907-260-2605 | ipa907.com ALASKAN OWNED AND OPERATED • Pumps • Mechanical Seals • Gearboxes • Electric Motors • Compressors • Machining • Field Service NOME 303 Front St. 907-764-4367 FAIRBANKS 915 30th Ave. Unit 111 907-479-4653 EAGLE RIVER 11000 Old Glenn Hwy. Unit 103 907-694-7100 gbarefining.com Changing the way business is done in Alaska Highest payouts with the fastest turn around times. Come see the difference! Alaska’s #1 Local Refiner The Alaska Miner Spring 2024 38 fourth quarter of 2023. While the 2024 zinc output at Red Dog is expected to remain on par with 2023 levels, Teck is forecasting a roughly 30 percent drop to around 382,500 metric tons (843 million pounds) by 2027. As of the beginning of 2023, Red Dog hosted 38.5 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 12.4 percent (4.03 million metric tons) of zinc, 3.6 percent (670,000 metric tons) of lead, and 66.2 grams per metric ton (81.9 million ounces) silver. This is enough ore to keep Red Dog in operation until 2031. Teck's Aktigiruq, Anarraaq, and Lik deposits on state lands 10 miles northwest of the current Red Dog operations could provide future supplies of high-grade ore to the Red Dog mill. Aktigiruq and Anarraaq are large deposits on lands held by Teck with grades on par with what is currently being mined at Red Dog. Lik, which is being explored under a 50-50 partnership with Solitario Zinc Corp., hosts 17.6 million metric tons of potentially open-pit mineable resource. Combined, these deposits have the potential to provide the Red Dog mill with ore for several more decades at current production rates. To ensure Red Dog remains a globally significant source of zinc, Teck is conducting extensive exploration across the district. Nearly 1 million ounces gold per year Falling zinc output from Red Dog opens the door for gold to be crowned as the most valuable metal mined in Alaska. Thanks to strong prices and rising production profiles at Alaska's largest gold mines, this precious metal could take the throne before zinc production falls. During 2023, Alaska's hardrock and placer mines produced approximately 728,000 ounces of gold in 2023. At the $1,940 per ounce average price during 2023, this puts the value of the gold produced in the state at around $1.4 billion, which is only a touch under the value of zinc produced at Red Dog and Greens Creek. So far in 2024, the price for an ounce of gold has held above $2,000. While continued strength in the price of this precious metal would bolster the value of Alaska gold output this year, it is an expected increase in the number of ounces that could unseat zinc. The largest gold producer in Alaska, Kinross Gold Corp.'s Fort Knox Mine, could also be the biggest contributor to gold production growth in the state in 2024 and beyond. Last year, the iconic mine about 20 miles northeast of Fairbanks produced 290,651 ounces of gold, edging out the 259,573 ounces produced at Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s Pogo Mine about 90 miles southeast of Alaska's Golden Heart City. The gold output from Fort Knox is expected to get a major boost from the much higher-grade ore being delivered from Manh Choh, a mine about 200 miles southeast of Fort Knox that is being developed under a partnership between Kinross (70 percent) and Contango Ore Inc. (30 percent). Going into 2024, Manh Choh hosted 4.1 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves including one million ounces of gold and 1.8 million VALUE, CONTINUED from PAGE 36 CONTINUED on PAGE 39
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTcxMjMwNg==