The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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After four years of intensive work and an appeal, a placer mining company finally secures a keystone permit from the Army Corps. I am not in the custom of speaking about matters that I have worked on; however, in this case, I thought it desirable to make note of a recent development with regard to placer mining in Alaska's coastal wetlands. IPOP, LLC, sought permission to mine on State of Alaska mining claims in Bonanza Channel, approximately 25 miles east of Nome. The area is... Full story
No matter how the 2024 Presidential election may unfold, our Congressional delegation must resuscitate the Ambler Access Project. On August 19, 1980, then-Senator Joseph Biden, along with 77 other Senators, cast a vote in support of HR 39, as amended, now known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). Senator Ted Stevens had invested nearly a decade of his life in bringing this vital piece of legislation to the Senate floor. ANILCA's roots were in the... Full story
Each year, I enjoy traveling to Vancouver, B.C., to attend what used to be called the Cordilleran Roundup, sponsored by the Association for Mineral Exploration of British Columbia. It is always a worthwhile exercise if, for no other reason than on the Wednesday night during the convention, the Alaska Miners Association sponsors "Alaska Night," which is a foodfest without peer (and with lots of beer) for all registered comers. Generally, Alaska Night is an opportunity to rub... Full story
For those who pay attention to such things, it appears that a new invasive species of environmentalism has crept onto the scene. I count it as an inevitable evolution of the movement, inasmuch as the deep thinkers on the subject apparently have identified schisms in their religious beliefs. For the past several decades, it was sufficient to be a banana Greenie – those who are basically against anything, anytime, anywhere. They were quite predictable, especially when it comes t... Full story
I suspect that almost everyone is familiar with the "word clouds" that are sometimes used by the media to identify issues ostensibly important to the American public. Pick a subject, and the associated reference appears in the word cloud in a size and typeface that reflects that subject's relative importance. Of course, the rule of "garbage in – garbage out" dominates, so I suppose word clouds are just another fancy way to say nothing. On the other hand, I was recently i... Full story
Somehow, for those of us who follow the mining industry in Alaska, the first full week of November marks not the end but the beginning of the mining New Year. AMA conventions have occurred in this window for at least the last 45 years, and every year, although always different, in a larger sense, it is always the same. Miners and support industry entities gather in Anchorage to compare notes and make deals that will govern their activities for the ensuing year. It is a hugely... Full story
Generally, when there is a turn of the screw in DC, the pundits bombard the media with insight and analysis, often drawn on their experience with analogous events. Tuesday's vote to unseat the Speaker of the House somehow seems a little different since there is little precedent and even less Constitutional guidance as to what our leaders are to do next. Contextually, we are in a bit of a dilemma. President Biden embraced an aggressive liberal agenda that contemplates the... Full story
On August 28, the EPA announced a revision to the jurisdictional regulations concerning waters of the United States to conform to the holding in Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S., decided May 25, 2023. "[A]s a result of the decision in Sackett invalidating the significant nexus standard, the provision for assessment of streams and wetlands ... is no longer valid ... ." The Sackett decision potentially impacts the determination of the EPA to permanently block the development of any... Full story
They say that just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. That certainly is the case with regard to America's Administrative State. Some of us have lived and breathed the National Environmental Policy Act, "NEPA," for over 50 years and have watched the piles of worthless Environmental Impact Statements stack up in dusty corners, like cordwood beside a rustic cabin, fit more for the heat they may generate than any light they may produce. The Council...
With all due apologies to our Canadian friends (who celebrate their independence on Saturday), next Tuesday is our big day! Cynicism aside, it is time to recognize just how great America is in general and Alaska is in particular. Gender issues, abortion issues, gun issues, immigration issues, issues with big government, issues with state and local governments, issues with criminal trespassers on the capitol grounds, issues with the criminal prosecutions of a former President... Full story
Mark your calendar. June 30, 2023, will be just one more Day in Infamy when catastrophic changes at the hands of the Bureau of Land Management will reach their nadir. (These days, it seems, everything that the government wants to do is "catastrophic!") On April 3, the BLM promulgated its Conservation and Landscape Health Proposed Rule. In its own words, the rule would "advance the BLM's mission to manage the public lands for multiple use and sustained yield by prioritizing... Full story
Let's talk about electric car batteries, their mineral content, the source of the minerals, and where those minerals are refined. Generally speaking, according to a recent piece in the Washington Post, electric car batteries weigh about 900 pounds – 900 pounds of minerals that have to be mined, refined, combined and shaped, fitted and installed into cars – cars that are being pushed onto the American public because they don't require polluting gasoline. We are told that electr... Full story
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) of 1980, as every Alaska school child should know, was a great compromise, engineered by Senator Ted Stevens and supported even by then-Senator Joe Biden. In a 1980 speech on the Senate floor, Senator Biden said, "This legislation will protect some of the most beautiful and pristine lands in the world. It will provide for the wise use of our natural resources. And it will ensure that Alaska's economy will continue... Full story
As America gravitates toward an increasingly strong central government, the disparity of the regulatory system is becoming increasingly blatant. This is not the view of a few, it is the concern of the many. Too often the problem is politicized. The left wants more government, the right wants less. But this problem is not a political football. It is a national problem with an available solution. Beginning in the earliest days of the nation, there was tension with regard to how... Full story
If you have paid any attention to the news lately, you are aware that the National Debt exceeds $30 trillion dollars and our Gross Domestic Product is a little over $26 trillion, so we are literally borrowing ourselves rich. The National Debt Ceiling is $31.4 trillion, so Congress is confronted with the grim choice of raising the debt limit or not being able to pay our national bills. Naturally, there is a lot of controversy over how Congress should proceed. Remarkably, some... Full story
At long last the new year is here! Behind us are the floods, blizzards, pandemics, elections, and the vast array of distractions that have clouded our skies. It is time to get down to business. First, the good news – we won't have another election for about 22 months. In addition, the Congress of the United States is in a state of equipoise. The House has a Republican majority, and the House controls the national purse strings; so federal spending hopefully will be under c... Full story
It is always wise to count our blessings, especially halfway between election day and Christmas. I juxtapose those dates because the seasonal background noise is seamless. Election day blends into Thanksgiving, which blends into Black Friday, which blends into Merry Christmas. Ho! Ho! Ho! It crosses my mind, however, that the issues that fall off the table, such as ambient carbon dioxide and supporting Ukraine's sovereignty, simply get lost in the plum sauce. The popular... Full story
Politically, the United States has been on a long slow drift to the left ever since Franklin Roosevelt threatened to expand the Supreme Court in 1937 in order to get his progressive agenda back on track. Through a cascade of political divisions, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the abandonment of Kabul, the left-right divisions of the electorate have divided the country; but the ship of state has consistently incrementally edged forward, veering slightly to port.... Full story
Being cynical by nature, and having a solid distrust of the integrity of the popular press, it crosses my mind that the political determination of the United States and its NATO allies to dump our sacred treasure, if not our blood, into the defense of Ukraine precipitates a serious question: Why? When all else fails, I tend to fall back on the wisdom of the ages as generally manifested by bumper sticker memes like "follow the money." In the case of Ukraine (not unlike... Full story
With the recent rash of opinions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court this spring, there has been a great deal of conversation about whether the 'democracy' is at risk. Whether we are a republic or a democracy, of course, depends on how one defines the terms. Some would say that a democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on what to have for dinner. Our national Constitution guarantees a "republican form of government," and presumably, our forefathers meant that the... Full story
Those of us who watch such things are well aware that Senator Murkowski has been the strong vocal lead in the Senate when it comes to sounding the alarm that the country is at substantial risk due to our reliance on foreign countries for the critical minerals that we need, not just for our 21st Century lifestyle, but also for our national defense. Over the past decade, Sen. Murkowski has consistently done yeoman service when it came to getting legislation concerning the... Full story
When I first heard the term "greenwashed," I naturally assumed that it referred to the endless stream of misrepresentations that the American Environmental Industry dumps on a gullible public as part of its fundraising technique. When I looked into it, however, I discovered that it was a pejorative intended by professional Environmentalists to attack other industrial sectors who represented that their various products were somehow more environmentally friendly than their compe... Full story
On April 12, 2013, Governor Sean Parnell signed into law Senate Bill 1, "An Act establishing May 10 of each year as Alaska Mining Day; and providing for an effective date" (Chapter 6, SLA 2013), sponsored by State Senator Cathy Giessel and thirteen other senators as well as nineteen members of the State House of Representatives, commemorating the enactment of the General Mining Law of 1872. This year, on the 150th anniversary of the General Mining Law, the Alaska Miners...
This past week the Biden Administration released a document ineptly entitled "Fundamental Principles for Domestic Mining Reform." It would have been more accurately called "Eleven Ways to End Mining in America." It is not difficult to understand why an East Coast boy from Delaware (or maybe Scranton) would have no affinity with the American mining industry. Among other things, Mr. Biden probably could not identify three distinctions between a jackleg and a jackass, other than... Full story
In today's topsy-turvy world, perhaps the question we all should be asking is, in the unforgettable opening words of Admiral James Stockdale during the 1992 Vice Presidential debate, "Who am I, why am I here?". Admiral Stockdale was the person chosen to be Independent Ross Perot's Presidential running mate. His challengers were then-President George Bush and then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. Perot garnered about 19.7 million votes, many of which might have gone to... Full story
