Nixon Fork Gold Mine

Summary

Nixon Fork is a small, previously developed, gold and copper mine in Interior Alaska, which re-opened in July 2011.  Operators hope to produce another 100,000-150,000 ounces of gold over the course of 3-5 years, and have also begun exploration that could extend the life of the mine.

Mine information

The Nixon Fork Mine, located about 25 miles northeast of McGrath, has changed hands numerous times in the last century.  The area was mined intermittently by various small operations from 1918-1964, the Nixon Fork mine operated from 1995-1999, and then was re-opened briefly in 2007 by a different operator.  Currently, Canadian-based Fire River Gold Corporation owns the small underground mine and the mining leases.  The mine is already fully permitted and bonded, and almost all the required equipment and infrastructure are still in place which made restarting the operation relatively easy.  The mine is powered by an on-site diesel generator facility and the fuel is delivered by air.  During the previous opening of the mine, the empty fuel planes returned with ore concentrates to Fairbanks, where the ore was then shipped to Canada for further processing.  The current plan also calls for removing the ore by plane, and shipping it from Anchorage to a refining facility in Utah.

Fire River Gold spent around $1.25 million in 2010 on a "Re-Evaluation Program" for the mine.  This program also included surface and underground exploration for additional mineral deposits nearby.  In February 2011 they released the results of a preliminary economic assessment for reopening the mine.

Fire River’s future plan for Nixon Fork involves extracting the remaining lower grade ores near the existing mine, as well as reprocessing some of the old mine tailings, using cyanide heap leaching.  In addition, Fire River is exploring the area for additional deposits

Environmental Concerns

The operating plan (8.7 MB) submitted by the previous owners does not predict that acid mine drainage will be a problem at the site and none was detected during operation.  This is based on the fact that the surrounding rock has a high neutralization potential which should balance out the acid formation from the mine tailings.  The mine uses toxic cyanide to extract remaining gold from mine tailings and low grade ore but had planned to recycle and/or destroy all the cyanide used.  In addition, the mine uses "dry stacking" for tailings disposal which reduces the risk of water contamination from acid mine drainage.

Current Status

Preliminary mining began in March 2011 and the mill began operation in July 2011.  Ongoing exploration has extended the mineralization zone beyond the original estimates.

Date Created: 7th July 2010