The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - October 18, 2024
A Donlin Backhaul crew picks up old appliances and other waste at Tuluksak, a village on the Kuskokwim River about 35 miles northeast of Bethel, Alaska.
Donlin Backhaul workers crush discarded appliances at Akiachak, a village on the Kuskokwim River about 15 miles northeast of Bethel, Alaska.
In Alaska's urban centers, an old refrigerator, computer, or television is simply dropped off at a recycling center – and in many cases, the seller of your new appliance will cart away the old one for you. For remote Alaska villages that are hundreds of miles from the nearest recycling center, however, it is neither convenient nor economically feasible to circulate old appliances and e-waste back into the economy.
"Everything comes into our region, and nothing leaves," said Mark Leary, business enterprise director for the Native Village of Napaimute in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Y-K Delta) region of Southwest Alaska. "We are watching our communities slowly fill up with junk."
Donlin Gold – a 50-50 joint venture formed between Barrick Gold Corp. and Novagold Resources Inc. to develop a mine at the world-class Donlin Gold project in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region – is a longtime supporter of a backhaul project that provides a means of hauling e-waste and hazardous materials out of the Y-K Delta for proper recycling or disposal.
In partnership with Delta Backhaul Company, along with community and tribal organizations in the region, Donlin Gold's "In It For the Long Haul Backhaul Project" safely removes unwanted appliances, electronics, vehicle batteries, household chemicals, old paint, used oil, and more from Y-K Delta villages.
Since its start in 2018, this project has transported more than 803,265 pounds of the "junk" piling up in communities across the Y-K Delta.
"We are committed to supporting the health and well-being of the Y-K Delta communities," said Rebecca Wilmarth, community relations supervisor for Donlin Gold. "The Backhaul Project showcases the strength of local partnerships and the dedication of everyone involved to improve the environmental wellbeing of the region."
Donlin Backhaul workers crush discarded appliances at Akiachak, a village on the Kuskokwim River about 15 miles northeast of Bethel, Alaska.
Thanks to improvements in the appliance crushing process, this year's backhaul project transported an estimated 141,838 lb of material out of the region, including waste from a fish camp clean-up and six villages in the region, along with unwanted materials dropped off by Bethel residents.
Barge transportation was provided by the Village of Napaimute, and air transport was provided by partners Fox Air, Grant Aviation, and Ryan Air. Alaska Commercial Company, Association of Village Council Presidents, and representatives from the Indian General Assistance Program (IGAP) also supported the 2024 backhaul project.
"The Backhaul Project showcases the strength of local partnerships and the dedication of everyone involved to improve the environmental wellbeing of the region," Wilmarth added. "This collaborative effort reflects our ongoing commitment to the health and safety of the region, and we are thankful for the contributions from all who make this project a success year after year."
The more than 70 tons of waste collected this year is being barged to Anchorage or Seattle for final recycling.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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