COMPARISON of the PEBBLE MINE with OTHER ALASKA LARGE HARD ROCK MINES
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Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. PEBBLE PROJECT
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. DEVELOPING A GOLD-COPPER-MOLYBDENUM GIANT PEBBLEPEBBLE DEPOSIT DEPOSIT PEBBLE PROJECT ALASKA, USA HUNTER DICKINSON INC. Responsible Mineral Development January 2005 CAUTIONARY AND FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION COMMENTS All information contained in this graphic presentation booklet relating to the contents of the November 2004 Preliminary Assessment of the Pebble Gold-Copper-Molybdenum Project, including but not limited to representations of the Pebble project's potential and information about production parameters, capital costs, sustaining capital costs, and operating costs, production summary, off-site costs, and financial analyses, are "forward looking statements" within the definition of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The information relating to the possible construction of a port, road, power generating facilities and power transmission facilities also constitutes such "forward looking statements." The Preliminary Assessment was prepared to broadly quantify the Pebble project's capital and operating cost parameters and to provide guidance on the type and scale of future project engineering and development work that will be needed to ultimately define the project's likelihood of feasibility and optimal production rate. It was not prepared to be used as a valuation of the Pebble project nor should it be considered to be a pre- feasibility study. The capital and operating cost estimates which were used have been developed only to an approximate order of magnitude based on generally understood capital cost to production level relationships and they are not based on any systematic engineering studies, so the ultimate costs may vary widely from the amounts set out in the Preliminary Assessment. -
Bristol Bay, Alaska
EPA 910-R-14-001C | January 2014 An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska Volume 3 – Appendices E-J Region 10, Seattle, WA www.epa.gov/bristolbay EPA 910-R-14-001C January 2014 AN ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL MINING IMPACTS ON SALMON ECOSYSTEMS OF BRISTOL BAY, ALASKA VOLUME 3—APPENDICES E-J U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 Seattle, WA CONTENTS VOLUME 1 An Assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska VOLUME 2 APPENDIX A: Fishery Resources of the Bristol Bay Region APPENDIX B: Non-Salmon Freshwater Fishes of the Nushagak and Kvichak River Drainages APPENDIX C: Wildlife Resources of the Nushagak and Kvichak River Watersheds, Alaska APPENDIX D: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Characterization of the Indigenous Cultures of the Nushagak and Kvichak Watersheds, Alaska VOLUME 3 APPENDIX E: Bristol Bay Wild Salmon Ecosystem: Baseline Levels of Economic Activity and Values APPENDIX F: Biological Characterization: Bristol Bay Marine Estuarine Processes, Fish, and Marine Mammal Assemblages APPENDIX G: Foreseeable Environmental Impact of Potential Road and Pipeline Development on Water Quality and Freshwater Fishery Resources of Bristol Bay, Alaska APPENDIX H: Geologic and Environmental Characteristics of Porphyry Copper Deposits with Emphasis on Potential Future Development in the Bristol Bay Watershed, Alaska APPENDIX I: Conventional Water Quality Mitigation Practices for Mine Design, Construction, Operation, and Closure APPENDIX J: Compensatory Mitigation and Large-Scale Hardrock Mining in the Bristol Bay Watershed AN ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL MINING IMPACTS ON SALMON ECOSYSTEMS OF BRISTOL BAY, ALASKA VOLUME 3—APPENDICES E-J Appendix E: Bristol Bay Wild Salmon Ecosystem: Baseline Levels of Economic Activity and Values Bristol Bay Wild Salmon Ecosystem Baseline Levels of Economic Activity and Values John Duffield Chris Neher David Patterson Bioeconomics, Inc. -
Hunter Dickinson Inc
Behind the Pebble Mine: Hunter Dickinson Inc. The Canadian Mining Company You’ve Never Heard Of Joan Kuyek February 2018 This report is published by MiningWatch Canada Information in this report is considered up to date as of February 2, 2018 About the author: Dr. Joan Kuyek has a long history as a researcher, adult educator, and community organizer. From 1999- 2009, she was the founding National Coordinator of MiningWatch Canada. Since that time, she has con- tinued to work as a consultant for communities facing mining issues and as a sessional instructor at Car- leton, Queen’s and Algoma Universities. Executive Summary Investors are strongly advised to fact-check the information published by Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM; NYSE: NAK) about Hunter Dickinson Incorporated and its affiliated companies. Hunter Dickinson Incorporated (HDI) is the company behind Northern Dynasty and the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska. Northern Dynasty represents a level of risky speculative investment unprecedented even amongst other junior mining companies. Investors should take the cautionary statement at the beginning of any and all Northern Dynasty presentations very seriously indeed.1 Serious discrepancies exist between the information buried in company corporate filings with securities regulators and the information provided by Northern Dynasty and HDI to the public. The costs external- ized to lenders, communities and regulators can exceed the economic benefits of the mining project. The long-term outcomes of HDI projects have not, in general, been good news for the companies that came after them. Given the determined opposition in Alaska to the Pebble Mine over almost two decades, MiningWatch Canada decided to analyze the risks to potential long term investors in Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Mine, based on a review of 19 past and current projects promoted by the Hunter Dickinson Group of companies. -
EPA Comments to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Draft EIS for Pebble Project
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 10 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 155 Seattle, WA 98101-3123 OFFICE OF REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR JUL - I 2019 Shane McCoy, Program Manager U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District 645 G Street, Suite 100-921 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Dear Mr. McCoy: In accordance with our responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act and Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reviewed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' February 2019 Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Pebble Project (CEQ Number 20190018; EPA Region 10 Project Number 18-0002-COE). The EPA is also supporting the Corps in development of specific sections of the EIS as a cooperating agency in accordance with the cooperating agency agreement. As a cooperating agency, we have participated in meetings and provided comments on early drafts of EIS material, including on sections of the Preliminary DEIS in December 2018. We also provided scoping comments to the Corps on June 29, 2018. Project Background The Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) is proposing to develop the Pebble copper, gold, and molybdenum ore deposit in southwest Alaska. The Pebble deposit lies within the Nushagak and Kvichak watersheds, which together account for more than half of the land area in the Bristol Bay watershed. The proposed project includes an open-pit mine, tailings storage facilities (TSFs), water management ponds, a mill facility, a natural gas-fired power plant, and other mine site facilities. Approximately 1.3 billion tons of ore would be processed at a rate of 180,000 tons of ore per day, over the proposed mine operating life of 20 years. -
The Costs of Climate Change on the Pebble Mine
2 The Costs of Climate Change on the Pebble Mine By Ariel Silverman January 8th 2020 Cook Inletkeeper • 907-235-4068 • 3734 Ben Walters Lane • Homer, Alaska Cover Photo: Wetlands near the proposed Pebble Mine site in Bristol Bay Photographed by Glennie LeBaron 3 Executive Summary: On Wednesday November 25, 2020, the Trump Administration denied the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) a key permit necessary to build Pebble Mine, a colossal proposed gold and copper mine located in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Alaska Commander Col. Damon Delarosa stated that USACE rejected the mine’s permit application because the proposed waste treatment plan for Pebble Mine “does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines,” and “the proposed project is contrary to the public interest.”1 Although USACE’s decision will likely impede Pebble Mine’s construction for the foreseeable future, the mining industry stakeholders can still learn a lot from the mistakes made by PLP executives, engineers, and federal regulators. Most notably, the impacts from anthropogenic or human-caused climate change on the Pebble Mine were overlooked by the mine’s critics and under-analyzed by the project’s federal regulators, investors and engineers. Such oversight would have generated substantial unexpected costs for PLP and unnecessarily burdened Pebble’s stakeholders. Anthropogenic climate change will likely impact future ventures similarly if not properly accounted for in mines’ initial planning and regulation. This report argues that PLP and USACE’s unpreparedness for anthropogenic climate change would have unnecessarily burdened Pebble Mine’s stakeholders with two significant costs: policy costs and operational costs. -
Direct Loss of Salmon Streams, Tributaries, and Wetlands Under The
The Nature Conservancy 6/1/19 Direct loss of salmon streams, tributaries, and wetlands under the proposed Pebble Mine compared with thresholds of unacceptable adverse effects in the EPA Proposed Determination pursuant to Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act David M. Albert, The Nature Conservancy, Juneau AK SUMMARY: This study compares the loss of salmon streams, tributaries and wetlands under the 2018 proposed Pebble Mine to thresholds determined to represent “unacceptable adverse effects” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its Proposed Determination Pursuant to Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act (EPA 2014a). Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) is seeking authorization from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under Section 404 of the CWA to develop the mine, and the Corps has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) describing the project and its impacts (USACE 2019). Following criteria outlined by EPA, we considered direct and indirect effects that result in the loss of salmon streams, tributaries and wetlands from the discharge of dredged or fill material, inundation within a tailings impoundment, dewatering, or the fragmentation of previously contiguous streams or wetlands. Using data submitted by PLP to USACE on the size and proposed placement of the open pit, tailings storage, and associated facilities, the proposed mine (20-year mine scenario) would result in the loss of 7.5 miles of salmon streams, up to 56.4 miles of tributaries, and up to 4,350 acres of wetlands contiguous with salmon streams or tributaries. These values exceed the EPA thresholds for unacceptable adverse effects by more than half for the loss of documented salmon streams, up to fourfold for loss of tributaries and up to threefold for loss of wetlands. -
Walrus Hunting at Togiak, Bristol Bay, Soutwest Alaska
WALRUS HUNTING AT TOGIAK, BRISTOL BAY, SOUTHWEST ALASKA James A. Fall, Molly Chythlook, Janet Schichnes, and Rick Sinnott’ Technical Paper No. 212 ’ Fall: Division of Subsistence, Anchorage Chythlook and Schichnes: Division of Subsistence, Dillingham Sinnott: Division of Wildlife Conservation, Anchorage Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Subsistence Juneau, Alaska October 1991 The Alaska Department of Fish and Game operates all of its public programs and activities free from discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, or handicap. Because the department receives federal funding, any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against should write to: O.E.D. U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. 20240 , ABSTRACT The report provides an overview of historic and contemporary uses of Pacific walrus in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska. It focuses on the community of Togiak (population 613) and its traditional use areas, including Round Island (Yup’ik Qayaciq, “place to go in a kayak”). As part of the Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary, Round Island, a critical haul out site, has been closed to walrus hunting since 1960. In 1991, the Togiak Traditional Council submitted a proposal to the Alaska Board of Game to allow a limited hunt for 10 walrus on Round Island in October. Hunting of walrus and other marine mammals in western Bristol Bay, including Round Island, by the Native people of the Togiak area over the last 2,500 years is documented by archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence. Until the late 1930s and early 1940% well-organized groups of hunters from Togiak traveled in kayaks to Round Island (the most reliable hunting location) and other islands armed with spears and harpoons to harvest walrus. -
Surface Water Quality in the Nushagak, Kvichak, and Chulitna Watersheds, Southwest Alaska 2009-2010
Investigations of Surface Water Quality in the Nushagak, Kvichak, and Chulitna Watersheds, Southwest Alaska 2009-2010 Kendra L. Zamzow, Ph.D. Center for Science in Public Participation PO Box 54 Sutton, Alaska 99674 July 2011 for The Nature Conservancy 715 L Street Suite 100 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Investigations of Surface Water Quality in the Nushagak, Kvichak, and Chulitna Watersheds, Southwest Alaska 2009-2010 Prepared for: The Nature Conservancy 715 L Street Suite 100 Anchorage, AK 99501 Prepared by: Kendra L. Zamzow, Ph.D. Center for Science in Public Participation PO Box 54 Sutton, AK 99674 with editorial review by: Ann Maest, Ph.D. Stratus Consulting 1881 Ninth St., Ste. 201 Boulder, CO 80302 and Molly Welker Bristol Environmental Remediation Services, LLC 111 W. 16th Avenue, Third Floor Anchorage, AK 99501 July 2011 Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................1 1.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................1 2.0 Study Area and Sampling Locations ...............................................................................3 3.0 Methods, Data Availability, and Relevant Standards .....................................................7 3.1 Methods .......................................................................................................................7 3.2 Available Data .............................................................................................................7 -
Climate Change in Port Heiden, Alaska
Climate Change in Port Heiden, Alaska Strategies for Community Health Project Contributors: Erica Lujan - Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Community Environment and Health Mike Brubaker - Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Community Environment and Health John Warren - Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering Jaclyn Christensen - Native Village of Port Heiden, Brownfields Program Scott Anderson - Native Village of Port Heiden, Environmental Program Melissa O’Domin - Native Village of Port Heiden, Environmental Program Jeremy Littell - Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center Richard Buzard - University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Geosciences Jacqueline Overbeck - Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Coastal Hazards Program Davin Holen - Alaska Sea Grant, Adapt Alaska Sue Flensburg - Bristol Bay Native Association, Environmental Program Elizabeth Powers - Western Alaska Landscape Conservation Cooperative The writing team would like to thank all of the community and regional contributors to this project. We appreciate your time and support. Port Heiden Contributors: Gerda Kosbruk Scott Anderson Hank Matson Nefuti Orloff Jaclyn Christensen Jimmy Christensen John Christensen Jr. Annie Christensen Tisha Kalmakoff Bruce Bishop Melissa O’Domin Amber Christensen-Fox Delores Anderson © 2018 Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Council Members: Gerda Kosbruk - Administrator Paid for with funds from the Bureau of Indian Affairs John Christensen Jr. - President -
Permitting Pebble
PEBBLE WATCH Impartial, educational, and fact-based content related to the development of Pebble mine January 2013 | BBNC Pebble Limited Partnership has said that it intends to release a mine plan Permitting Pebble and file a permit application by the end of fiscal year 2012 (June 30, Permitting any large mine in Alaska is complicated, with federal, state and local permits 2013). needed before development can begin. For the Pebble project, the “cornerstone” permit This timeline may shift, but readers is Section 404 under the Clean Water Act, related to discharging dredge or fill material can get an early peek into large-scale mine permitting in this issue, which (including mine tailings) into waters or wetlands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers focuses on the permitting process approves Section 404 permits, which are subject to a federal environmental review listed and legislation/regulations that could under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Corps of Engineers will serve affect development of the mine. as the “lead agency” for Pebble permitting, and will be responsible for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the NEPA process. “Scoping” the issue the public input process. “The initial Once a 404 permit application is filed design allowed for discharge into a and NEPA analysis begins, the Corps salmon rearing area, but they ended up of Engineers will begin what is called changing the outfall so that it minimized “scoping,” or identifying issues that impact to the Goodpaster River,” she need to be addressed during NEPA said. review. This is when many of the public The type of public input that can participation opportunities happen. -
Bristol Bay Subarea Contingency Plan
BRISTOL BAY SUBAREA CONTINGENCY PLAN RESOURCES SECTION RESOURCES: PART ONE – COMMUNITY PROFILES ............................................................. B-1 A. Regional Organizations................................................................................ B-1 B. Community Profiles ..................................................................................... B-6 RESOURCES: PART TWO – EQUIPMENT ................................................................................. B-79 A. Commercially Available Equipment ......................................................... B-81 B. Government Spill Response Equipment .................................................... B-83 C. Industry/Spill Cooperative Equipment ...................................................... B-88 RESOURCES: PART THREE – INFORMATION DIRECTORY .............................................. B-89 A. Airports and Air Services .......................................................................... B-90 B. Bird and other Wildlife Response .............................................................. B-94 C. Contractors: BOA and Term ..................................................................... B-95 D. Historic Properties Protection .................................................................... B-95 E. Emergency Services/Managers .................................................................. B-96 F. Fishing Fleets and Organizations ............................................................... B-96 G. Government Contacts and Information -
Alaska Peninsula Becharof National Wildlife Refuges
Fishery Management Plan ALASKA PENINSULA BECHAROF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES July 1994 Region 7 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Department of the Interior FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN ALASKA PENINSULA AND BECHAROF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES Fiscal Years 1994 - 1998 Prepared By: King Salmon Fishery Resource Office U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service P.O. Box 277 King Salmon, Alaska 99613 May 1994 SUMMARY STATEMENT The Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuges Fishery Management Plan (Plan) provides the management direction necessary to ensure conservation of fishery resources and habitat. In addition, the Plan provides for continued use of fishery resources by subsistence, commercial, and recreational users consistent with the purposes for which the Alaska Peninsula and Becharof refuges (Complex) were established and are managed. The Complex's biological and physical environment is described and fishery resources, human use, management history, and major issues and concerns are discussed. This information was obtained from the Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plans, a literature search, and discussions with Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel. Objectives and tasks are developed to address the issues and concerns. Federal tasks are assigned priorities and costs for each year of continuation. The Plan encompasses a five year period, at which time it will be revised. Major issues and concerns identified include the following: competition between user groups; incomplete salmon escapement data bases to refine management of the Complex fish populations; and inadequate fishery law enforcement. In some cases, concerns were identified because of the perception that they would develop into serious problems if current levels of use or consumption were allowed to continue or expand.