Alaska Minerals Well Position: Alaska has excellent geologic potential and is known both historically and currently for some of the best deposits in the world.

• Author: Borell, Steve
• Position: Mining Special Section

Although mineral exploration in Alaska this past summer was slow, the downward-facing stock markets are creating a new opportunity for minerals. The down markets are causing investors to again focus some of their funds on traditional industries, including mining. Alaska is poised to take immediate and full advantage of this situation.

Prices for gold, silver and most base metals have been depressed for several years. Many of the small family placer mines are not able to operate at current prices. For the large and junior companies, low metal prices mean less funds available for exploration. The result is that mineral companies have had limited exploration funds for the past several years.

However, even with this difficult situation, junior and major mining companies have continued to explore in Alaska. They have worked carefully and have spent their limited funds very judiciously and have many promising prospects.

One such company is North Star Exploration. North Star made a major new discovery during the summer of 2000 at Northway near the Canadian border on Doyon lands. The discovery is still considered a "prospect," but North Star's parent company has formed a separate stand-alone subsidiary company called Northway Holdings to explore and, if warranted, develop a mine. Such a company can then be sold or merged into one of the large international mining companies. It takes one of these large companies with major financing and technical expertise to develop a major mine. For junior minerals companies like North Star, this is what they dream about!

This is not an isolated example for Alaska. Fort Knox and Pogo were once prospects and a dream in the geologist's eye. The Fort Knox mine near Fairbanks now produces about 1,000 ounces of gold per day. The Pogo project near Delta Junction has a reserve of 5.6 million ounces of gold and it is now in the environmental impact statement and permitting stage. There are certainly more major deposits out there and when investments return to mining, more deposits will be found.

Part of the good news is that companies focus on states and countries having high geologic potential and a track record of tax and political stability. Alaska State and Native lands fit these criteria and therefore Alaska continues to be a focal point for the industry.

Alaska has excellent geologic potential and is known both historically and currently for some of the best deposits in the world. Alaska also has had tax stability...