The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Dec. 18 announced that it has raised US$15.5 million, which it will use to continue to advance permitting and outreach at its Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine project in Southwest Alaska. The Pebble project is nearing a final decision on an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed mine. The EIS is a lengthy process under the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), that ensures that large projects such as Pebble meet...
An abnormally long fall has allowed the Alaska mining industry to extend seasonal work well into mid-October, creating a lot of new information about project work conducted around the state. Exploration efforts, in particular, benefitted from this additional field time. Based on information available to date, 2019 exploration expenditures are expected to be in the $135-140 million range, well ahead of the $120-125 million exploration spending tracked for 2018. In addition,...
As the rest of the country suffers through the Dog Days of summer, Alaska is approaching the end of a topsy-turvy summer season that saw unseasonably hot, dry weather in some parts of the state during some parts of the summer, while other parts of the state have seen record rainfall and unseasonably early snowfall. Gold prices have skyrocketed over the $1,500 per ounce mark and silver prices have moved strongly up, now trading at a one-year high. However, copper and zinc are a...
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has decided to roll back its 2014 proposed determination that, if finalized, would have placed debilitating restrictions on developing a mine at the world-class Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project in Southwest Alaska. Pebble Limited Partnership, the company that is advancing Pebble through permitting, hailed this decision to scrap the proposed pre-emptive veto of Pebble as a major win, not only for the future of its proposed...
United States Environmental Protection Agency June 26 announced that it has instructed its Region 10 office to resume considering the elimination of a 2014 proposed determination to use "veto" authority to place restrictions on the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine project under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the federal agency charged with issuing permits for the disposal of dredge and fill material under Section 404 of the Clean...
In the famous words of Sherlock Holmes, the game is afoot! After seasonally slower news from Alaska's mining industry in March and April, the dam has broken with over two dozen Alaska mining project news releases issued in the last month. Including those projects moving forward that have not released their 2019 plans, Alaska has become a very busy place under the sun. All of our major metal mines reported strong performances in the first quarter, several of Alaska's most...
Iliamna Natives Ltd. (INL) May 15 is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Pebble Limited Partnership to provide transportation corridor access on INL lands to support the operation and construction of the proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine in Southwest Alaska. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation for the Village of Iliamna said this long-term agreement is a commitment to advance the Pebble project in a technically feasible,...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District May 3 announced that it has extended the public comment period for the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine project in Southwest Alaska to June 29. This provides an added 30 days to the comment period, bringing the total length of time for the public to submit their comments on the project to 120 days. In late April, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) sent a letter asking t...
As the Pebble Limited Partnership advances the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project through the permitting process, environmental groups opposed to the proposed mine are employing a wide arsenal of tactics to impede the progress. In its latest volley, Earthworks, an environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO), has requested that the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate whether Northern Dynasty...
By this time next year, Pebble Partnership could be holding the first of dozens of permits it will need to begin developing a mine at its enormous copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Southwest Alaska, according to Sheila Newman, deputy chief of the regulatory division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District. The timing or issuance of permits, however, are not guaranteed – permitting a large mine in the United States is a long process. Newman said the testimony being gat...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. March 12 announced plans to raise US$10 million to continue permitting and stakeholder engagement for its Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project in Southwest Alaska. Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corp. has agreed to lead a syndicate of underwriters, which also includes BMO Capital Markets, H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC. and TD Securities Inc., to purchase, on a bought deal basis, 15.63 million Northern Dynasty common shares at US64 cents per share, for...
Pebble Limited Partnership has taken another step toward gaining the permits needed to develop a mine at its large copper-gold-molybdenum project in Southwest Alaska. On Feb. 20, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District announced that it has published the draft environmental impact statement for a proposed 20-year mine at this world-class deposit that could help fill the United States' increasing need for copper, a demand that is being driven by the expanding e...
Alaska Department of Natural Resources Dec. 28 posted a notice that it has extended the Pebble Limited Partnership's existing miscellaneous land use permit by 90 days, to March 31. This extension will allow the company to continue care, maintenance and reclamation of exploration activities on the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum property in Southwest Alaska while DNR Division of Mining, Land & Water reviews the application for a 2019 miscellaneous land use permit. Pebble...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Dec. 28 completed the second tranche of a C$8.4 million (US$6.3 million) financing that will primarily be used to pay a legal fee connected to the successful 2017 settlement of a suit the company brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The settlement, reached early in 2017, opened the door for the enormous Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project in Southwest Alaska to enter the permitting process unencumbered by predetermined...
Alaska Peninsula Corp., which represents five Alaska Native village corporations in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, has reached an agreement with the Pebble Limited Partnership to provide transportation corridor access across its lands to support construction and operation of the proposed Pebble mine. Formed as a merger between the South Naknek, Port Heiden, Ugashik, Kokhanok and Newhalen village corporations, Alaska Peninsula Corp. owns the surface rights to...
As Alaska's mining industry nears the end of another hectic year during which metals prices and investor sentiments rose and fell as precipitously as the world's major stock exchanges, the industry is naturally looking into its crystal ball trying to anticipate what the new year will bring. EY Global Mining and Metals does this sort of forecasting by putting out an annual "risk radar" for mining and metals. The idea is to find out what the industry perceives as the top ten...
With a melting point of 5,756 degrees Fahrenheit and a heat-stable crystalline structure, rhenium is extremely resistant to both heat and wear. This durability makes it a vital element in superalloys used in jet and industrial gas turbine engines. "The high-temperature properties of rhenium allow turbine engines to be designed with finer tolerances and operate at temperatures higher than those of engines constructed with other materials," the United States Geological Survey...
Among his final acts before resigning as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt directed his agency's Office of Water to put together a proposal to update the regulations governing EPA's role in the permitting discharges of dredged or fill materials, including the elimination of the "preemptive veto" under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. EPA's current interpretation of regulations on implementing CWA section 404(c) allows the agency to...
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has called for a halt to an environmental review process aimed at determining whether a mine at Pebble can be developed in a way that protects the environment of the Bristol Bay region where the world-class copper-gold-molybdenum deposit is found. In a June 29 letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, also signed by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, Walker questioned the "readiness of the proposed Pebble project to move forward." The governor cited the lack of...
Alaska Department of Natural Resources April 19 announced that it is taking steps to reestablish the Bristol Bay Advisory Group, originally created to provide input on the 1984 Bristol Bay Area Plan. By reestablishing the group, DNR said it intends to foster dialogue on land use, resource management, and regulatory matters under state purview in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska. Plans to develop a mine at the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit on state lands in th...
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers believes it can get to a decision on the Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Pebble Mine project in Southwest Alaska by spring of 2020, or a little more than two years after the Pebble Partnership submitted permit applications. "If things progress as we see, a decision will be made no earlier than the spring of 2020," said Sheila Newman, deputy chief, Regulatory Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District. While this is a...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District March 28 published a Notice of Intent to prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for review of the Pebble Limited Partnership's application to discharge fill material into waters of the United States for the purpose of developing a mine at its world-class copper-gold-molybdenum project in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska A 30-day public scoping and public comment period is set to begin April 1. This s...
With a melting point of 5,756 degrees Fahrenheit and a heat-stable crystalline structure, rhenium is extremely resistant to both heat and wear. This durability makes it a vital element in superalloys used in jet and industrial gas turbine engines. "The high-temperature properties of rhenium allow turbine engines to be designed with finer tolerances and operate at temperatures higher than those of engines constructed with other materials," the United States Geological Survey...
This author, in this column and elsewhere, has often taken the position that Alaska, especially in remote locations, is the safest, most environmentally-sound and worker-friendly mining location in the world. Alaska is endowed with world-class resources from one end of the state to the other. The associated jobs are well paid, and the industry is stable. Notwithstanding the view that some have of heavy industry as an eyesore, the remoteness of most operations puts them beyond...
If you pay any attention to the popular press, it is difficult to avoid critical references to President Trump. He has become the effigy for everything from political division to global iconoclasm. However, as is the case with so many national issues; the impact of the intense debates inside the Beltway have only an attenuated resonance on the Last Frontier. The on-going controversy between elitist progressive governance and populistic resistance surfaced with the 2016 electio...
