The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Believes mitigation plan clears high bar set by Army Corps North of 60 Mining News – November 17, 2020
Drills expand the world-class Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum-silver-rhenium deposit that lies below this flat and treeless expanse in Southwest Alaska.
Roughly 80% of the world's rhenium goes into high-temperature superalloys, especially those used to manufacture commercial and military aircraft jet engines.
Pebble Limited Partnership has submitted a compensatory mitigation plan for Pebble, which is the final piece needed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to finalize a record of decision for the world-class copper-gold-molybdenum-silver-rhenium mine project in Southwest Alaska.
Following publication of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for Pebble in July, the Army Corps sent Pebble Partnership a letter that details the need for "in kind" and "in watershed" mitigation for roughly 3,000 acres of wetlands and 100 miles of streams to be disturbed by mine development.
"The in-kind and in-watershed requirement for mitigation the USACE established for Pebble clearly sets a high bar for offsetting project effects on wetlands and other aquatic features, but it's a challenge we have embraced and believe we can achieve," said Ron Thiessen, president and CEO of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., which is currently the sole owner of the Pebble Partnership.
Army Corps published its requirements for mitigation in August, which set a 90-day timer for Pebble Partnership's mitigation plan that expires on Nov. 18.
Working alongside Pebble Partnership's technical and permitting staff, third-party consultants in Alaska assisted in the preparation of a high-quality mitigation plan that is expected to fully satisfy Army Corps' rigorous requirements.
"We have an experienced team in Alaska that has identified both the means and mechanism to meet the in-kind and in watershed mitigation requirements, and complete a CMP that we believe will be acceptable to the USACE in form and content," said Thiessen.
The details of this plan, however, are expected to remain under wraps until it is reviewed and accepted by the Army Corps.
"Until this work is completed to the Corps' full satisfaction, we won't be discussing the details of our plan," Thiessen added.
The Northern Dynasty CEO believes the acceptance of this mitigation plan will further demonstrate Pebble Partnership's willingness and ability to go the extra mile to protect the world-class fishery for which the Bristol Bay region in renowned.
"Based on the findings of the Final EIS, we already know Pebble can operate safely and reliably, while fully protecting the water, fish and wildlife resources of Bristol Bay," said Theisen. "Meeting the USACE's challenging mitigation requirements provides even greater evidence that Pebble can and will co-exist with commercial, subsistence and sport fisheries in Southwest Alaska."
Critical mine project
In addition to meeting the rigorous environmental standards enforced in the Clean Water Act and other federal legislation, Thiessen points out that the Pebble mine detailed in the Final EIS for Pebble has all the hallmarks of a project that will make important, positive socioeconomic contributions to the Bristol Bay region, Alaska, and the nation.
A mine developed at Pebble is expected to support as many as 1,000 full-time, direct jobs during mine operations, with average annual wages and benefits topping $100,000. In addition, this operation is expected to generate more than $400 million in in-state expenditures and support up to 2,000 indirect jobs across the broader Alaska economy.
Because the world-class deposit is on Alaska mining claims, an operating Pebble Mine is expected to contribute some $66 million annually to state government coffers – including contributions to Alaska's Permanent Fund.
During operations, Pebble would also contribute an estimated $21 million each year in tax revenues to the Lake & Peninsula Borough, the regional jurisdiction in which the project resides. These funds, totaling some $420 million over 20 years of mining, would increase the borough's existing tax base and budget by up to 300% and provide an opportunity for local government to vastly expand the health, education and other public services it provides in 17 rural Southwest Alaska villages.
At the national level, the mine is expected to deliver a significant quantity of metals that are increasingly critical to low-carbon technologies and national security.
According to a calculation completed earlier this year, Pebble hosts 6.5 billion metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 0.4% (57 billion lb) copper, 0.34 grams per metric ton (71 million ounces) gold, 240 parts per million (3.4 billion lb) molybdenum, 1.7 g/t (345 million oz) silver and 0.41 ppm (2.6 million kg) rhenium.
This porphyry deposit also hosts 4.5 billion metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.25% (25 billion lb) copper, 0.25 g/t (36 million oz) gold, 226 ppm (2.2 billion lb) molybdenum, 1.2 g/t (170 million oz) silver and 0.36 ppm (1.6 million kg) rhenium.
This makes Pebble the largest undeveloped deposit of copper, gold, and rhenium on Earth.
America's transition toward renewable sources of power will be particularly copper-intensive, as will the requirement for smart grid technology to make the nation's energy transmission and distribution system more efficient.
Electric vehicles, solar and wind power installations, as well as the energy infrastructure required to enable these technologies, will all require substantially more copper than the transportation and energy systems they replace.
World Bank estimates that roughly 550 million tons of copper will be needed for generating and transmitting electricity over the next 25 years, which is nearly as much as humans have mined over the past 5,000 years.
Rhenium, one of the rarest stable elements on the periodic table, is a highly heat resistant metal that has been deemed critical to the economic and national security of the U.S.
This is largely due to the fact that this extremely rare metal is a vital ingredient in superalloys used to fabricate jet and industrial gas turbine engines, which accounted for about 80% of roughly 47,000 kilograms rhenium used in the U.S. last year.
The U.S. depend on imports from foreign countries for more than 80% of its rhenium requirements.
Further details on rhenium and where this critical metal is found in Alaska can be read at Pebble hosts 90 years of durable rhenium in Critical Minerals Alaska 2020, a magazine published by North of 60 Mining News on Oct. 29.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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