned
by Mystery Creek Resources, a company of St.
Andrew Goldfields, Ltd. Resources are indicated
at 76,000 tons at 0.95 ounces per ton gold with
total resources amounting to 160,000 tons
containing 136,300 ounces of gold. Efforts to
permit and operate the mine, beginning with the
treatment of existing tailings, are in progress.
Start-up of production is projected by the summer
of 2006.
Rock Creek/Big Hurrah
Rock Creek project is located seven miles north of
Nome. Big Hurrah is located about 45 miles east
of Nome. Both projects are owned by Alaska Gold
Company, a subsidiary of NovaGold Resources
Inc. Currently, both projects are in the feasibility
and permitting stage and both are intended to be
mined concurrently. The measured and indicated
resources for Rock Creek are 7.4 million tonnes of
ore at 1.36 grams of gold per tonne.
Commissioning of production is forecasted for the
first half of 2007 at a production rate of 7,000
tonnes a day producing approximately 100,000
ounces annually. Estimated construction costs are
$58 million. When operational, the mines are
expected to provide 130 year-round jobs and bring
$30 million in annual expenditures (including $9.1
million in payroll) to the Nome area. 8
8
Information about Rock Creek and Big Hurrah was provided
by, NovaGold Alaska/Alaska Gold Company (January 9, 2006).
The Economic Impacts of Alaska’s Mining Industry McDowell Group, Inc. • Page 10