Department of Interior Again Delays Decision on Ambler Road Project
The U.S. Department of Interior has once again delayed the release of the record of decision for the Ambler road project, which will give access to untouched deposits of copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold in north- western Alaska. The resolution on Trilogy Metals‘ (TSX: TMQ; NYSE: TMQ) and South32’s (LSE: S32; ASX: S32; JSE: S32) proposed 340-km road from the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects (UKMP) to the Dalton Highway is now expected on the second quarter of 2024. The DOI was promising a decision by the end of the year. The need for an industrial access road has been recognized by U.S. lawmakers for decades, but it wasn’t until 2020 that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service issued a joint decision providing the federal authorizations needed to build it. Last year, however, BLM suspended the permits issued under the Trump administration, citing a lack of adequate consultation with Alaska tribes and evaluation of the road potential impacts on fish and caribou habitats. The Biden administration suspended at the time the issuing of permits for all projects that cross federal lands. The Ambler access road would cut through gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, crossing 11 major rivers and thousands of streams. Ambler Metals, formed in 2019 by Trilogy Metals and South32, said the fresh “unnecessary” delay threatened a project that will provide much-needed jobs and economic growth for Alaskans. “We are obviously disappointed to hear the latest status update from the DOI,” president and CEO Ramzi Fawaz said in the statement. “It has been a year since the court granted DOI’s request for a voluntary
CHRONOLOGY OF THE AMBLER ROAD DEVELOPMENT & FINANCING
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In 1980, Congress specifically called out the need to allow access to the Ambler Mining District when it passed ANILCA (Section 201(4)(b)).
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BLM begins scoping process.
Preliminary road studies, public input, and route refinement.
WE ARE HERE
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Draft EIS issued.
START
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Legal agreements with BLM, NPS, DNR, NANA, Doyon, and NWAB must be secured to move forward with the project — each agreement will outline terms and conditions which will restrict road use.
BLM issues Record of Decision.
Agreements penned with mine(s) for terms on paying back
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construction and O&M costs of the road project.
STOP
Final EIS issued.
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AIDEA hires Operation and Maintenance contractor to maintain and repair the road.
Finalize design and construction costs.
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AIDEA hires security contractor to maintain safety and security, and to ensure the integrity of wildlife safety agreements are upheld.
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Construction of pioneer road.
AIDEA secures financing to fund the up-front costs of the road construction.
Construction of mine(s) in the district (separate activity and not part of this project).
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Road open only to licensed, mine and community-sponsored traffic. Driver certification and authorization required for road use.
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Full construction of the road.
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Mines pay tolls and mineral royalty fees that escalate if traffic increases or the price of minerals increase. These monies are used to pay back the full cost of the road.
AIDEA continues to collect toll and mineral royalty fees after the debt service for the road is paid off. This model was used for construction of the road to the Red Dog Mine. AIDEA revenues are used to support additional economic development and provide dividends to the state’s general fund.
END
the world’s largest copper miner, Chile’s Codelco, the world’s energy transition to stop climate change will take demand for the metal from 25 million tonnes per year now to just over 31 million tonnes in 2032. This means the world would need to build eight projects the size of BHP’s Escondida in Chile, the world’s largest copper mine, over the next eight years. In terms of investment, experts estimate the industry needs more than US$100 billion to build mines able to close what could be an annual supply deficit of 4.7 million tonnes expected by 2030.
remand of the permit, providing ample time for the department to conduct the needed supplemental work on the EIS”, Fawaz added. The UKMP projects, consisting of Arctic and earlier-stage Bornite copper assets, have a combined resource of 8 billion lb. of copper, 3 billion lb. of zinc and 1 million oz. of gold equivalent. The proposed mine is expected to produce more than 159 million lb. of copper, 199 million lb. of zinc, 33 million lb. of lead, 30,600 oz. of gold and 3.3 million oz. of silver annually over a 12-year mine life. Based on studies conducted by
www.alaskaminers.org I The Alaska Miner I June 2023
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