'What doesn't kill us makes us stronger'

I was reminded of the famous quotation by Friedrich Nietzsche last week when I had occasion to visit the recently completed Pogo mine near Delta. This impressively huge, modern facility will mine gold and pour bars for the next decade without spilling a drop of wastewater, while providing 230 or more quality jobs for the people of eastern Alaska. It is a tribute to how technology has combined with public policy to advance Alaska's economy without adversely impacting the environment.

For those who are keeping count, this is major mine number five. Five model Alaska operations proving once again that miners can do it right. My pride in the industry, however, was tempered by another observation I made last week. Preceding the visit to Pogo there was a conference in Fairbanks sponsored by the local branch of the Alaska Miners Association. The Fairbanks Branch has been hosting these biennial conferences for decades, but recently the demography has changed.

This year, almost conspicuous by their absence, there were very few of the old time, mom and pop placer miners who characterized the earlier conferences. While there are still some around, they are a dying breed, squeezed out of existence by the incessant regulatory demands of an insensitive government and the encroachment of newcomers into the country.

There was a time, within the memory of many still alive, when a man with a pan could go onto the creeks and if lady luck smiled on him he could find a little "color" upon which to build an operation.

A few stakes in the ground and a location certificate filed with the local recorder, and he was in business. With a grubstake and a lot of hard work, he could build a cabin and buy some "yellow iron" (as Caterpillar products are sometimes known), and maybe even make enough to feed a family.

Of course, this poor fellow did not realize that when he washed his gold with the river water, he was offending the aesthetic sensitivities of those who followed him into the wilderness. (Wilderness was spelled with a small "w" in those days.) He didn't realize that the fish which happily swam past his outfall thought that mixing zones were somehow hazardous to their health.

Nietzsche's observation is sadly true, and its callous scar is borne directly by the least of us. In a very large sense, however, it is borne by us all. Pogo can ably internalize the environmental costs it must bear as an expense of doing business. Like Mom and Pop, Pogo will sell its gold into a global market. Through technology and intensive capital investment Pogo will compete toe-to-toe with operations around the world. No matter that the environmental and other social standards of such offshore operations are not up to par with our own.

While raising the bar domestically, we have sadly stifled a small sector of our heritage. If progress is measured by those who have been stepped upon, it is fair to say that the mining industry has made great (if unwilling) progress in the past two decades.

For those who look to the past it is a tragedy, for those who look to the future, it is a ray of bright hope. As new mines come on line in Alaska, they too will be safe and sound operations. The world needs, and in fact demands, the commodities with which Alaska is blessed, and the mining industry is ready, willing and able to produce them here and now.

Congratulations to Pogo on a job well done. Our hats are off to those who have gone before and made your project possible.