Blog
For us Alaskans who do not want to see the proposed Pebble mine move forward in Bristol Bay, there will be many times we’ll need to step up this year to stop the project from advancing. The first of these opportunities is tomorrow. After following this issue for many years, I’ve never before felt a greater sense of urgency for standing up against Pebble.
The Pebble 12% Build is the most recent mine proposal presently being evaluated by the US Army Corps of Engineers in an Environmental Impact Statement.[1] The proposed mine would mine only 12% of the identified mineral resource over the 20-year life of the mine. The smaller, ‘environmentally friendly’ mine proposed by the Pebble Limited Partnership would put all of the acid-generating waste back into the open pit to minimize post-closure water treatment requirements, but perpetual water treatment would still be required.
Monday, Alaska’s Governor-elect Dunleavy appointed some of his new state commissioners. One of particular concern is Jason Brune, appointed Commissioner of Environmental Conservation. Brune, if confirmed by the legislature will be the person in charge whether Pebble will receive numerous key permits.
Ron Thiessen, CEO of Northern Dynasty Minerals (backers of Pebble Mine), recently made a presentation at the Silver and Gold Mining Investor Summit in San Francisco. While there are many lies and misrepresentations in his presentation as we’ve come to expect, there are a couple in particular we couldn’t let go unrefuted.
Noting the continued lack of public approval, Mark Hamilton, Pebble’s external affairs employee, is on a tour to promote the mine throughout the state of Alaska. In the process, Hamilton has declared quite a few falsehoods pertaining to the potential for damage in Bristol Bay. We asked two technical experts to reply to some of his most egregious statements.
