The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Following the model set by other successful generals such as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight Eisenhower, after having essentially won the War in Europe, went on to become Presidents of the United States. "I like[d] Ike" just as millions of post-war Americans did, but I am not convinced that he was our greatest President. If the truth be known, he probably had more in common with the likes of President Grant, who tried harder to support the...
Southeast Alaska is at a unique crossroads in its management of the Tongass National Forest. How will reimposition of the 2001 Roadless Rule impact development of natural resources like geothermal, hydroelectric, and mineral resources? As stewards of these public lands, we need deliberative and balanced Forest Service consideration of the best use of and access to these resources to protect and sustain Southeast communities and their economic future. The Forest Service needs...
In a recent case that crossed my desk, I was confronted by what seems to have been an easily avoided problem relating to the estate of a long-time, well-known, very sophisticated Alaska miner. Since he had a good estate plan in place and a supportive and interested family who was prepared to look after his mining interests in Alaska, I am confident that the reason this simple step was not taken was because his legal advisors simply missed it. Out of concern that there are othe...
Over the past quadrennial, there has been a great deal of conversation about "truth." Especially in the political arena. Ostensibly, the number of "lies" that have emanated from the mouth of the former President have run to the tens of thousands, if you happen to "believe" the Washington Post and other leading newspapers. Inferentially, one could conclude that politicians have a corner on prevarication; however, that is likewise demonstrably untrue. Where I went to high...
Although new cases of COVID-19 are still appearing throughout the nation in general and Alaska in particular, at the moment they are hovering at the 40-per-day level apparently. The vaccine is working. Operation Warp Speed succeeded in making it safe for most people to go most places most of the time safely. This is good news, especially for those who make their living in remote locations, such as exploration geologists and placer miners. It is fair to say, I think, that the m...
I always tend to look at the world through the wrong end of the telescope. For instance, many people regard the so-called political divisions in our country as being a problem, but for me, it is an expression of diversity. To be sure, Congress is divided, allegedly along "party" lines; however, the last time I checked, the Republican "party" is ensconced into two camps, which tend to vote together on most important issues. The Democrat "party" on the other hand consists of...
In February, the Alaska Miners Association (AMA) released its annual report on the Economic Benefits of Alaska's Mining Industry. That report highlighted the fact that 4,700 direct and 9,600 indirect jobs in the state are attributable to mining activities. In addition, $890,000,000 (not counting benefits) in direct and indirect payroll are earned by Alaskans and another $880,000,000 are spent on goods and services purchased from Alaska's vendors. The industry also distributes...
Without a doubt, 2020 was somewhat less than a perfect year. If you didn't like the way it started out, with an impeachment and a pandemic dominating the news, you might not have liked the way it ended, with a pandemic and an impeachment dominating the news. While miners from one end of Alaska to the other were doing whatever they could to remain safe and in business, travel restrictions and quarantines certainly did not make things any easier. Whether you were a Trumper or a...
It has often been said that one should never watch sausages or laws being made. There are good reasons for saying that, especially in our quasi-democratic environment. For just cause we have barriers to rabble-rule, including things like executive vetoes, impeachment, and periodic elections. These safeguards, however, do not keep the "representatives of the people" from coming up with inconsistent, incomprehensible, and incredibly awful laws. Fortunately, again, we have two...
With 2020 in the rearview mirror, now is a good time to reflect on and prognosticate about Alaska and things mining. First, with regard to things past, from the impeachment to the election, 2020 was not a great year. Despite the incessant sniping at the President's heels, the Administration almost survived for another term. Due to the weighting of the Electoral College system, some analysts tell us that a shift of only 22,000 votes would have changed the outcome. While the...
The fourth quarter in any given year, actually the period between Columbus Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is always an interesting period. Every eighth year (more frequently with one-term Presidencies), the interest level is enhanced by office-holder shifts. I have long thought that the reference to the Roman calendar is a little odd because it bears no resemblance to the parade of contemporaneous events. For instance, the federal fiscal year begins on October 1....
The successful appointment of Justice Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court has possibly put an end for the time being to the national drift to the political left. Without disparaging any advocates for social change, a welcome time-out may be expected in the relentless erosion in some of America's time-honored values. Political progress is always warranted in small doses, but the difference between a medicine and a poison is in the amount administered. Stating it otherwise, the...
Northern Dynasty Minerals first set its sights on Alaska's Pebble deposit in the 1990s. After acquiring the property in 2001, the company spent more than a decade and close to $1 billion proving it up as one of the greatest mineral resources ever discovered – certainly on American soil. Consider the following: • contained copper at Pebble is equivalent to ~1.3% of all the copper metal ever discovered or produced in the past 10,000 years; • contained gold at Pebble is equiv...
N'tsi Tatay, more widely known as the Windy Craggy Project, is one of North America's largest resources of cobalt with excellent copper, zinc, gold, and silver grades hosted in an Upper Triassic Besshi-style volcanogenic massive sulphide. It is located in the northwestern corner of British Columbia within a regional scale volcano-sedimentary basin, termed Alta Basin, which is a mineralized belt that has the potential for future discoveries. Other known sulphide prospects...
In what may be the world's grandest example of the Butterfly Effect, a microscopic organism in China has caused a hurricane of change for every person on Earth. For now, this change is uncomfortable, to put it mildly, as we adjust to an ever-shifting landscape of social distancing, working from home (or not at all), wild swings in the financial markets, and growing numbers of COVID-19 infected and fatalities. Many have stated that the world reaction to this newest strain of...
We all join in mourning the passing of one of the truly great Justices of the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Not because of her bent, but because she personified the finest qualities of a loyal opponent. Her opinions and, more often, her dissenting opinions rationally articulated the argument for the liberal view, persuasively advancing the progressive cause in the face of tradition, policy and tribal instinct. Her absence from the bench denotes the end of a monumental...
Each July for the past four decades I have traveled to the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Annual Institute for the purpose of maintaining my credentials as a lawyer and to keep abreast of developments in the mining industry. Each year I come away with new information and a better insight into matters of interest to me and my clients. One cannot practice mining law for very long without realizing that there is a mountain of statutes and regulations that impact the i...
Political differences, public demonstrations, a mortal pandemic, climate evolution, economic rebalancing plus a flood of other disasters have welled up over the past score of years to make our times "interesting." In a speech in Cape Town, South Africa, in June 1966, Robert Kennedy said: "There is a Chinese curse which says, 'May we live in interesting times.'" Of course, he was wrong. There is no such Chinese curse; however, the point was clear then as it is now. So far in...
If I were to write a letter to the President of the United States, it would probably go something like this: Dear Mr. President – Notwithstanding the aggressive Executive Orders that you have signed dealing with the regulatory burden on small businesses in the United States, it appears that you have missed an important point. Regulatory requirements are straitjackets on the economy, and one size simply does not fit all. Over the past 50 years, the Executive Branch has i...
Since statehood at least and, to a certain extent, since the earliest territorial days, Alaska has depended on the development of its resources for its prosperity. Fishing and mining were among the earliest major industries to evolve. As the abandoned millsites and canneries around the state will attest, those industries have waxed and waned cyclically. Oil and gas development also made a major impact on the State and undoubtedly will continue to do so well into the future;...
In the current environment, it is difficult to avoid discussing the elephant in the room. Essentially, we need to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect mining activities in Alaska in the near and long term. While misinformation and speculation about the disease is rampant, some basic facts seem indisputable – the disease is highly contagious, infected people are often asymptomatic, and there does not appear to be any approved anti-viral available yet. The control m...
It is the very nature of the legislative process for the participants to endure conflict and controversy. Generally, the confrontations endemic to law-making begin when a citizen files for public office and starts a campaign. Unless unopposed, this brave soul must raise funds and interface with voters incessantly until election day. The candidate’s calendar is full, from registration on, and then only one of the contenders for a given seat prevails. For all of the u...
A priority of the Trump administration in 2016 was the reduction of the regulatory burden on America's businesses. Three years ago, the President signed Executive Order 13771, "Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs." The regulatory reform efforts of the federal government have continued into fiscal year 2019. This past year various federal agencies have taken 150 deregulatory actions, including 18 deregulatory actions each by the Department of the Interior and...
This author, in this column and elsewhere, has often taken the position that Alaska, especially in remote locations, is the safest, most environmentally-sound and worker-friendly mining location in the world. Alaska is endowed with world-class resources from one end of the state to the other. The associated jobs are well paid, and the industry is stable. Notwithstanding the view that some have of heavy industry as an eyesore, the remoteness of most operations puts them beyond...
If you pay any attention to the popular press, it is difficult to avoid critical references to President Trump. He has become the effigy for everything from political division to global iconoclasm. However, as is the case with so many national issues; the impact of the intense debates inside the Beltway have only an attenuated resonance on the Last Frontier. The on-going controversy between elitist progressive governance and populistic resistance surfaced with the 2016 electio...
