Rubber hits the roads at Alaska's mines

Some of Alaska's mines are taking full advantage of Gov. Frank Murkowski's Roads to Resources program. But for others, building a private road may be more economical than letting the state take care of the infrastructure. With public roads, mines not only have to deal with the issue of public access, they must also pay additional taxes and comply with numerous regulations that restrict the size and weight of vehicles.

Northern Dynasty is weighing up the options for its Pebble project in southwest Alaska. The Vancouver-based company is working a road feasibility study, while Alaska's Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is spending around $500,000 on its own separate study, due to be completed next spring. DOT's version would be "an industrial-type road similar to the one at Red Dog," Ethan Birkholz, the DOT official in charge of the study, told Mining News. The 95-mile road from the proposed mine site to the port would be 30 feet wide if DOT built it. Northern Dynasty is looking at a somewhat narrower, one-lane road.

The exact route of the road has not yet been determined, although DOT does have a preferred route based on cost, environmental impacts and right-of-way impacts. The community of Pedro Bay has expressed concern that the road might come too close to it, and DOT is considering an alternative that would take the road further away from the village, but that isn't a particularly attractive option, Birkholz said. Another question will be how to incorporate or skirt around an existing public stretch of road between Pile Bay and Williamsport.

DOT estimates that its road would cost the state $150-$200 million. It would include numerous bridges, the largest of which would span the Newhalen River, with others crossing the anadromous streams in the region. "We realize that it's a very sensitive area to try and build a road through," Birkholz said. Northern Dynasty hasn't yet submitted permit applications for the Pebble gold-copper project, so construction of the mine and related infrastructure is still a long way off.

Donlin Creek, another open pit mine in the pre-feasibility stage, will have a private road rather than a state-funded road. Vancouver-based Placer Dome decided this year that it would build the 25-mile road from the mine in southwest Alaska to the port, turning down the state's offer of assistance. "It was astounding how quickly they made that decision," Jeff Ottesen, director of program development at DOT, told Mining News. Around $20 million of state and federal money had been earmarked for the Donlin Creek road, according to Ottesen. He thinks it is likely that Northern Dynasty will make a similar decision about the Pebble road on economic grounds.

Rock Creek, Kensington use state roads

The Rock Creek and Kensington mine projects are making use of the state's roads, however. The state has almost finished building the three-mile, two-lane Glacier Creek bypass road for NovaGold's Rock Creek project near Nome, at a cost of $7.5 million. Construction has now shut down for the winter with the road base in place and a couple more layers of embankment to build to top the road off, DOT Project Engineer Tony Cox told Mining News. This work and some minor items like signs and a bridge rail will be completed next summer.

The road crosses tundra and permafrost, and includes a 100-foot bridge over Glacier Creek. "There were a lot of environmental issues to deal with," Cox said. "The whole project is basically through wetlands. There were quite a number of permits." The prime contractor for the road construction project is Vancouver-based Kiewit Pacific.

The state is also about to complete the 2.5-mile Cascade Point road for the Kensington gold project, extending the Glacier Highway north to a terminal site which will be used to ferry employees from Juneau to the mine site. This cost the state $1.1 million, with the prime contractor Channel Construction of Juneau. The state will spend another $1 million this year and next upgrade the existing 5.6-mile access road for the mine from Slate Creek Cove to the mill site on the west side of Berners Bay. Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene will contribute another $300,000 to the cost of the road, which will be shared with hikers, hunters and trappers.