Mineral industry spending rises amid exploration ALASKA MINING 2018: State of the State
and angst into the natural resource sector. Others point to the mining industry’s prolonged period of economic over-promising while under-deliver- ing. Whatever the causes, the hoped-for recovery crashed and burned in the second quarter. New mining industry mergers and acquisitions, a lead- ing economic indicator for the industry, declined by a whopping 51 percent in value and 40 percent in volume compared to the first quarter of 2018. Producing, developing and exploring compa- nies trimmed, slashed or eliminated operating budgets. Hardest hit of all was the exploration sector, that part of the industry with the highest risk profile, where budget cuts are felt first when a downturn arrives. By the end of the second quarter, metal pric- es were dropping as worldwide demand softened. Virtually all of the precious, base and strategic metals had declined in price significantly or were showing signs of doing so. Alaska’s producing mines felt the pinch of de- clining metals prices and not surprisingly, tight- ened their belts accordingly. By the time Alaska’s summer field season arrived, metals prices were tanking and exploration funding took a hit, caus- ing some programs to be delayed or reduced while
New acquisitions bring new corporate entities to state
BY CURTIS J. FREEMAN
For The Alaska Miner The Alaska mineral industry was in better health in 2018 than it had been in any of the pre- vious six years, something that cannot be said of many other jurisdictions around the world. Cur- rent estimates suggest Alaska mineral exploration spending will top $120 million to $125 million for 2018, an improvement on 2017 spending, which itself was the first time since 2011 that Alaska’s exploration spending increased year-on-year (Figure 1). The excitement in Alaska was mirrored by a spirited global recovery in the first quarter of 2018. Unfortunately, this upswing quickly turned into a dead-cat bounce, a minor unsustained recovery in an otherwise long down-trend extending back to 2011. Some pundits claim the cause was the threat of a global tariff war that introduced uncertainty
Property Acquisitions, 2018 Prospect
Underlying Controller AK Minerals Pty Ltd AK Minerals Pty Ltd Anglo Alaska Gold
Acquiring Party Nova Minerals Nova Minerals
Commodity Cu, Ni, Pt, Pd
Chip Loy Estelle Genesis Gilmore Johnson
Cu, Au
New Age Metals Inc. Kinross Gold Corp.
Cu, Ni, Pt, Pd
NOAA/DESDIS
Au
Cook Inlet Region, Inc.
Constantine Metals Resource
Polymetallic
McArthur Cr Northway Pogo Mine Richardson Seventymile
State of Alaska
K2 Gold Corp.
Au
Doyon
Tectonic Metals Inc.
Au, Cu
Sumitomo
Northern Star Resources
Au
Northern Empire Resources
Coeur Mining
Au, Ag
Doyon
Tectonic Metals Inc. Endurance Gold Corp. Valhalla Metals Freeport McMoran Tectonic Metals Inc.
Au Au
South Fork, etc.
Unnamed Private Co.
Sun
State of Alaska
Polymetallic
Tanacross
Kenorland Minerals Tibbs Creek Gold
Cu, Au
Tibbs
Au
The Alaska Miner
January 2019
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