PEBBLE – Trout Unlimited April 30 called the Pebble Limited Partnership’s response to the initiation of the Clean Water Act section 404(c) a rehash of the tired, empty and dishonest rhetoric the company has used in Alaska for the last decade. “PLP’s response won’t change the size, scope, and location of the Pebble Mine. It won’t change the fact that the people of the Bristol Bay region are still faced with economic uncertainty stemming from the threat of North America’s largest open pit mine being built on top of a valuable wild salmon fishery. And it won’t change the fact that even investors in the Pebble Mine have realized that it’s the wrong mine in the wrong place,” said Tim Bristol, director of Trout Unlimited’s Alaska program. Bristol said the development of Pebble would threaten the world’s most important sockeye salmon fishery, along with the commercial and recreational fishing that support about 14,000 jobs in the region every year. “The EPA initiated the 404(c) process in the face of overwhelming and peer-reviewed scientific evidence – evidence based on PLP’s own plans and documents—and in response to a request for action from Alaskans faced with a very real threat to their jobs, livelihoods and salmon-based culture,” Bristol said. “The EPA has the legal, policy and scientific backing to protect Bristol Bay and its economy from the Pebble Mine. The agency should work to complete the 404(c) process as quickly as possible and apply much needed Clean Water Act Protections to the headwaters of Bristol Bay.” Trout Unlimited is cold water fisheries conservation organization that has been at the forefront of the anti-Pebble movement.
PEBBLE – The State of Alaska April 29 submitted its response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Feb. 28 notice of intent to initiate a process to review the potential of a pre-emptive veto of Clean Water Act Section 404(c) permits needed to develop a mine at the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Southwest Alaska. Attorney General Michael Geraghty, who inked Alaska's response, said the potential proactive ban of required fill permits and the related Bristol Bay assessment are “premature, speculative, without precedent, illegal in terms of both process and substance, and unnecessary.” In the letter to EPA, Geraghty said the state, Pebble Partnership and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are in the unenviable position of compounding the environmental agency’s speculation by further speculating on the hypothetical mining scenario in the Bristol Bay Assessment. The attorney general said there is no risk to the environment in allowing the Pebble Partnership to have permit applications reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, and other relevant federal and state statutes. “Until those reviews occur, it is not possible to know, much less recommend, corrective action that would negate unacceptable adverse effects that EPA may now anticipate. Until then, the Section 404(c) review process is premature.” In a March 14 response to EPA’s notice of intent, the Corps said it “has not received a permit application for this project, and is therefore unable to evaluate the impacts of potential discharges associated with the Pebble deposit.” The state of Alaska agrees that a scientifically valid review of the potential impacts of Pebble can only be carried out once a mine plan has been submitted for permitting. “Until then, EPA should refrain from attempting to exercise its Section 404(c) authority in the absence of a Section 404 permit application, and allow the Corps and the State to exercise their regulatory rights and responsibilities in the event applications for a mining project are ever submitted,” Geraghty concluded. In the state’s nine-page response, the attorney general also challenges EPA’s authority to pre-emptively exercise a Section 404(c) veto of Pebble permits.
MANAGEMENT – Kiska Metals Corp. April 29 reported the appointment of Grant Ewing as president, chief executive officer and director. Ewing is a seasoned mining executive with a career that spans over 25 years and encompasses work as a geologist early in his career, followed by senior level executive positions with several different mining companies. He also served as an institutional equity analyst covering the mining sector in the mid-1990s, furthering his knowledge of financial markets, property evaluation and project financing. Ewing most recently served as president and CEO of Acadian Mining Corp., a Nova Scotia-focused gold exploration company that recently sold to LionGold Corp. Prior to Acadian, he served as president of two other exploration and development companies. The appointment of Ewing coincides with the resignation of David Caulfield as interim CEO and president and as a director. "After conducting a thorough search, the CEO search committee concluded that with his extensive industry knowledge and experience Grant was ideally suited to not only execute the company’s business model but to lead our talented team in becoming a market leader,” said Kiska Chairman Jack Miller. “Grant's enthusiasm and insightfulness will help Kiska capture existing value from our assets while attracting new opportunities.” Kiska granted a total of 500,000 stock options to Ewing at a price of C10 cents. One third of the options will vest on the grant date, one third on the first anniversary and the last third upon the second anniversary.
MANAGEMENT – Millrock Resources Inc. April 29 said Sarah Whicker has been appointed to the newly-created position of executive vice president, which replaces the position of chief operating officer which she previously held. As a key member of the management team, Whicker will continue to be responsible for matters relating to stakeholder and government relations, as well as corporate management, administration and governance of the company’s subsidiaries. Whicker has volunteered to work on an as-needed basis for a period of at least the next six months, and the company thanks her for this flexibility. Additionally, Millrock reported a reduction in the size of its board of directors. David Volkert has resigned as a director of Millrock, and Charles Hawley has indicated he will not seek re-election at Millrock’s upcoming annual general meeting of shareholders. Millrock expressed its gratitude for the direction and guidance that has been provided by Volkert and Hawley. Rather than appoint new directors at this time, it is the intention of the company to fix the number of directors at five at the annual general meeting.
ENVIRONMENT – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency April 24 reported it has reached a settlement with the Alaska Gold Company for alleged mismanagement of hazardous waste and used oil at two of their mining facilities near Nome, Alaska. An EPA inspector documented numerous violations during an inspection in, all of which have since been corrected. According to EPA, the violations noted at the time of the inspection include: failure to make a hazardous waste determination; storing hazardous waste without a permit; failure to clearly label used oil storage units; failure to store used oil in good, proper containers; shipping “off-specification” used oil to prohibited used oil burners; and failure to properly respond to a used oil release. “Poor hazardous waste handling at facilities can leave a toxic legacy of pollution and lead to costly clean up,” said Ed Kowalski, director of EPA Enforcement and Compliance office in Seattle. “In this case, numerous containers of hazardous waste were abandoned and illegally stored - in some cases for several years - without the necessary permits.” Alaska Gold, which neither admits nor denies the claims made in the settlement, has agreed to pay a penalty of US$72,000.
GOLD – Goldrich Mining Co. April 17 provided an update on Goldrich NyacAU Placer, a 50-50 joint-venture between Goldrich and NyacAU, LLC to mine the various placer deposits that occur throughout Goldrich’s 23,000-acre Chandalar gold project in northern Alaska. In late March and early April, Goldrich NyacAU Placer s completed the mobilization of equipment and supplies needed for its 2014 placer mining operation at Chandalar. Equipment and supplies were delivered over the 90-mile (145 kilometers) winter trail between Coldfoot and Chandalar. A feeder for an expanded plant was the primary piece of equipment delivered. Plant expansion is scheduled to be completed in stages through 2016, culminating in an operation capable of processing 600 loose cubic yards per hour capacity, or four times the capacity of the former 125 lcyph plant. Once finished, processing facilities will consist of a primary feeder system with multiple gravel screens and gold recovery tables and an expanded settling pond system for additional water conservation and quality control. The full capacity of the feeder will be realized as additional gravel screens and gold recovery tables are added in stages. All mining permits for an expanded mine were received in August 2013 and Goldrich NyacAU Placer was able to produce about 680 ounces of gold during the last few weeks of the season, operating at partial capacity. The new permit expanded the mine site area, including the area for a new airstrip, from approximately 10 to 350 acres. This provides an increased area for stockpiling topsoil, a larger settling pond system with greater capacity to ensure water quality and availability, and room to allow concurrent mine reclamation as the project advances. With the exception equipment with longer lead manufacturer time being constructed outside of Alaska, the expanded plant is expected to be substantially completed in 2014 except for certain. The outstanding equipment will be mobilized to Chandalar via winter trail in the spring of 2015. Goldrich NyacAU Placer has concluded it is prudent, more efficient, and in the best interest of the operation to focus on the construction of the plant in 2014. As a result, the company will not process pay gravel this year. “While we desire to start full-scale mining at Chandalar as soon as possible, our stakeholders agree it is vital to carry out the mine plan in a systematic fashion, positioning the company and our shareholders to fully realize the substantial value of our placer asset,” said Goldrich President and CEO William Schara. “Once fully commissioned, Chandalar could become host to one of the largest operating placer mines in North America, generating the necessary non-dilutive funds a junior mining company requires to effectively explore for a world-class hard rock deposit that we believe resides at Chandalar.” Roughly US$13.7 million of all-in development costs have been incurred by Goldrich NyacAU Placer to the end of 2013. An additional C$4.5 million of additional investment is forecast for 2014.
