The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has opened a 45-day public comment period for the first proposed mine in the Ambler Mining District, giving the public its first chance to shape the federal environmental review for the project.
The comment period began on Sept. 18, when the Corps published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Arctic Mine, an open-pit copper, zinc and lead project in the foothills of the Brooks Range.
The mine site is about 23 miles northeast of Kobuk, at the headwaters of Subarctic Creek in the Kobuk River watershed.
The proposed mine is tied to the Ambler Road, a proposed 211-mile private industrial road that would connect the Dalton Highway to the mining district. Ore would be processed into concentrate on site and then trucked to Fairbanks, then moved by rail to Anchorage and barged to smelters outside Alaska.
According to the Corps, the Arctic Mine would operate for about 13 years and process roughly 11,000 tons of ore a day. It would require filling more than 120 acres of wetland and streams and would disturb roughly 1,700 acres. The project includes two gravel access roads to connect it to the Dahl Creek Airstrip and the Ambler Road.
Company claims the mine would create 1,000 jobs
Ambler Metals, a joint venture between Canadian Trilogy Metals and Australian South32, is the company seeking to develop the mine. In a statement issued Sept. 18, the company said it welcomes the public process and remains committed to meeting high environmental standards while supporting subsistence lifestyles in the region.
Ambler Metals has said the project would create more than 1,000 construction and mining jobs while bringing more than $550 million to the state over the mine’s lifespan. A feasibility study commissioned by Trilogy Metals put the estimated capital cost for the mine at about $1.3 billion.
NANA Regional Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation and partner of Ambler Metals, encouraged shareholders to participate in the process. It did not push for a particular position.
“The people who know this region best should have a voice in the decisions that shape it,” said Liz Qaulluq Cravalho, NANA's vice president of lands, in an emailed statement. “We urge everyone to learn about the process, get involved, and make your voices heard.”
Questions about regulation
Not everyone supports the project. The National Parks Conservation Association, along with nine other advocacy groups, has sued the federal government over its approval of the Ambler Road.
The group’s Alaska campaign manager, Naawéiyaa Tagaban, said the federal government’s stake in the project — it directly invested $35.6 million in Trilogy Metals, Ambler Metals’ co-owner, just before the comment period opened — raises questions about whether it will regulate the project appropriately.
“They are making permitting decisions, and also they're invested in the project," Tagaban said. “How is the federal government supposed to regulate things sort of impartially when they stand to benefit off of this?”
Reaction in the Northwest Arctic has been mixed – some residents are concerned about potential effects to subsistence resources like caribou, while others support economic development and jobs the mine could bring to the region. At an Aug. 28 Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly meeting, some members pressed Ambler Metals for more detail on local benefits.
The Corps plans to hold public scoping meetings in Shungnak, Ambler, Kobuk and Fairbanks in October, along with a virtual meeting Oct. 19. Comments can be submitted through the project's website, by email to ArcticMineEIS_scoping@arcadis.com or by mail through Nov. 2.
