The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Alaska & Northern Dynasty sue federal government over EPA's Pebble decision; state places hefty price tag on taking if mining ban not overturned. Both the Alaska Department of Law and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. are suing the federal government over broken contracts relating to the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to restrict mining activities at the world-class Pebble copper project in Southwest Alaska. "We are filing litigation to fully contest the EPA's...
Urges White House to streamline permitting process for domestic mines that will supply the minerals and metals needed for energy transition. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy leveraged the national platform offered by S&P Global's CERAWeek 2024 energy conference in Houston to urge the Biden administration to streamline the permitting for mines that will deliver a domestic supply of the minerals and metals critical to America's economy, security, and clean energy ambitions. "Our...
After waiting for nearly half a year on the U.S. Supreme Court's response to Alaska's petition to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency's veto of the Pebble project, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. was disappointed to report the state was denied its request to take its case directly to the highest judicial body. At the beginning of 2023, the EPA issued a final determination regarding the waters surrounding the lands of the Pebble project, ultimately barring the project...
Seeks to protect state rights by forcing EPA to withdraw veto; if not, is asking for reparations for unjust taking. After having its independence infringed upon by the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to exercise its veto authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to lock away 309 square miles of state lands, effectively confiscating it and creating a de facto national park, Alaska's attorney general has filed a motion asking the U.S. Supreme Court to inst...
Navigating the tumultuous waters of controversy and impassioned discourse, let us take a step back and embark on a journey through the history of an Alaska copper project that has proven to be as divisive as it is essential. Perhaps by exploring the compelling narrative of the Pebble Mine project, where the pursuit of precious resources indispensable for a zero-carbon future intersects with the call for environmental stewardship to safeguard heritage and a very way of life,...
The Pebble Mine project advanced to the final step of the permitting process would produce 320 million pounds of copper; 363,000 ounces of gold; 15 million pounds of molybdenum; 1.8 million oz of silver; and 12,000 kilograms of rhenium annually over the first 20 years of mining, according to the results of a new preliminary economic assessment published by Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. on Sept. 9. In addition to the proposed 20-year-mine submitted for permitting, the PEA...
SW Alaska project could provide US with 6.4 billion lb copper plus other metals critical to energy transition. A mine at Pebble project in Southwest Alaska could provide a secure domestic supply of 6.4 billion pounds of copper needed for the clean energy future, 300 million lb molybdenum needed for infrastructure, 200,000 kilograms of rhenium for aerospace, 37 million ounces of silver for solar panels, and 7.4 million oz of gold for the economy over 20 years, according to a...
The North of 60 Mining area hosts billions of pounds of copper ready to be delivered to a world craving this metal in sky-high demand for wiring the electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure that would enable the envisioned low-carbon future. Whether enough of these copper-rich projects are developed in time to circumvent a short circuit of the clean energy transition remains to be seen. Global Market analysts such as S&P Global have predicted that copper...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers April 25 announced that it is taking a second look at its decision to deny Pebble Limited Partnership's application for the permits to establish a mining operation at the Pebble copper project in the Bristol Bay watershed of Southwest Alaska. The mine put forward for permitting is expected to produce 320 million pounds of copper; 363,000 ounces of gold; 15 million pounds of molybdenum; 1.8 million oz of silver; and 12,000 kilograms of rhenium a...
In what could be the most consequential "pollice verso" for Alaska, in a time when the federal government is seeking to shift the paradigm from more than a century of petroleum dependency to clean renewable energy, the Environmental Protection Agency issued its final determination under the Clean Water Act to help protect Bristol Bay, invariably crippling the more than two decades of effort toward establishing a mine at the world-class copper-gold-molybdenum-silver-rhenium...
Says pending veto of Pebble copper mine permits sets a precedent with implications that go beyond Alaska. Alarmed by the precedent that would be set if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is successful in issuing a preemptive veto of the Pebble Mine through the extension of its authority under the federal Clean Water Act, Gov. Mike Dunleavy says his administration is prepared to defend Alaska's right and obligation to develop resources on state lands. "The State of...
An updated preliminary economic assessment for Pebble shows that a US$60 million royalty investment deal between Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and an unnamed investor has a minimal impact on the economics of the proposed mine at the world-class copper project in Southwest Alaska. You can read about the sudden investment at Surprise $60 million investment for Pebble in the July 29, 2022, edition of North of 60 Mining News. "In the updated technical report we have detailed the...
The U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee released a report accusing proponents of the proposed Pebble copper mine in Southwest Alaska of carrying out a 'bait and switch' permitting scheme designed to evade regulations and develop an open pit mine in the watershed of Bristol Bay, Alaska. Chair of the Committee Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA) released a report titled, "NO...
Pebble Limited Partnership presses for withdrawal of preemptive veto As the Environmental Protection Agency closed public input on its 2022 proposed determination, Pebble Limited Partnership calls on the agency to withdraw its preemptive veto of the Pebble copper mine project, ultimately finalizing the permit process undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. About a year ago, the EPA made known its intention to reinitiate the process of making a Clean Water Act Section...
In spite of the current uncertainty regarding a final decision by the Environmental Protection Agency, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and Pebble Limited Partnership has outlined the potential locations and solutions of a tailings pond for the proposed world-class copper-gold-silver-rhenium mine in Southwest Alaska. To alleviate concerns over the environmental impacts a mine like Pebble would have on the surrounding waters, especially the Bristol Bay watershed that supports...
In a move that could help it push the Pebble project across the permitting finish line, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. has entered into an agreement with an unnamed investor for US$60 million over the next two years in exchange for royalties from the gold and silver that would be recovered as a byproduct of the copper produced if a mine is developed at the world-class deposit in Southwest Alaska. With an initial $12 million in good faith, this substantial investment could...
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...
In a polarizing announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency released a revised Proposed Determination under Clean Water Act Section 404(c) to prohibit and restrict the use of certain waters in the Bristol Bay watershed. If finalized, the decision would lock out any future for a Pebble mine, and the enormous quantities of copper and other resources it could provide for the global transition to renewable energy. "This is clearly a giant step backwards for the Biden...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. April 28 announced its subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership is preparing crews and equipment for its 2022 field program at the Pebble project site in Southwest Alaska. While disputes over the initial denial of mine permits by the Army Corp of Engineers in November 2020, then leading to the EPA's decision to reinitiate the process of making a Clean Water Act Section 404(c) determination in September 2021, Northern Dynasty has opted to continue...
Goldman Sachs' declaration that "copper is the new oil" may serve as a foreshadowing of Alaska's economic future, one that is not so heavily reliant on the revenues from petroleum flowing from the North Slope and leans more heavily on the state's rich endowment of precious, critical, and base metals. The investment bank's suggestion that copper is to become the strategically most important commodity on Earth is due to the vital role the conductive metal plays in global...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Dec. 1 announced its statement regarding the Nov. 17 press release by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in which the governmental agency extended the deadline regarding its intention to implement Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. "While it is not yet known what action, if any, the EPA will finally take, we are cautiously optimistic about their commitment to consider new information that has become available since the 2014 Proposed...
In an announcement with language indicative of a predetermined decision, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Nov. 17 announced it has set a timeframe for considering new information available to determine the next steps in the Bristol Bay Clean Water Act Section 404(c) process for the Pebble copper mine project in Southwest Alaska. The agency says a finalized CWA 404(c) determination will help protect waters over the long term that are essential to commercial,...
Continued efforts by Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. to advance its Pebble project has led to the company filing a motion to the court to set a schedule requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to decide to either withdraw or finalize its 2014 proposed determination for the proposed copper-gold-silver-rhenium mine in Southwest Alaska. With this proposed determination, the federal agency sought to invoke Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to restrict the use of...
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. Oct. 4 reports that it has concluded its 2021 field program at the company's Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project in Southwest Alaska. The principal focus of this year's program entailed: • The continuation of select environmental baseline studies. • Site care and maintenance, including the Pebble project site, and other facilities located within Iliamna. • The demobilization and removal of facilities and equipment no longer requi...
In the most recent update on Pebble Limited Partnership’s administrative appeal to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. reported it has been assigned a new review officer for the appeal of the federal agency’s issuance of a negative record of decision for the world-class copper-gold project in Southwest Alaska. Following last November’s negative record of decision by Army Corps, Pebble Partnership submitted a request for appeal of the federal permi...
