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Alaska Mining

Eerie vision of Far North ghost towns – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – October 7, 2022)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Places that were once filled with life have all but disappeared, leaving behind remnants of homes that are all but forgotten

For this special spooky edition, North of 60 Mining News is revisiting some of the most bizarre and disturbing ghost towns in its northern coverage area. From one of the most haunted places in Alaska to a practically unknown trading post in Nunavut, enjoy this eerie account of places that once thrived but are now all but forgotten with nary the skeleton of infrastructure to prove its existence.

Let us peer into the oftentimes short-lived bastions of civilization that, for numerous reasons, could not stand the test of time and are only a memory of a bygone life.

Alaska: Dyea

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Green bananas, mining risks, and time – by Curt Freeman (North of 60 Mining News – August 5, 2022)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Noted Alaskan prospector Rudy Vetter once told me, “At my age, I don’t even buy green bananas anymore.” I heard this sage remark during a mineral property lease negotiation after I offered Mr. Vetter a production royalty, rather than the cold, hard cash he wanted.

Mr. Vetter was in his 80s at the time and clearly knew his own investment risk timeline. He also clearly knew that Alaskan mines require a number of years to move from discovery to production. So not surprisingly, as far as Rudy was concerned, the production royalty idea was D.O.A.

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Despite setbacks, Pebble Mine receives new investment of $12 million – by Katherine Moncure (KBBI.com – August 14, 2022)

https://www.kbbi.org/

In late July, Northern Dynasty Minerals received $12 million from a new, unnamed investor. This would seem to be an unusual time for a big investment, since the proposed Pebble Mine has faced significant setbacks recently.

In May, the EPA issued a proposed determination to prohibit the discharge of mining materials in the waters around the Pebble deposit – a decision that would effectively kill the project if it stands – and the Army Corps of Engineers’ denied Pebble’s permit in 2020. Pebble and Gov. Dunleavy are fighting to have that permit denial reversed.

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US not adequately planning for raw materials needed to fuel policy initiatives – Pebble developer – by Darren Parker (MiningWeekly.com – July 19, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

“Pebble is the largest undeveloped copper deposit in the world and
the proposed Pebble mine needs to be part of this solution, instead
of being portrayed as part of the problem by misguided environmental
activists who do not have a credible plan for reaching net-zero,”
Thiessen added.

Northern Dynasty, the company behind the controversial Pebble copper project, in Alaska, has urged politicians, environmental activists and the public to pay attention to concerns raised by the mining industry about a looming copper supply gap.

Commenting on a recent report by S&P Global, entitled ‘The Future of Copper: Will the looming supply gap short-circuit the energy transition?’, Northern Dynasty CEO Ron Thiessen said the conclusions were consistent with comments and concerns previously raised by the company and other key mining industry companies and organisations.

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Operator of Red Dog zinc mine in Northwest Alaska advances plans that could lead to large expansion – by Alex DeMarban (Anchorage Daily News – June 16, 2022)

https://www.adn.com/

The company that operates the Red Dog zinc mine in Northwest Alaska is seeking state and federal approval for a multi-year exploration plan in the area that could one day lead to a large expansion of its operations.

Teck American, a subsidiary of Teck Resources in Canada, has applied with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to build a 10-mile exploration road, plus bridges and related facilities, the agency said in a public notice last week. The road would extend from the mine to two large new prospects to the north, known as Aktigiruq and Anarraaq.

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There is something wrong, very wrong – by J.P. Tangen (North of 60 Mining News – June 3, 2022)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency, citing section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, announced its intention to prohibit the use of the Bristol Bay watershed for discharging dredged or fill material from the Pebble Project. Both of our Senators issued statements giving qualified support for the proposed decision.

Senator Murkowski, however, took the position that she has “never supported a blanket, preemptive approach for any project” recognizing “that this could be used as a precedent to target resource development projects across our state.”

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The Canary in the Pebble Mine – The Editorial Board (Wall Street Journal – May 30, 2022)

https://www.wsj.com/

A textbook example of why the U.S is vulnerable foreign mineral and mining extortion.

Politicians are demanding that the U.S. become more self-sufficient in crucial metals and minerals, but then they block domestic mining at every opportunity. Alaska’s Pebble Mine project is the latest to join the casualty list.

The Pebble site holds an estimated $300 billion to $500 billion in mineral resources and could be one of the world’s largest suppliers of copper and gold. Electric cars as well as wind and solar power require enormous amounts of copper. Investors have invested nearly $1 billion on exploration, engineering and studies to meet regulatory demands.

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Biden Admin Blocks Yet Another Massive Mining Project, Hobbling Its Own Climate Agenda – by Thomas Catenacci (Ohio Star – May 31, 2022)

https://theohiostar.com/

The Biden administration proposed stringent clean water restrictions on a watershed in southwest Alaska Wednesday, a potential fatal blow to a planned critical mineral development project.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would review a proposal to prohibit the use of the Bristol Bay watershed as a discharge site for the Pebble Project, a mining project that would produce about 1.5 billion tons of critical minerals, including copper and molybdenum, over 20 years.

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Biden Plan Would Block Pebble Gold Mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay – by Jennifer A Dlouhy (Bloomberg News – May 25, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration on Wednesday is outlining new pollution restrictions that would thwart a long-stalled plan to mine for gold near Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

Under the proposed requirements, the Environmental Protection Agency would broadly bar developers of the planned Pebble Mine from disposing waste near the site because of the potential harm to the area’s thriving, $2 billion salmon fishery.

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Barrick’s massive Donlin gold project in Alaska faces pushback from Indigenous groups – by Nial McGee (Globe and Mail – May 3, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is facing pushback from Indigenous stakeholders in Alaska who are concerned about the environmental damage the massive Donlin gold mine could cause if it gets the go ahead.

Toronto-based Barrick, the world’s second biggest gold producer, held its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday and two of the three questions asked by stakeholders revolved around Donlin’s potentially negative impact on the ecosystem.

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Canadian Mine Waste Is Crossing Borders and Facing International Backlash – by Stephen Robert Miller (Discovery Magazine – February 5, 2022)

https://www.discovermagazine.com/

For decades, Canadian waterways have carried toxic mine waste through natural ecosystems, into tribal lands and across the U.S. border. A coalition of indigenous leaders and scientists are now calling for international protection.

In the bitter cold winter of 2017, British Columbia’s minister of energy and mines discovered that someone had staked a mining claim in his actual backyard. The request had come without notice or warning.

If approved, it would allow the people behind it to pan for precious minerals in streambeds on his Cranbrook, B.C., property, less than 50 miles north of the U.S. border.

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US needs to develop its own copper resources, says Pebble owner – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – January 20, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Northern Dynasty, the owner of the contentious Pebble copper/gold mine, in south-west Alaska, says that the US must develop its own copper resources to ensure a successful energy transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Citing forecasts from major banks about a looming deficit and higher copper prices, CEO Ron Thiessen says that the “only realistic way to meet demand is to increase production”.

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Opinion: Keep Alaska’s pristine wild lands free of poisonous industrial mining – by Seth Kantner (Seattle Times – January 19, 2022)

https://www.seattletimes.com/

Seth Kantner lives in northern Alaska and is a commercial fisherman and the author of “Ordinary Wolves” and recently released, “A Thousand Trails Home: Living With Caribou.”

This fall before the ice froze, I started a letter to President Joe Biden. I was gathering cranberries on the hill above the old sod igloo where I was born and raised, thinking while my hands worked, thinking about food, and health, and how here that is the definition of success.

The berries were still liquid, soft and not easy to pick without crushing. They stained my fingers pink where my nails and knuckles weren’t coated dark with blood from the caribou I’d hunted earlier, for meat. I hadn’t found snow to wash my hands.

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EPA Moves for Permanent Block on Pebble Mine Project in Alaska – by Timothy Puko(Wall Street Journal – September 9, 2021)

https://www.wsj.com/

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is proposing sweeping environmental protections for Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska, a plan that could permanently block the development of the controversial Pebble Mine copper-and-gold project.

In a decision announced Thursday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would undo a decision under former President Trump in 2019 to withdraw a plan to protect the region that had been proposed under the Clean Water Act, according to the EPA.

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Lawmakers in Alaska and Washington state push B.C. on mining regulations – by Brenda Owen (City News/Canadian Press – June 1, 2021)

https://toronto.citynews.ca/

VANCOUVER — Lawmakers in Alaska and Washington state are renewing calls for British Columbia to strengthen its mining regulations to protect shared waterways.

A group of 25 members of the Washington state legislature sent a letter to Premier John Horgan in March, saying a tailings dam breach at one of several mines in B.C. within 100 kilometres of the state’s border could damage transboundary rivers and fisheries.

Eight Alaskan state legislators followed with a letter to Horgan in May expressing their constituents’ “deep concerns” about the potential impacts of abandoned, active and future mines on shared waterways.

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