The vast open-pit mine, if licensed, would sit on state land in the cradle of the Bristol Bay fisheries' spawning grounds, in the headwaters of the Koktuli River and Upper Talarik Creek (the famous late-season lake-run rainbow fly-fishing pot of gold) part of the Nushagak and Kvichak (pronounced Kweejack) drainages 20 miles northwest of Lake Illiamna, between the Newhalen and Mulchatna rivers (See map).

How big is the Pebble Mine? According to the mining-development company Northern Dynasty Minerals, Inc., a subsidiary of the Canadian company Hunter Dickinson, Inc., there are about 33 million ounces of gold beneath 20 square miles of tundra at $400 to $500 an ounce, 18.8 to 24 billion pounds of copper at $1.60 to $1.70 per pound, and a billion pounds of molybdenum at $35 per pound, or an estimated $83 billion in minerals to be harvested from a pit 1,700 feet deep, with huge dams to contain the waste rock and tailing pond (to be located in a severe earthquake zone) to hold the 3 billion tons of waste from the low-grade ore. A 100-mile road, electric lines, and an 85-mile slurry pipeline would be built from Cook Inlet to the Pebble Mine. The total cost for the mining operation is estimated by mine planners at $1.8 billion. The company says it has already invested $60 million. Its plans have sparked a gold-mining claims rush with at least eight other mining companies recently staking claims in the area.

Who Is Northern Dynasty?

Northern Dynasty is a "junior" in the mining industry, according to Mara Bacsujlaky in her article entitled "Mining the Stock Market." She describes juniors as ". . . companies which more properly are exploration companies, are those with no operating mines or ore reserves, whose principle activity is speculation, conducting exploration programs in new areas, funded by massive stock placements. Although infrequently a junior will find something worth mining, most times a 'hot prospect' turns out to be a bust, with neither a mineable deposit nor a mining company standing in line to take over the property." She says mining juniors have a long history of losses and no earnings. If they do find something worth mining, the mining industry "majors" buy the mining rights and do the mining. What juniors leave behind in their "explorations" includes "unreclaimed drill holes, trenches, drilling muds, fuel spills, abandoned fuel drums and other camp items or trash, unreclaimed or poorly constructed and sited exploration roads, resulting in longterm damage to [wildlife] habitat from erosion or increased access."

In its prospectus Northern Dynasty claims it cannot be held liable for environmental damages to the Pebble area because it is not a U.S. company.

Heap-Leach Cyanide Processing

The economics of low-grade gold-ore processing would probably require cyanide heap-leach processing to be profitable. (Northern Dynasty says it will use the vat cyanide process and not the heap-leach process-its mining plan had not been written at the time of this writing. Anyway, Northern Dynasty will probably sell its mining rights to a major mining company, which will decide on ore processing techniques. In any event the mining processing methods will be subject to federal and state licensing regulations).

Heap-leach processing is the most environmentally damaging form of ore processing (For more detailed information on cyanide heap-leach processing, read the New York Times serial article "The Cost of Gold." In heap-leach open-pit mining, huge shovels gouge up as much as .5 million tons of rock per day from the earth (in this case tundra) and miners drizzle diluted cyanide over it for years to separate the gold. The piles of rock are exposed to rain and air and become environmental time bombs, with sulfides mixing over time with rain to create sulfuric acid. The acid pollutes streams and frees heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and mercury (and arsenic) that are dangerous to humans, wildlife, and especially fish. Mining officials say they can cap mine waste and use lime to neutralize the acid. But scientists have found that cyanide can change to other toxic forms, particularly in cold climates and can migrate from capped waste piles in wet climates. Bristol Bay is cold in winter and wet during spring run-off. [The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has labeled the hard-rock mining industry as the largest source of pollution in the United States. In 2004 the agency estimated that clean-up of U.S. metal mines could cost $54 billion. Some scientists point out that mining holding ponds usually fail over time, and mining company attempts at environmental mitigation (usually minimal and inadequate) have had a sad track record. They cite Montana's Zortman-Landusky gold mine and industrial-size gold mines in Guyana, Indonesia, Romania, New Guinea, and Peru as environmental disasters. [Follow the link to " Tarnishing the Earth: Gold Mining's Dirty Secret." THE EDITOR.]

What species are threatened? The Bristol Bay watersheds produce the world's greatest wild commercial salmon fishery--worth between $20 million and $100 million annually, depending on spawning-run returns and market prices, and not counting the sport-fishing lodge and ancillary services revenue (50 lodges in the southwest Alaska region), estimated at over $100 million annually. The following runs of fish would be threatened: Chinook, sockeye, chum, silver, and pink salmon. Sockeye alone includes 150 related discrete populations, and, at peak years, numbers up to 50 million returning fish. In recent years, however, the sockeye number has been down, with commercial take about 25 million fish. Other species affected include Artic char, grayling, Dolly Varden, northern pike, rainbow trout, and lake trout. Also at risk, if the mine is approved and the 100-mile road built, are caribou (the 85,000- to 120,000-animal Mulchatna herd), moose, sea otters, brown bear, wolverine, Beluga and orca whales, bald eagles, wolves . . . and lodges that cater to fly fishers. Bristol Bay is the world's greatest fly-fishing wilderness, and its wild salmon-fed rainbows are the crown jewels of the watershed.

Major Rivers Threatened

Major rivers and lakes and their fisheries in the Bristol Bay watershed that will be threatened by the Pebble Mine include the following: Koktuli, Kvichak, Nushagak, Newhalen, Stuyahok, and upper and lower Talarik Creek and lakes Iliamna and Clark.

To make matters worse, according to Scott R. Brennan, campaign director for Alaskans for Responsible Mining, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, owners of 3.5 million acres in southwest Alaska, is looking at opening its lands to hard-rock mining.

Brennan is the author (with Jay H. Wothgott) of Essential Environment, the Science Behind the Stories (2004), a textbook for university environmental science courses around the U.S. Here are his observations on the Pebble Mine and what it represents to Americans.

"The Pebble is the tip of the iceberg here. New mining claims in the Pebble region in the past 12 months total some 1,000 square miles of state land. The 3.5 million acres of BLM lands, if opened to hard-rock mining, would be in addition to that. If this Pandora's box is opened, we could be looking at a major industrial mining complex with many heap-leach and other operations, a complex of roads and all the industrial/environmental threats that accompany such developments.

"This is the single most important environmental challenge facing fisheries today if you are a sport fisherman. The Teddy Roosevelt tradition is on the line: We are being presented a choice--wild fisheries and wildlife or gold. We cannot have both.

"Ironically, (Alaska) Gov. Murkowski worked with the mining companies to change a state law that forbids dumping mine wastes in salmon and trout spawning streams. The new regulations would allow dumping of mine wastes into those streams to create "mixing zones." If that happens, all the Bristol Bay waters would potentially be open to mine wastes.

"The mining developers are, as usual, promoting jobs created by the mining operations--1,000 to 2,000, according to them. But there are only 1,000 people (mostly native Americans) living in the Bristol Bay area. Most of the permanent high-paying jobs will go to nonresidents.

"In addition, for taxation under Alaska law only mine net profits are taxed and that has returned less than 1.6 percent of mineral values to the state in taxes---$18.4 million to the state between 2001 and 2003 and $30 million to local governments based on $2.9 billion in mineral value from mining claims on state lands. Is this return worth the loss of Alaska's crown salmon jewel?"

"This is the only mine in Alaska that we are opposing because it would be the ultimate disaster--location, location, location: wrong mine, wrong place environmentally, and wrong time."

Brian Kraft, owner/operator of Alaska Sportsman Lodge at the head of the braids on the Kvichak and Trout Unlimited's (TU) outreach coordinator for Bristol Bay, says there is a strong chance of beating the Pebble Mine in the licensing phase because the people of Alaska get no benefits from the mine and the native Alaskans and commercial fishermen have the most to lose and are, with a few exceptions, against it.

Kraft warns that hard-rock mining poisons develop slowly, as they did at Montana's Zortman-Landusky Mine, but they are deadly, especially to fish, and they last long. "The tailings that Pebble would produce must be treated forever, and the mine would be located in the most sensitive headwaters of the spawning area. Alaska needs a moratorium on mining within any salmon or trout spawning areas. In terms of salmon and trout spawning, this is the worst place in Alaska to locate a hard-rock mine. The best way to stop this is for sportsmen to get involved by supporting TU. TU has taken the lead in this fight."

For and Against the Mine

Although the Pebble Mine will be in its licensing approval stage in 2006-2008, Gov. Frank Murkowski and Lt. Gov. Loren Leman are pushing for accelerated regulatory approval. Groups opposed to the mine include the village tribes and native corporations of Ekwok, New Stuyahok, Koliganek, and Nondalton; village councils of Dillingham and Kakhonak; Trout Unlimited; Bristol Bay Alliance; citizens of Port Alsworth; and the Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association.

Groups in favor of the mine include the Lake and Peninsula Borough, Levelok village tribe, and Lake and Pen Borough council. Native Americans affected by the mine include Yupiks, Athabascans, and Aleuts.

To Help Fight the Mine

Trout Unlimited
TU has re-opened its Anchorage office to help in the fight against the Pebble Mine and according to Brian Kraft has put tremendous efforts and resources into the fight. Contributions to TU are critical to stopping the mine in its licensing phase.

Alaskans For Responsible Mining
Alaskans for Responsible Mining (ARM) is a voluntary association of non-governmental organizations working together to raise public awareness of the impacts of the mining industry to Alaska's watersheds, wildlife, fisheries, communities and public health and to reform Alaska's inadequate mining laws.

Renewable Resources Coalition
The mission of the Renewable Resources Coalition is to preserve and protect the ongoing viability of Alaska's abundant fishing and hunting resources and the lands and waters they need to survive; and to promote public awareness of public policy issues that affect the well being of businesses and individuals that are dependant upon the fish and game resources that we are duty bound to protect.

Bristol Bay Alliance
This site contains links to a complete review of the science on industrial-scale gold mining and the documented environmental and human health dangers it represents for the world.

Contact Elected Officials
If this issue is important to you, contact Alaska's government officials. Personal letters sent via U.S. mail are taken more seriously than emails.

Sen. Ted Stevens: senator_stevens@stevens.senate.gov
The Honorable Ted Stevens
United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0201

or

971 Federal Building
P.O. Box 21247
Juneau, AK 99802
(907) 586-7400
(202) 224-3004


Sen. Lisa Murkowski: http://murkowski.senate.gov/contact.cfm
The Honorable Lisa Murkowski
United States Senate
709 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0202
(202) 224-6665

or

709 West 9th Street
PO Box 21247
Juneau, AK 99802
(907) 586-7400


Gov. Frank Murkowski: office_of_the_governor@gov.state.ak.us

444 N. Capitol St., NW, Ste. 336
Washington, DC 20001-1512
(202) 624-5858

or

PO Box 110001
Juneau, AK 99811-0001
907-465-3500