The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Alaska is different - it has moose hunters on hovercrafts, many large national parks, and certain unique federal laws. On March 26, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that National Park Service laws and regulations of general applicability do not apply to inholdings within Alaska's national parks. Sturgeon v. Frost, 587 U.S. ___ (2019). While on a moose hunting trip twelve years ago, Sturgeon was repairing his hovercraft on a section of the Nation River within the...
As almost everyone knows, if you want to do something, anything at all, in our deeply-regulated society you have to take your hat in your hand, bow deeply before the local personification of the government, be it federal, state or local, pay the posted homage and say the magic words "May I ...?" Whereupon, the "authorized agent" strokes his or her chin thoughtfully, consults with a wide variety of "experts", engages the general public, through notices and hearings and...
With the holidays in the rear view mirror and the convention season half-way over, mining operators in Alaska, big and small, are processing their paperwork for the upcoming field season. The major properties work around the calendar, but when it comes to placer operations and exploration projects, the time for 2018 field season planning is at hand. All the signs are that 2018 will be the best season in five years. Although the stock market is rising steeply, the incremental...
If anyone has not yet read Mike Satre’s excellent editorial in the October 2019 edition of the Alaska Miner magazine they should stop what they are doing right now and read what he has to say. Mike reports on a presentation that was made to a “Mining Symposium” on Prince of Wales Island on April 24, 2019, by Southeast Alaska Conservation Council representatives Heather Evoy and Sarah Davidson. The presentation was called "Social Impacts of Mining and Engaging with Mining Compa...
Alaska, like Canada to the east and Russia to the west, is well known for its elephantine mineral deposits. Recognition of those deposits surfaces regularly. Sometimes they are characterized by incredible production results, as in the case of Red Dog, Pogo and Fort Knox. Sometimes they are abandoned due to social factors to lie in wait for another day, as is the case with Brady Glacier, Misty Fiords and Chuitna. All too often, those who identify a valuable mineral deposit are...
It is no secret that much of the western United States was built on the back of natural resources found on federal land or within adjacent federal waters. Likewise, it is no secret that prior to 1964, resource development companies, and many other productive industries, externalized the cost of doing business by discharging often toxic waste into the adjacent environment without regard to the persistent effect of doing so. No one denies that over the past 50 years the...
One of the highlights of my July each year is attending the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute because mining lawyers and landmen from across the continent gather to hear presentations of interest to those of us who closely follow changes in resource development law. Each topical session of the presentations typically begins with a survey of new statutes, regulations and cases that affect mining law, oil and gas law, water law, public land law and environmental law....
One does not have to be a septuagenarian to recall how things were before Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act into law. Whole industries used the commons for the disposal of pollutants, rivers caught on fire, fish died, and the air was not fit to breathe in many places. The bureaucracy, both federal and state, changed in response to those laws, and a regulatory aegis was thrown over everyone, especially those in the resource development industries....
It is difficult not to be optimistic about the future of the mining industry in Alaska these days. Although the industry is still No. 2 – as compared to oil and gas – it remains lucrative, safe and healthy. Predictably, that will remain the case for eons to come as new projects are brought online. Economically, from Kotzebue to Juneau, mining's direct impact is significant. Nearly 14 thousand direct and indirect jobs can be attributable to the industry and those jobs can pay...
I know that it is a perennial hazard for those of us who follow the mining industry to be optimistic in the Spring every year; but, somehow, I don't seem to be able to contain myself this year. My ebullience is precipitated by the obvious as well as the subtle. Obviously, the decision in the Sturgeon case is huge, all the more so because the decision was unanimous, and that was for the second time SCOTUS had to hear the matter. Liberal and conservative Justices agree: ANILCA...
I don't really know how much it has cost John Sturgeon to go to the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) twice in order to vindicate his right to use a hovercraft to go hunting on the Nation River, nor do I really care; but it must have been scratching on the underside of a million dollars, if not a great deal more. Lots of people made individual contributions, and there has been tremendous moral support for him in his decade-long interface with the American system of...
Despite over four decades of working with the mining industry in Alaska, my travels rarely brought me to the northwest part of the state and my opportunities to interface with residents have been embarrassingly few and far between. Recently, however, I have had occasion to pay a lot more attention to that part of the world. As a part of my remedial experience, I have had occasion to immerse myself in Willie Hensley's beautiful memoir about his life and the Iñupiaq of Kotzebue....
As you have heard by now, a large segment of the federal government has been furloughed over some sort of a squabble between the Leader of the Free World and the newly-elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. If one were to read the Amazon (aka Washington) Post, one would infer that the sky was falling on top of the rising seas, and that in about a thousand years it will make a big splash. On the other hand, since we always send our brightest and best to the District...
Earlier this month the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced that they were proposing “a clear, understandable, and implementable definition of the waters of the United States that clarifies federal authority under the Clean Water Act.” Although the proposed regulations have not been published in the Federal Register quite yet, a 253-page prepublication version has been released on EPA’s website, and it is well worth the read....
Whilst the mining industry continues to shift on several levels, mineral exploration is still very much needed in determining where new mineral deposits are located. Technology has helped mineral exploration techniques evolve from a time consuming endeavor marked by unreliable sample quality and a high environmental impact, to a highly efficient process with lower environment impact and consistent grade control for accurate sampling, eliminating the need for multiple samples...
There can be no doubt that April 27, 1973, was an auspicious day in Nebraska, not just because Jason Brune, Governor-Elect Dunleavy's pick to become the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, was borne then and there; but because it was also the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. One does not need to cast horoscopes to recognize that this astrological era is said to be one of harmony and understanding. Nor does one have to know Brune well to...
I have always been bemused by an apparently historic inconsistency between the Declaration of Independence and the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The first speaks of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," but 14 years later, the Fifth Amendment concerned itself with "life, liberty and property." This was an apparent paradigm shift. The change has historical explanations. (Give an historian enough time and he (or she) can explain anything.) For instance, the Foundi...
I always get a giggle when I hear the stark warnings about the death and destruction that are going to occur as the result of the huge contribution that anthropomorphic activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, makes to global warming. Before you ask, I am not a denier. I think that global warming is real and furthermore, I think that mankind is a contributor. My attitude is not that global warming doesn't exist, but more like "So what?" What brings this to mind is a...
The Donlin Project took one step closer to becoming the next major mine in Alaska when on Aug. 13, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Interior signed off on a record of decision regarding the discharge of dredged material and a pipeline right of way as part of the development of the project. In today's political environment, the development of any resource project requires a bevy of permits from diverse agencies and entities, and that entails a mountain of...
About 26 months ago, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources announced its intention to modify the regulations concerning the location of mining claims on state land. The process of amending regulations is a clumsy one at best, complicated by substantial considerations of public interest, judicial interpretations and stakeholder concerns. Mining is the second largest industry in Alaska, and the vast bulk of mining interests are on state land. Furthermore, the potential for...
Undoubtedly, one of the most fun parts of my vocation is introducing Cheechakos to mining in Alaska. Obviously, even the most experienced miners in the state can, and often do, get cross-wise with the impenetrable rules and regulations of which Alaska seems to boast. For these newcomers to Alaska, the risk of failure for political reasons far exceeds the risks of failing to find gold and other valuable minerals. The very first layer of complexity is the land status. As most...
In my younger years, I was hornswoggled into believing in “truth, justice and the American way.” I had no idea how evil that “way” actually was. Later, as I progressed through high school, I was taught that “winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing.” In college I learned that “America is a nation of laws, not men (or even women).” By the time I got to law school, I had figured out that there are (at least) two sides to every story and that a competent lawyer was expect...
Arguably, the process of adopting laws and regulations is well-intentioned; but like the blind men trying to describe an elephant, those who embrace the tail perceive a creature much unlike those who embrace a leg and their respective perceptions vary dramatically from those who grasp an ear. The question of how to deal with the affidavits of annual labor required by the Alaska Land Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder, where the affidavit contains some error, has...
In an earlier column (Dec. 24, 2017), the question of proposed regulations affecting mining on State land was flagged for readers’ attention because the initial scope of the contemplated changes did not bode well for the industry. Unfortunately, space constraints precluded in-depth analysis of the half-dozen ideas that had been laid on the table. Since that column, however, the problems identified in the suggested regulations have evolved into broad disarray, due in part to th...
For the past 20 months or so, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been wrestling with some proposed changes to the regulations concerning the location and maintenance of State of Alaska mining claims. This effort has been driven by some substantial issues that have arisen with the interpretation of the regs over the past several years as well as some significant open questions. The current proposed changes can be obtained from the DNR's website, but the process is...
