Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
04/17/2023 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Alaska's Mining Potential | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 17, 2023
2:21p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Tom McKay, Chair
Representative George Rauscher, Vice Chair
Representative Josiah Patkotak
Representative Stanley Wright
Representative Donna Mears
Representative Maxine Dibert
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Jennie Armstrong
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): ALASKA'S MINING POTENTIAL
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
BRETT WATSON, PhD, Assistant Professor of Applied and Natural
Resource Economics
Institute of Social and Economic Research
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Alaska's Mining Potential
presentation.
BOB LOEFFLER, PhD, Research Professor of Public Policy
Institute of Social and Economic Research
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered the Alaska's Mining Potential
presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
2:21:30 PM
CHAIR TOM MCKAY called the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 2:21 p.m. Representatives Wright, Patkotak,
Mears, Dibert, and McKay were present at the call to order.
Representative Rauscher arrived as the meeting was in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): Alaska's Mining Potential
PRESENTATION(S): Alaska's Mining Potential
2:22:00 PM
CHAIR MCKAY announced that the only order of business would be a
presentation on Alaska's Mining Potential.
2:23:07 PM
BRETT WATSON, PhD, Assistant Professor of Applied and Natural
Resource Economics, Institute of Social and Economic Research
(ISER), University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), co-offered the
PowerPoint presentation, titled "Alaska's Mining Potential"
[hardcopy included in the committee packet]. He began on slide
2, which provided disclosure statements to preface the rest of
the presentation. He moved to slide 3, which explained three
key points of the presentation.
2:25:07 PM
BOB LOEFFLER, PhD, Research Professor of Public Policy,
Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska
Anchorage, as co-presenter, read slide 4 of the Alaska's Mining
Potential presentation, which displayed an image of a bucket
used to convey the ratio of income/export money in Alaska. He
moved to slide 5, which gave a more detailed list of important
sectors of Alaska's economy. Slides 6-7 displayed a graph of
Alaska's minerals as an export value. He moved to slide 8,
which highlighted the wages, salaries, and jobs created by the
mining industry in Alaska and on to slides 9-10, both of which
emphasized the impact that the mining industry has on Alaska's
Government revenue. He moved to slide 11, which gave a list of
conclusions that might be drawn.
2:30:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MEARS asked how the mining industry could attract
more local employees.
2:31:33 PM
DR. LOEFFLER explained that Alaska's large mine operations are
employed by about 73 percent in-state employees.
DR. LOEFFLER resumed the presentation on slide 13, which
explained how mining operations on Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (ANCSA) lands provide revenue to Alaska Native
corporations. He read from slide 14, which gave an overview of
the specific types of mining operations currently occurring in
Alaska.
2:33:16 PM
DR. WATSON continued the presentation on slide 15, which
displayed a map that gave an overview of six of the largest
currently active mining operations in Alaska. He moved to slide
16, which displayed a map that gave an overview of mining
explorations and advanced mining projects in Alaska. He
continued to slide 17, which displayed a map that detailed the
number of placer mining permits issued to specific regions of
Alaska in 2014. He continued to slide 18, which displayed a pie
chart of minerals that are being extracted in Alaska's mines.
Slide 19 explained what Alaska's minerals are used for in
commercial production. He moved to slide 20, which gave a brief
list of the future possibilities of mining in Alaska.
2:38:33 PM
DR. WATSON continued the presentation on slide 21, which
outlined with a series of bullet points the process that a mine
must go through from its inception to its actual operation. He
continued through slides 22-26, each of which individually
explained each point outlined on slide 21.
2:42:52 PM
DR. WATSON moved to slide 27, which displayed a "hierarchy of
needs" that a mine is required to have to succeed. He continued
to slide 28, with two maps of Alaska, each of which displayed
the potential of current and proposed mine projects in the
state. He moved through slides 29-30, each of which displayed
the previous "hierarchy of needs" that was shown on slide 27,
this time with added information to relate the image to Alaska's
current situation in mining development.
2:45:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked whether there were any
requirements lower on a mine's "hierarchy of needs" that might
surpass a requirement higher on the pyramid.
2:46:05 PM
DR. LOEFFLER replied that it would be possible for some of the
items displayed lower on the pyramid to trump any one above it.
2:46:33 PM
DR. WATSON used the Pebble Mine and the Donlin Gold Mine as
examples of mines that were stopped by permitting before they
were allowed to begin an exploration stage.
2:47:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER clarified that he was trying to qualify
the term "less likely" in the context of the pyramid.
2:48:06 PM
DR. WATSON resumed the presentation on slide 31, which explained
a series of future possibilities for Alaska's Mining industry.
He continued to slide 32, which further elaborated on the future
possibilities of Alaska's mining industry by comparing the
previous slide's information to the previous pyramid display.
He moved through slides 33-34, each described three possible
scenarios that could result from the previous pyramid display.
2:51:34 PM
DR. WATSON continued to slide 35, which displayed the results of
the study modeled around the previously mentioned three possible
scenarios that could result from the previous pyramid display.
He moved to slide 36, which outlined the possibilities for
mining employment in each scenario, and slide 37, which
described the critical mineral supply that Alaska controls.
2:54:36 PM
DR. WATSON moved through slides 38-39, which displayed a plot
graph that outlined the economic importance of each valuable
mineral in Alaska. He continued to slide 40, which explained
what commercial products could be produced by Alaska's
previously mentioned critical minerals. He moved to slide 41,
which further explained the results of the scenarios posed in
the study in terms of how much energy or how many critical
minerals could be produced. He moved to slide 42, which
displayed a pie graph of the minerals that Alaska could produce
in the next 20 years, and slide 43, which outlined the key take-
aways from the study by emphasizing the impact of Alaska's
mining industry.
3:00:01 PM
DR. LOEFFLER continued the presentation on slide 44, which
explained the potential avenues the legislature could take to
enable further mining projects in Alaska, and slide 45, which
displayed a map of current proposed infrastructure projects that
could enable further mining development in Alaska. He moved to
slide 46, which explained the potential avenues that executive
agencies in Alaska could take to enable further mining projects
in Alaska. Slide 47 displayed a graph that outlined the average
time it takes for a project's environmental impact statement
(EIS) to be completed. He moved to slide 48, which displayed a
graph that detailed the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) reviews that have taken far longer than expected.
3:04:05 PM
DR. LOEFFLER continued to slide 49, which further emphasized the
importance of maintaining an efficient permitting regime that
protects the environment while issuing predictable and
consistent permits for projects. He moved to slide 50, which
gave a brief overview of the previously mentioned potential
avenues that could be taken to enable mining projects in Alaska.
3:06:45 PM
CHAIR MCKAY asked which two projects are most pertinent for the
legislature to direct its efforts.
3:07:23 PM
DR. LOEFFLER replied that the Donlin Mine project is critical
for Alaska and said that the Graphite Creek Project outside of
Nome is also an important prospect for the state.
3:08:42 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MEARS shared her understanding of the process of
infrastructure development with regard to a mine and asked
whether there was anything she was missing in her understanding.
3:09:11 PM
DR. LOEFFLER confirmed Representative Mears' understanding is
correct and explained the timeline to accomplish any of the
projects in the state is extremely slow; he blamed the long
timeline on Alaska's rigorous permitting process.
3:11:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MEARS provided her background as an environmental
engineer and asked whether there were any specific
recommendations to allow for mining projects to move forward
faster in Alaska.
3:11:30 PM
DR. LOEFFLER replied that the most important thing is to
streamline the federal environmental review process and said
that Alaska's executive agencies could direct more resources
toward mining as they had historically.
3:12:11 PM
CHAIR MCKAY made closing comments and thanked the presenters for
their time.
3:13:00 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 3:13 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| ISER_house_res_4_17_23.pdf |
HRES 4/17/2023 1:00:00 PM |
|
| EconomicPotential_of_AKs_Mining.pdf |
HRES 4/17/2023 1:00:00 PM |