Environmental report clears way for Alaska mining project
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Trump administration on Friday said it’s releasing a final environmental review of the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine in Southwest Alaska that will smooth the path for the mine’s eventual development.
The report found that the mine should not hurt the long-term health of the valuable Bristol Bay salmon fishery, or significantly impact salmon returns, a conclusion that tribal, fishing and conservation groups swiftly condemned.
Conservation groups Thursday released early copies of the final environmental impact statement, prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The review contradicts a 2014 report under President Barack Obama that found the mine would severely damage the Bristol Bay watershed.
Mine developer Pebble Limited Partnership praised the analysis as a milestone that sets the stage for the project’s development.
“I think this is the single most significant day in the history of the Pebble project,” said Tom Collier, chief executive of Pebble Limited, on Friday. “On the issue of fish, it unequivocally and repeatedly says there will be no significant damage.”
The open-pit mine would be built near the headwaters of salmon-producing rivers that support the Bristol Bay fishery, about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage. Major facilities would include a gas pipeline across Cook Inlet, a port site at the inlet, an 80-mile road to the mine site, and a 270-megawatt power plant.
The mining pit would stretch more than 1 mile wide, and more than 1 mile in length. It would extend more than one-third of a mile into the earth, said Mike Heatwole, a spokesman with Pebble.
The company has said the prospect could become one of the largest copper and gold mines in the U.S., annually producing 318 million pounds of copper and 362,000 ounces of gold for 20 years.
At current prices, the gross value of those metals is about $1.6 billion annually. Collier has indicated the project would not be profitable in the first several years of production, until development costs are repaid.