Legislature(2025 - 2026)BARNES 124
03/03/2025 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Minerals and Mining Overview, Department of Natural Resources | |
| 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
March 3, 2025
1:01 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): MINERALS AND MINING OVERVIEW~ DEPARTMENT OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
JENNIFER ATHEY, Operations Manager
Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a Department of Natural
Resources minerals and mining overview.
CHRISTY COLLES, Director
Division of Mining, Land, and Water
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a Department of Natural
Resources minerals and mining overview.
KATE HARPER, Associate Director
Office of Project Management and Permitting
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a Department of Natural
Resources minerals and mining overview.
JOHN CROWTHER, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the Department of
Natural Resources minerals and mining overview.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:01:44 PM
CO-CHAIR BURKE called the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:01 p.m. Representatives Hall, Mears,
Saddler, Rauscher, Coulombe, Elam, and Burke were present at the
call to order. Representative Fields arrived as the meeting was
in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): Minerals and Mining Overview, Department of
Natural Resources
PRESENTATION(S): Minerals and Mining Overview, Department of
Natural Resources
1:02:22 PM
CO-CHAIR BURKE announced that the first order of business would
be a presentation by three divisions of the Department of
Natural Resources: the Division of Geological and Geophysical
Surveys; the Division of Mining, Land, and Water; and the Office
of Project Management and Permitting.
1:02:45 PM
JENNIFER ATHEY, Operations Manager, Division of Geological and
Geophysical Surveys, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, co-
presented a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) overview of
minerals and mining [hard copy included in the committee
packet]. She showed slide 2, titled "DGGS Minerals and Mining
Overview," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
• Tracking the mineral industry in 2024
• Eight operating mines: seven lode, one coal
• About 150 placer gold mines
• About 65 exploration projects
• 80 active sand and gravel operations
• Geologic mapping to survey mineral potential
• Major effort to map Interior Alaska began in
federal FY2019
• Modern interpretation of geology and mineral
potential
• New airborne geophysical surveys stimulate
exploration
• Geophysical data "sees" below vegetation and
thin surface sediments
• Enhancing Alaska's geological database
• Quality of DGGS's Alaska geological database
rated number one in U.S. by Fraser Institute's 2023
Annual Survey of Mining
1:07:25 PM
MS. ATHEY, in response to a question from Representative Elam,
described how to access the Alaska Division of Geological and
Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) geological database online.
1:08:57 PM
MS. ATHEY moved to slide 3, titled "2024 Alaska Mineral Industry
Highlights," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
• Total estimated value of Alaska's mineral industry
was (estimated) $4.5 billion (exploration and
development expenditures plus the estimated first
market value of the commodities produced)
• Red Dog is the largest critical mineral mine in the
United States and the second largest silver producing
mine in the United States
• Greens Creek is the largest silver producing mine in
the United States
• Fort Knox is the fourth largest gold mine in the
United States • Gold replaced zinc as the top metal
produced
Alaska's mineral resources compared globally
17% coal
7.4% zinc
7% gold
1.7% lead
7% silver
12.4% copper
16% molybdenum
1:10:13 PM
MS. ATHEY, in response to a question from Representative
Saddler, expanded on the method for determining the 4.5-billion-
dollar figure on Slide 2. Regarding the representative's
question about the purity of Alaska's minerals, she explained
that the division used a method for valuing minerals used in
other states. She acknowledged that the calculations do not
incorporate the amount of money spent by the mine on development
and production. She pointed out that Alaska minerals have a
high-level value when compared with the industry as a whole.
1:14:42 PM
MS. ATHEY continued her discussion of slide 3, drawing the
committee's attention to statistics showing the Red Dog as the
largest mine of critical minerals in the United States and
Greens Creek as the largest silver producing mine in the United
States.
1:16:50 PM
MS. ATHEY responded to a question from Representative Elam
regarding incentivizing the export of coal and other minerals.
She explained that her expertise related to the geology and
mineral assets of Alaska.
1:18:05 PM
MS. ATHEY advanced to slide 4, titled "2024 Alaska Mineral
Industry Values," which broke down the 2024 production value by
mineral types including zinc, lead, gold, silver, copper, coal,
and industrial minerals. The slide also showed a chart
comparing exploration expenditures since 1998.
1:20:03 PM
MS. ATHEY, in answer to a question from Representative Saddler,
explained that the production information presented on slide 4
represented the amount of concentrate produced. She proceeded
to slide 5, titled, "Alaska Mine Development Pyramid," which
showed a pyramid representing mines and exploration projects
over time. The slide read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
• Significant investment needed to move a project up
the pyramid
• Large number of mineral exploration projects needed
to overcome low odds of an eventual mine developing
1:22:50 PM
Due to technical difficulties, the committee took a brief at-
ease at 1:22 p.m.
1:23:28 PM
MS. ATHEY described the process of mining development, beginning
with initial exploration of multiple projects. The chart
followed projects through the various states, which underscored
the relatively small number of projects that end up being
permitted and begin operating.
1:25:27 PM
MS. ATHEY responded to a question from Representative Elam
regarding why it would take up to 20 years to go from
exploration to operation of a mine. She posited that it depends
on such factors as luck and the need of a specific commodity,
pointing out that critical minerals move through the process
faster. Asked to clarify regarding "luck," she suggested that
even with all the best information and technology available, it
also takes a bit of luck.
1:29:34 PM
CHRISTY COLLES, Director, Division of Mining, Land, and Water,
Alaska Department of Natural Resources, addressed a question
posed by Representative Coulombe regarding how long it takes for
a permit to be issued. She also discussed the reasons
exploration spending varied as illustrated on the chart on slide
4.
1:31:24 PM
MS. ATHEY moved to slide 6, titled "2024 Alaska Mines Production
Summary" and slide 7, titled "2024 Exploration by Deposit Type."
Slide 6 showed a map of Alaska indicating the locations of
specific mines and the minerals produced by those mines and
slide 7 showed a pie chart illustrating exploration by deposit
type.
1:35:30 PM
MS. ATHEY presented slide 8, titled "Mineral Assessment Geologic
Mapping," which illustrated geologic mapping in Alaska and read
as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Large map area across eastern Interior Alaska
• 16,662 square miles
• 1,980 person days
• Mixed compilation and six years of new mapping
• Funded by State of Alaska and U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)
and STATEMAP programs
• Multi-year goal of a cohesive digital bedrock
geologic map at a scale useful for industry
exploration
1:37:50 PM
MS. ATHEY responded to several questions from Representative
Fields. She explained that the United States Geological Survey
(USGS) served an advisory role but did not work in the field
with the Alaska DGGS. Regarding whether USGS employees had been
laid off by Elon Musk's Department of Governmental Efficiency
(DOGE), she said she did not know the answer to that question.
1:40:14 PM6
MS. ATHEY responded to a question from Representative Rauscher
by directing attention to slide 9, titled "Mineral Assessment
Geophysics." She explained that the data came from an
electromagnetic process which could do assessments from 200 to
500 feet below the surface. She continued with details of the
slide which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Measures different properties of the earth from an
aircraft
• Used for geologic mapping and targeting
mineralization
• Data collection in Interior, Southwest Alaska, and
Seward Peninsula
• Funded by State of Alaska and USGS Earth MRI program
• Reduced cost of data collection through industry
partnerships
1:42:56 PM
MS. ATHEY moved to slide 10, titled "Serving Geologic Data to
the Public." She provided specific details while she talked
through the points on the slide, which read as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
• 30 terabytes of digital geologic information served
from the DGGS website in 2024
• Annual Alaska's Mineral Industry reports and
presentations
• Exploration Geochemistry app receives 42,000-plus
views per year
• Four mineral-related geologic maps published in 2024
• Two geophysical surveys published in 2024
1:45:07 PM
MS. COLLES described the work of DNR's Division of Mining, Land,
and Water, calling the committee's attention to Slide 11,
titled, "DMLW Mining Section Overview," which read as follows
[original punctuation provided]:
• Mineral Property Management Unit
• Manage 40,114 mining claims for mineral
exploration and development
• 51 offshore and 65 mining leases
• APMA (Application for Permits to Mine in Alaska)
Unit
• 717 APMAs for hard rock exploration and placer
mining
• Approval of plans of operations for upland,
offshore, and millsite leases
• Large Mines Unit
• Oversees statewide reclamation requirements and
large mines
• Coal Permitting and Compliance Unit
• 30 Coal Leases
• Abandoned Mine Lands Unit
• Regulates reclamation and removes hazards from
past mining operations
1:47:01 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to a question from Representative
Rauscher, acknowledged that the state of Alaska received money
each year from the Abandoned Mines Claims Act of 1977, but
explained that she did not have the exact numbers.
1:48:06 PM
KATE HARPER, Associate Director, Office of Project Management
and Permitting, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, co-
presented the Department of Natural Resources minerals and
mining overview. She described the work of the Office of
Project Management and Permitting (OPMP), calling the
committee's attention to slide 11 and slide 12, titled "OPMP
Mining Overview," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
• OPMP provides a coordination framework for advanced
exploration and mining projects
• Multi-agency permit coordination through the
Large Mine Permitting Team (LMPT) model to achieve
defensible, transparent, and timely permit decisions
• OPMP coordinator to serve as the main point of
contact and facilitate communication between
regulators and applicants
• Identify and resolve issues quickly
• Coordinated engagement under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process:
• OPMP represents the State of Alaska as a formal
cooperating agency
• OPMP coordinates the state agencies' review and
delivers a consolidated State of Alaska position o
assist the lead federal agency
• Directed resources through coordination agreements
• OPMP coordination is an optional service
• Each project elects to enter into coordination
by signing an memorandum of understanding
• Annual financial agreements are developed based
on the project scope of work
• OPMP and other state agencies are reimbursed
for time spent on eligible activities
• Projects with OPMP coordination agreements:
• Exploration: Arctic Deposit, Anarraaq-Aktigiruq
Extension Project, Graphite One Project, Johnson Tract
Project, Livengood Gold Project, Niblack Project,
Palmer Project, Pebble Project
• Permitted, not yet constructed: Donlin Gold
Project
• Operating Mines: Fort Knox Gold Mine, Gil Mine,
Greens Creek Mine, Kensington Gold Mine, Mahn Choh
Project, Pogo Mine, Red Dog Mine
1:52:14 PM
MS. HARPER in response to a question from Representative
Coulombe regarding the department budget, explained that she
would follow-up with that information.
1:53:25 PM
JOHN CROWTHER, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Natural
Resources, addressed Representative Coulombe's budget questions,
pointing out the high number of coordination agreements. He
noted that those projects have variable amounts of work
associated with them from year to year. While the number of
coordination agreements usually is associated with increased
revenue, that can vary due to work loads. He acknowledges the
pause on projects because of changes at the federal level but
predicted a return in activity. He explained that when entities
opted in to coordinated permitting, they agreed to incur costs
and obligations associated with that permitting work, so the
state would not be burdened with those costs. That is reflected
in the reimbursable services and receipt authority line of the
budget.
1:55:59 PM
MS. COLLES answered a question from Representative Rauscher
regarding the abandoned mine projects and how they are funded.
She pointed out a list of sites that qualify for dollars
received from the federal government.
1:58:40 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:58 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| DNR presentation Minerals-Mining HRES 3-3-2025.pdf |
HRES 3/3/2025 1:00:00 PM |
|
| DNR Response to HRES questions at 3.3.25 meeting.pdf |
HRES 3/3/2025 1:00:00 PM |