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O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9
T
he arrival of the fall's bright yellow
leaves against the Alaskan blue sky
signals the near end to yet another
Alaskan exploration season. From large-
scale operations to small placer operations
the process of winterization has begun.
Although large scale mines such as Red Dog,
Green's Creek, Kensington, Pogo and Fort
Knox all operate year round, the Arctic cli-
mate still provides formidable challenges to
the smaller operator and the short summer
exploration season means that much of the
state remains underexplored.
Nonetheless, the state still hosts over
4,440 documented gold prospects, and
over 2,700 documented non-gold occur-
rences, including some of the world's
largest deposits. Today, over 200 million
ounces of gold has been delineated, in 20
of 61 placer districts.
Originally, Alaska was a territory under
Russian control. In 1867, the then US
Secretary of State, William Seward, recog-
nized its potential and arranged to buy the
territory for $7.2 million, or approximately
$0.02 per acre. Granted territorial status
in 1912, this new territory with its vast
mineral riches would have to wait until
January 3, 1959 to officially become the
49th State of the United States.
Covering a landmass over of 1.7 million
km
2
, nearly six times the size of Nevada,
the fledging new state began the process
of creating the Alaska we know today.
The Alaska Native Land Claim Settlement
Act (ANCSA) was passed on December 18,
1971 and provides the framework for the
security of land tenure enjoyed by mining
companies exploring in Alaska, as one of
the stipulations of this landmark legisla-
tion was that only one Regional Native
corporation could own a given acre of land
at any given time, eliminating the possi-
bility of multiple Native land claims on a
single parcel of land.
In addition, the legislation provides
that all Native Alaskan corporations share
amongst themselves the benefits of mining
activity.
Over the past few decades, much of the
mineral exploration funding came from
Alaska
– land of mineral opportunities
by Kristina Walcott
