Smarter Utility

 

TMCNet: Inside Alaska business [Anchorage Daily News, Alaska]

[September 05, 2010]

Inside Alaska business [Anchorage Daily News, Alaska]

(Anchorage Daily News (AK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 05--ACVB hosts Latin American tour operators The Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau is hosting eight Latin America tour operators on a trip to familiarize them with area visitor attractions.


The tour operators will be here through Sept. 7 and come from Colombia, Peru, Argentina and California, the ACVB said. They'll see Anchorage and Alaska by boat, air and rail and tour attractions including a sled dog kennel and the Anchorage Museum, the bureau said.

This will be followed by an ACVB attendance at La Cumbre, a Sept. 8-10 industry trade show in San Diego, the bureau said. It's the bureau's third trip to La Cumbre and first time hosting Latin American tour operators. The bureau said interest in travel to Alaska from South and Central America has increased in the past few years.

Mine near Juneau to boost gold production The Kensington gold mine near Juneau began processing its first ore ahead of schedule this year, and the mine is expected to drive a 135 percent increase in gold production this year for its Idaho-based owner, Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp., company officials said.

Coeur said it achieved the highest metal sales and operating cash flow in company history in its second fiscal quarter. Metal sales hit $101 million, a nearly 50 percent increase over the same period last year. Operating cash flow improved to $32.5 million, a 116 percent increase. The company attributed the record sales and cash flow to two of its other new mines in Mexico and Bolivia.

"As our third of three new, long-life, precious metals mines comes on-stream, our strategy has us well-positioned to take advantage of the continued strength in precious metals prices," said Dennis Wheeler, Coeur chief executive.

Couer says Kensington is on track to produce 50,000 ounces of gold this year and its average production will be roughly 125,000 ounces per year over 12 years. The company is shipping gold concentrate to Asia through its partnership with China National Gold Corp., a state-owned corporation.

Alaska Structures opens Afghanistan branch Alaska Structures Inc. of Anchorage has opened an office in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Alaska Structures designs and builds fabric buildings for the military and industry, and the new office supports its military work in the Middle East, the company said. It supplied more than 5,000 shelters and heating/cooling systems for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan last year, the company said.

"The strategic location of this office, as well as the addition of key personnel, allows us to better serve our extensive government and military customers," said Gerrit Boyle, executive vice president for government programs.

Koniag acquires schematics software maker Koniag Inc. has acquired a California company that specializes in software designed to produce schematics of electrical and hydraulic systems for the military.

Koniag, the regional Native corporation for Kodiak, bought the electronic information division of Tools for Decision Group. It has renamed its new subsidiary, which is based in the Los Angeles area, Digitized Schematic Solutions, Koniag said.

Fairbanks veterinary hospital gets bonds deal The board of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has approved a resolution for up to $3 million in tax-exempt bonds to help lower the cost of building an 8,078-square-foot veterinary hospital in Fairbanks. Northrim Bank is the lender on the project, which has a total cost of $4.23 million, said AIDEA, a state business lending agency.

The building will replace Mt. McKinley Animal Hospital's facility. The hospital employs six veterinarians and 10 support staff now, and more employees will be added in the new, larger building, AIDEA said.

The state agency's involvement lets the bank lend money at tax-exempt rates rather than commercial rates, and this will save the borrower $800,000 over the life of the loan, AIDEA said.

Parnell appoints Pringle to nursing board Gov. Sean Parnell recently appointed Erin Pringle of Anchorage to the state Board of Nursing. Pringle is a registered nurse at Alaska Regional Hospital in the preoperative unit and an assistant professor at the University of Alaska School of Nursing, the governor's office said.

The seven-member board regulates and approves applications for licenses and permits. Pringle fills a seat reserved for a registered nurse, the governor's office said.

Doyon to pay $4.21 per share dividend The Doyon Ltd. board has approved a $4.21 dividend per share, or $421 per 100 shares. The dividend will be mailed or direct-deposited to shareholders' accounts on Dec. 7.

The Fairbanks-based regional Native corporation invests in oil-field services, government contracting and tourism businesses, among other enterprises.

BP to restart beleaguered Badami oil field The off-again, on-again story of BP's troubled Badami oil field, the most easterly of the developed North Slope fields, continues with a planned field restart in September, according to Petroleum News.

For the past two years, independent oil company Savant Alaska and Arctic Slope Regional Corp. have been partnering with BP to bring new life into the field, with Savant drilling a new horizontal sidetrack well that might induce oil to flow more readily from the field's challenging reservoir, and also drilling an exploration well into another, deeper oil pool within Badami.

In the field restart, Savant anticipates bringing six wells into production, including the new horizontal well and the exploration well, Savant executive Greg Vigil said. Combined production from all six wells is projected at more than 4,000 barrels per day, Vigil said.

BP started up the 120-million-barrel field in August 1998, with expected flow of 30,000 barrels a day. The flow actually came in closer to 18,000 barrels a day and dropped to less than 3,000 barrels a day within months. BP shut in the field between February and May 1999 because the winter flow was too low for the Badami pipeline to Prudhoe Bay.

Subsequent efforts to boost production didn't work out well, and BP suspended Badami production in 2003, when production was about 1,400 barrels a day. Two years later production resumed, but BP closed the field again in 2007 to let the reservoir recharge.

Kodiak wine maker wins gold medal Alaskan Wilderness Wines of Kodiak has won a gold medal for its Blueberry Wine at the Indy International Wine Competition. This is its 10th medal from the Indy International but its first gold, said Lisa Thomsen, proprietor.

"We work hard on producing small batches of excellent wine produced with the finest hand-picked Alaskan berries," she said. She and her husband, Steve, produce about 150 cases of wine each year from their 11-year-old home-based winery, she said.

To see more of the Anchorage Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.adn.com.

Copyright (c) 2010, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail services@mctinfoservices.com, or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544)

[ Back To Homepage ]