Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities March 25 announced that it will perform an independent analysis of the route between the proposed Manh Choh gold mine near the community of Tetlin and Kinross Alaska's mill at the Fort Knox mine north of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Peak Gold JV – a partnership between Kinross Gold Corp. (70%) and Contango ORE Inc. (30%) – plans to truck high-grade ore mined at Manh Choh to the Fort Knox mill for processing. Utilizing the processing infrastructure already in place at the longtime Alaska gold mine near Fairbanks is expected to lower the cost and environmental footprint of developing a mine at Manh Choh.

Interior Alaska residents have raised concerns about the safety of the proposal to have two to four trucks per hour making round trips between Manh Choh and Fort Knox.

Alaska DOT is hiring a contractor to carry out an analysis to address these concerns and a transportation advisory committee will be assembled to participate in the analysis, review the work, and make final recommendations.

The advisory committee is expected to include representatives from a wide variety of viewpoints. DOT says invitations will be extended to those critical of the Manh Choh mining plan; advocates for the proposed operation; leadership from Alaska Native villages along the route; local government representatives; emergency fire and rescue personnel; tourism companies; local school districts; state and federal government agencies; and Federal Motor Carrier Group.

"Safety for all users along our transportation network is one of the department's core values," said Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Commissioner Ryan Anderson. "This analysis will allow us to address public concerns on this important highway corridor."

The department says it has met with both proponents and opponents of the trucking plan over the past months and has shared as much information as possible. Department personnel have also attended industry open houses to provide the public information about DOT construction projects.

A formal corridor analysis will allow the public a more structured planning process to evaluate the increased usage on this important transportation corridor.

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"I do believe we can have both safe highways and resource development," said Anderson. "This transportation advisory committee and the independent Corridor Analysis are good tools to assure the public that we have balanced the needs and have the right plan in place to deal with this, or other future development along our highways."

Further information can be found at https://dot.alaska.gov/nreg/tetlintofortknox/.

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Shane Lasley, Publisher

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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