ICYMI: Most popular stories of 2014

Let’s take a stroll through the most-clicked and highest rated stories of 2014:

Eike Batista’s boom and bust (Jan. 6 – 12, 2014)

VANCOUVER — How do you turn US$35 billion into less than US$400 million in 18 months?

Interview: Fission’s Ross McElroy on the PLS uranium discovery (Jan. 6 – 12, 2014)

Last week, we awarded our “Mining Persons of the Year” for 2013 to Fission Uranium (TSXV-FCU) president and COO Ross McElroy and chairman and CEO Dev Randhawa. This week we interview McElroy on his career, Fission and the Patterson Lake South uranium discovery in Saskatchewan, and the year ahead.

Guest editorial: A heap of trouble for the junior sector (Jan. 13 – 19, 2014)

A pillar of the Toronto mining community, Ed Thompson kicked off the new year by resigning from his many directorships in junior mining companies. As he tells The Northern Miner, part of the reason for doing so all at once was that he was “trying to make a statement to regulators and government bodies that drastic corrective actions are necessary, or a thousand juniors are going to die or be dormant. Probably won’t help but you gotta try.” The following are his thoughts on the state of the junior sector.

Victoria Gold’s mission: Build Yukon’s first major gold mine (April 7 – 13, 2014)

MAYO, YUKON — To prospectors, Yukon and gold are almost synonymous, an equivalence the territory earned by churning out 20 million oz. placer gold. It is odd to think, then, that Yukon has never been home to a significant hard-rock gold mine.

McEwen and Turk talk gold (July 14 – 20, 2014)

The Northern Miner invited James Turk, the London-based gold analyst and founder of GoldMoney, and mining legend Rob McEwen of McEwen Mining (TSX: MUX; NYSE: MUX), to discuss their views on a number of issues ranging from the value of money, gold and gold mining stocks to the emergence of crypto-currencies. 

Supreme Court of Canada’s historic Tsilhqot’in decision (Jul 7 – 13, 2014)

VANCOUVER — A landmark ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada has granted aboriginal title to a 1,750 sq. km swath of land in central B.C. to the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, the first time aboriginal title has been declared in the country. 

Bill Gallagher: SCC ruling means it’s time to ‘reboot perspectives’

Editorial: In Tsilhqot’in decision, ‘duty to consult’ becomes ‘requirement for consent’

Complete tailings dam failure at Imperial’s Mount Polley (Aug. 11 – 17, 2014)

Shares of Imperial Metals (TSX: III; US-OTC: IPMLF) dropped 40% after a dam for the tailings pond at its Mount Polley gold–copper mine in B.C.’s Cariboo region failed, spilling millions of cubic metres of waste water and suspended mine waste into nearby waterways.

Editorial: Mount Polley tailings spill – Imperial’s best not good enough

Bre-X film gains traction in Hollywood (Aug. 25 – 31, 2014)

The producer/director of an upcoming major motion picture based on the Bre-X Minerals fraud is in the final stages of financing and confirms he is in negotiations with an A-list Hollywood actor to play a lead role.

Dynasty Gold fights to retain assets in China (Sept. 1 – 7, 2014)

Vancouver-based Dynasty Gold (TSXV: DYG) was one of the first Canadian juniors to explore for gold in China. It entered into a cooperative joint-venture in December 2003 with a Chinese state-owned enterprise to explore for gold on a 1,000 sq. km property called Hatu in remote northwestern Xinjiang province. 

Gold Reserve wins US$740M in ‘stunning victory’ against Venezuela (Oct. 27 – Nov. 2, 2014)

It’s taken six years and over US$20 million in legal costs, but Gold Reserve (TSX: GRZ; US-OTC: GDRZF) has won US$740.3 million in compensation for the expropriation of its Brisas gold project by the Venezuelan government. It’s one of the largest international arbitration awards ever granted to a mining company in a treaty case.

Rob McEwen defies gravity (Oct. 27 – Nov. 2, 2014)

Commercial flights to the edge of space on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo are supposed to start in March 2015, after the company’s billionaire founder Richard Branson and his son Sam make the trip first. 

Rick Rule sees ‘lustrous return’ ahead (Nov. 3 – 9, 2014)

The Northern Miner recently interviewed Sprott US Holdings chairman Rick Rule on commodity trends, his investment strategy and the junior exploration market. Listen to the podcast at www.northernminer.com, or read the edited transcript below.

Lukas Lundin talks diamonds (November 2014)

Lukas Lundin is bullish on diamonds. The famed mining mogul and chairman of Lucara Diamond (TSX: LUC) sees rising demand and a lack of new discoveries as underpinning the healthy — although volatile — sector. 

Randgold’s Mark Bristow dreams big (Dec. 29, 2014 – Jan. 4, 2015)

Mark Bristow was a 24-year-old university student when he attended a party on the eve of the Midmar Triathalon — a gruelling canoe-cycle-run event held at the Midmar Dam north of Pietermaritzbu
rg in South Africa.