Legislature(2025 - 2026)BARNES 124
02/24/2025 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Alaska Mining Industry Update | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 24, 2025
1:03 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Robyn Niayuq Burke, Co-Chair
Representative Carolyn Hall
Representative Donna Mears
Representative Zack Fields
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative George Rauscher
Representative Julie Coulombe
Representative Bill Elam
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Maxine Dibert, Co-Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): ALASKA MINING INDUSTRY UPDATE
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DEANTHA SKIBINSKI, Executive Director
Alaska Miners Association
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented an update regarding the Alaska
mining industry.
GRETA SCHUERCH, Senior Advisor, Government and External Affairs
Teck Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented an update regarding the Alaska
mining industry.
CHRIS ECKERT, Senior Environmental Coordinator
Donlin Gold
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented an update regarding the Alaska
mining industry.
BRONK JORGENSEN, Placer Miner
Fortymile River
Tok, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented an update regarding the Alaska
mining industry.
KAREN MATTHIAS, Executive Director
Alaska Metal Mines
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented an update regarding the Alaska
mining industry.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:03:18 PM
CO-CHAIR BURKE called the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. Representatives Fields, Rauscher,
Saddler, Hall, Mears, Elam, and Burke were present at the call
to order. Representative Coulombe arrived as the meeting was in
progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Mining Industry Update
PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Mining Industry Update
1:03:52 PM
CO-CHAIR BURKE announced that the first order of business would
be an update of the Alaska mining industry.
1:04:40 PM
DEANTHA SKIBINSKI, Executive Director, Alaska Miners
Association, co-presented an update regarding the mining
industry in Alaska. She began her presentation by pointing out
that the Alaska Miners Association and Alaska Metal Mines have a
history of working closely together. She explained the
involvement of both organizations in coal mining, early-stage
exploration projects, midsize mining, placer mining, and
industrial mining. She introduced the other presenters and
provided an overview of the presentation, titled "Alaska Mining
Industry Update, February 24, 2025" [hard copy included in the
committee packet]. She showed slide 2, titled "Overview" which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Mining in America -- Mining in Alaska
Operational excellence:
• Large-scale mining operation
• Mining project in development
• Placer mining operation
The benefits: healthy economy, healthy communities,
healthy Alaskans
1:06:12 PM
MS. SKIBINSKI moved to slide 3 which showed a chart of timing
for mine development; a snapshot of the President's executive
order titled "Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource
Potential; a photo labeled "The Importance of Domestic Mining
for U.S. National Security;" and a photo depicting an employee
testing the water.
She commented on the lengthy amount of time for permitting a
mine in the United States and said there was a new emphasis on
creating permitting efficiencies while still upholding the
requirements of statutes and law and protecting people and the
environment. She described the President's executive order
signed in January which pointed out Alaska's potential for
developing mineral resources.
1:07:35 PM
MS. SKIBINSKI drew the committee's attention to the presentation
titled "Alaska's Mining Industry". She showed slide 1,
"Alaska's Mining Industry, 2023 Benefits To Alaska," which read
as follows [original punctuation provided]:
$1.1 billion spent on goods and services with 450+
Alaska businesses
$136 million in state government revenues for services
like education, highways, and airports
$50 million in local tax revenues to support services
like libraries, schools, road maintenance, and public
safety
$235 million in royalty payments to Alaska Native
Regional and Village Corporations across the state;
totaling $3.2 billion since 1989
Mines are the largest property taxpayers in Fairbanks,
Juneau, and the Northwest Arctic Borough
$2.4 million to Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
to care for Alaskans' mental health needs
She briefly described some of the large-scale mining operations
in the state, including those being operated as well as those in
advanced exploration and development. She pointed out that the
map did not show the over 300 placer mines in operation in
Alaska.
1:09:28 PM
MS. SKIBINSKI showed slide 2, titled "Mining Jobs: Employing
Alaskans Across The State!" which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
• 90+ communities have mining industry employees
11,800 total jobs
• $1.1 billion in wages statewide
• 72% average Alaska resident hire at the large
producing mines
She referred to the map on slide 2 which showed communities in
Alaska where mining employees lived and contributed to their
communities, pointing out that mining supported 250 Alaska
nonprofits, contributed $5.7 million to the University of Alaska
and vocational training, and $1.1 million to civic, business,
and industry organizations throughout Alaska.
1:09:56 PM
GRETA SCHUERCH, Senior Advisor, Government and External Affairs,
Teck Alaska, presented an update regarding the Red Dog Mine as
part of the Alaska Mining Industry Update. She explained that
the NANA Regional Corporation is the landowner, Teck is the
operator, and the Red Dog Mine is the world's largest producer
of zinc. She moved to slide 5, titled "Red Dog Operations" with
a slide showing the mine's location on a map of Alaska. The
slide read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Red Dog Operations
• NANA is the landowner
• Teck is the operator
World Class Operation
• World's Largest Zinc Producer
Red Dog Deposits
• Main (mined out)
• Aqqaluk (2010 start)
• Qanaiyaq (2017 start)
Current Life of Mine 2031
• Aktigiruq deposit could extend mine life (State of
Alaska resource)
1:12:52 PM
MS. SCHUERCH showed slide 7, titled "Red Dog Subsistence
Committee, Protecting Subsistence and the Environment," and
slide 8, titled "Protecting Subsistence and the Environment
Through Co-design and collaboration." The slides read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Formed as part of the 1982 NANA/Cominco (Teck)
Operating Agreement
Four hunters and Elders represent each of the nearby
communities of Noatak and Kivalina
Red Dog Operations and the Committee co-designed a
process and protocols to adapt to marine mammal
hunting activities to minimize interference.
She stated that a committee dedicated to protecting subsistence
and the environment had been formed in 1982 to work with the Red
Dog Mine. She pointed out that the subsistence committee became
a model for subsistence committees and has been used by other
resource development companies.
1:18:11 PM
CHRIS ECKERT, Senior Environmental Coordinator, Donlin Gold,
presented an update regarding the Donlin Gold project. He
displayed slide 9, titled "Project Overview," which showed a map
of the area highlighting transportation routes. He described
Donlin Gold as a primary gold mine, estimated to produce over a
million ounces of gold a year for 27 years after the mine is in
operation. The project requirements included a 315-mile
pipeline from Cook Inlet to provide power. Supplies would be
shipped 200 miles by barge up the Kuskokwim River to the site.
He moved to slide 10, titled "Aquatic Resources Monitoring,"
which showed photos of the water monitoring program overseen by
Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G). He explained the
purpose of the research was to examine the effects of barge
traffic on rainbow trout. He showed slide 10, titled "Snow
Gulch Restoration Project," which depicted a restoration
project. He described the pilot project which converted the
fines ponds of a previous placer mine in order to restore fish
populations. He displayed slide 12, titled "Kuskokwim River
Fisheries Projects, Salmon Smolt Monitoring George River Fish
Weir." He described the project which partnered Donlin with the
village of Napaimute to monitor salmon outmigration.
1:24:38 PM
MR. ECKERT responded to a question from Representative Rauscher
by describing how the project's screw trap worked.
1:26:09 PM
MR. ECKERT addressed a question posed by Representative Fields
by providing an overview of the types of energy generation
Donlin has considered. He stated that one of Donlin's goals was
to help the local villages get away from diesel generators.
1:27:09 PM
MR. ECKERT responded to several questions by Representative
Elam. He described the advanced engineering and the permitting
process undertaken by Donlin. He discussed the stages of the
permitting and stated that some of the permits were on appeal.
He explained that the products from the mine were known as Dore
bars which would be approximately 80 percent gold and include
silver and other impurities. The refinery site had not been
determined.
1:30:29 PM
MR. ECKERT responded to a question from Representative Saddler
regarding the expense for permitting by explaining that he did
not have those numbers available at that time.
1:31:40 PM
BRONK JORGENSEN, Placer Miner, Fortymile River, provided an
update regarding reclamation for family-operated placer mining.
He showed slide 13, titled "Placer mining in Fortymile Mining
District," which depicted the current reclamation methods
compared to previous operations. He explained that the word
"placer" means "free," and that placer mining is where the gold
nuggets for jewelry come from. He described the history of the
Fortymile Mines. He pointed out that chemicals are not involved
and that the mines use gravity and water. The past 20 years
have brought changes to the reclamation process. The photo on
the right illustrated the three-tiered pond system which
resulted in a 100 percent recycle system. He displayed slide 14
which illustrated the reclamation process on one section of the
creek. He moved to slide 15 which depicted side by side photos
of a portion of the creek before and after the reclamation
process. He explained that there were fish in the creek both in
the past and in the present.
1:37:16 PM
MR. JORGENSEN addressed several questions posed by
Representative Fields regarding the requirements of placer
mining reclamation. He explained that the banks needed to be
stabilized, regrowth provided for, and that the streams must
have good fish habitat. Placer miners do all their own
reclamation.
1:39:37 PM
MR. JORGENSEN responded to a question from Representative
Saddler regarding the financial aspects of placer mining and
whether it involves outside money by stating that the Fortymile
Mine was a family operation. A person or group would pay all
costs because banks do not loan to placer miners. He described
placer mining as profitable after the initial investment in
heavy equipment. However, most placer miners he knows make a
living but do not have "get rich" experiences.
1:42:04 PM
MR. JORGENSEN answered Representative Elam's question regarding
reworking old tailings. He said it was common to rework old
tailings because modern sluice boxes use better technology and
can catch gold the old timers missed. In addition, the past
mines were dug by hand, so newer mines can dig deeper for the
gold.
1:44:29 PM
KAREN MATTHIAS, Executive Director, Alaska Metal Mines, began
her presentation by describing the difference between
reclamation of placer mines and large mining operations. She
explained that before a large mine was permitted by the Alaska
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the reclamation plans had
to be set up and financial assurance provided by the companies,
so if the company was unable to do the reclamation, the state
would step in. She displayed slide 16, titled "Jobs and
Training for Alaskans," which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
11,800 - Total Jobs
$1.1 billion - Annual Wages
72% - Average # of AK residents employed at the 6
large mines
90+ - Communities where mining employees live
$1.5 million - Invested in UA and vocational programs
She stated that the numbers are from a 2023 report by the
McKinley Research Group. She reviewed the data and added
anecdotal information.
1:49:02 PM
MS. MATTHIAS responded to a question from Representative Mears
regarding the number of Alaska hires. She pointed out the
changes due to the pandemic and said there was a half percent
increase in non-resident workers. She also explained that
mining tended to be seasonal employment, so it was harder to
fill those jobs with Alaskans.
1:50:24 PM
MS. MATTHIAS answered a question from Representative Fields
regarding the emphasis on training. She pointed out that was
one of the ways the mining industry encouraged Alaska-hire. She
observed that the cost and availability of housing has been
detrimental to encouraging workers to move to Alaska for work.
She stated that six percent of the non-resident Alaska work
force was employed by mining and oil and seven percent employed
by state and local governments.
1:52:21 PM
MS. MATTHIAS referred Representative Elam to the Alaska
Department of Labor website for statistics concerning non-
resident workers in Alaska.
1:53:07 PM
MS. MATTHIAS addressed several questions posed by Representative
Saddler regarding ownership of Alaska mines. She summarized the
regulations that came into effect after the stock market crash
of 1929 when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was
established. Because the SEC was risk-averse, regulations were
put in place which did not exist in other countries such as
Canada. As a result, the headquarters for mining companies are
often in Canada or other countries. However, if a company is
mining in Alaska, it must be registered in Alaska and is subject
to state regulations and environmental laws.
1:55:29 PM
MS. MATTHIAS moved to slide 17, titled "State Government
Revenues," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
$136 million to State of Alaska
$53 million in Mining License Tax
$6 million in Corporate Income Tax
$16 million in rents and royalties
$30 million net to AIDEA for DeLong Mountain Regional
Transportation System
$15 million to Alaska Railroad (coal, sand & gravel)
$17 million in material sales, other fees and taxes
1:57:42 PM
MS. MATTHIAS emphasized the importance of mines to specific
regions of Alaska. She presented slide 18, titled "Local
Government Revenues," which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
$49.8 million to local governments
$34.8 million to Northwest Arctic Borough
$10.6 million to Fairbanks North Star Borough
$4.2 million to City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska
$200,000 to all other local jurisdictions
1:59:50 PM
MS. MATTHIAS moved to slide 19, titled "Alaska Native
Corporations," which showed a map of Alaska with the location of
the 12 regional corporations. She pointed out that Alaska was
unique because of the revenue sharing provisions under the
Alaska Native Settlement Act. These provisions stipulated that
70 percent of royalties received from subsurface mineral
development or timber on Alaska native land must be shared among
the 12 regional corporations. Additionally, 50 percent of the
money received by the regional corporations must be shared with
the village corporations. Since 1989, there have been $3.2
billion in total royalty payments, and in 2023 there were $235
million in royalty payments to Alaska Native Corporations.
2:01:54 PM
MS. MATTHIAS, in response to a question from Representative
Saddler clarified that these numbers referred to mining rather
than oil, and most of that revenue came from the Red Dog Mine.
2:02:52 PM
MS. MATTHIAS proceeded with slide 20 which showed the impact of
mining on the Alaska economy. The slide stated that "$1.1
billion [is] spent on goods and services with 450+ Alaska
businesses in 2023." She provided specific examples from Alaska
communities of the types of goods and services could be
attributed to the development and operations of the mines.
2:05:06 PM
MS. MATTHIAS, in response to a question from Representative
Rauscher regarding mine reclamation, explained that each mine
area has distinct flora to replicate. She added that the
financial assurance keeps up with changing times and is
reassessed at least every five years.
2:07:18 PM
MS. MATTHIAS addressed a question from Representative Fields
regarding funds which were frozen because of President Trump's
executive orders.
2:08:18 PM
MS. SKIBINSKI commented on the issue of frozen funding and
encouraged the committee members to contact Washington.
2:09:00 PM
MS. SKIBINSKI responded to a question from Representative
Saddler regarding whether DNR has sufficient resources and
whether it is properly staffed. She explained that during the
past 10 years staffing has been reduced, and there are vacant
positions at DNR and more resources in the regulatory department
would be very beneficial.
2:10:18 PM
MS. SKIBINSKI, in response to questions from Representative
Fields, Representative Raucher, and Representative Saddler
described the employment challenges being experienced by both
DNR and the private sector. She touched on the differences in
wage scales and benefit packages offered by private and public
sector employers.
2:13:42 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:13 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental_Handout.pdf |
HRES 2/24/2025 1:00:00 PM |
|
| Alaska Mining Industry handout.pdf |
HRES 2/24/2025 1:00:00 PM |
|
| Resource Committee Mining Update use.pdf |
HRES 2/24/2025 1:00:00 PM |