The early stages of a major environmental review for the Ambler Mining District’s first proposed mine are set to begin this month. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the initial step: defining the scope of that federal review.
At an Aug. 28 Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly meeting on the project, Kotzebue Assembly member Reid Magdanz said the scoping process is a chance for the region to weigh in.
“It's where the tribes, the cities, the borough, the residents – anyone potentially impacted or concerned – this is the part of the process where you raise the things you're concerned about and say, ‘Hey, I'm concerned about this. You need to look at this in your studies,’” Magnanz said.
Ambler Metals, the company behind the proposed open pit copper and zinc mine, has touted local benefits from the project ranging from construction and mining jobs to new infrastructure and even lower fuel prices.
But some Assembly members said they needed more information from the company to evaluate how much the mine will really help the region.
“We have a world-class resource that's generated hundreds of millions, billions of dollars for its owners,” Magdanz said, referring to the Red Dog Mine north of Noatak. “The two nearest villages — until last week, one of them had the highest fuel cost in the state, and the second one still doesn't have running water 40 years later.”
No commitments yet
Ambler Metals is a joint venture between Canadian-based Trilogy Metals Inc. and Australian-based South32. Last year, the Trump Administration committed to buy a 10% stake – about $35.6 million – in Trilogy Metals.
Ambler Metals estimates its proposed Arctic Mine will operate for 13 years, create more than a thousand construction and mining jobs, and bring over $550 million to the state.
Cole Schaeffer, a vice president for the company, pitched the Assembly on local hiring preferences that would prioritize Upper Kobuk residents first, then the wider Northwest Arctic and Koyukuk regions. Similarly, the Red Dog Mine’s operators initially set a goal of having nearly 100% of its workforce made up of NANA shareholders by 2001. That goal has never been met.
Assembly member Billy Lee represents Ambler, Kobuk and Shungnak — which recently posted what might be the highest fuel prices in the country, at over $26 a gallon.
Lee asked if the company would help fund intertie energy projects or roads between the three communities, which could lower energy costs. He also raised concerns about how mining activity could impact the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, which has been in a two decade decline.
Schaeffer says the company won’t have enough information to make any commitments until permitting and feasibility work are further along.
Assembly President Craig McConnell said the region shouldn’t have to wait years for answers that people need to make decisions.
“Ambler Metals is investing millions, maybe billions, into this, but the people of this region are investing their way of life,” he said. “If this goes bad, it changes things dramatically.”
Building the mine depends on building the Ambler Road
Whether the mine is built also depends on road access. The state wants to connect the mining district to the Dalton Highway by building a controversial, 211-mile industrial road.
The scoping and permitting process for Ambler Metals’ mine is separate from the Ambler Road project, which is permitted at the federal level but still uncertain due to an unresolved lawsuit.
The state’s Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority says mining trucks would pay tolls to help pay for the road. Schaeffer said those tolls represent an important unknown for Ambler Metals.
“It has to be right because we would be the first toll users of that road,” he said. “So at the end of this process in two years, we're hoping that they'll have ideas of how much that road is going to cost them to build.”
Cost estimates vary. A 2024 estimate put road construction at $765.2 million, while a 2026 cost study funded by conservation group Defend the Brooks Range says the number is closer to $2 billion.
Schaeffer says for the Ambler Road to pan out financially, the district would need to see 30 years of continuous mining — which would require the development of other mining deposits like Ambler Metals’ Bornite project.
The scoping begins this month
The mine’s permitting falls under a federal program called FAST-41, designed to coordinate environmental review across several federal, state, tribal and local agencies.
Schaeffer said that during the permitting process, the company will look at whether the mine is feasible and how it will be designed.
“How do you plan to manage the water? And then how do you?” he said. “Where's your concentrator going to go, and how are you going to build the infrastructure to transport it out so that the trucking activities and all that.”
The scoping process opens Sept. 18. A Corps representative said the public comment period will likely be 30 days. Comments will be accepted during a series of community meetings, as well as by email and regular mail.
