President’s Message
Your support helped save Alaska’s future
“With both our state and federal governments standing ready to encourage responsible development of our mineral resources, we know that Alaska is primed for a Renaissance in the mining industry.”
BY MIKE SATRE Thank you!
we know that Alaska is primed for a Renaissance in the mining industry. But once again, that will not happen without your help. (We can’t just wait for the government to do it for us, right?) So, what must we do? Well, we all know there are many in Alaska who still believe the anti-mining rhetoric spewed by those opposed to our industry. These same people may be the ones who sign the next petition to place another expensive, unnecessary, and harmful initiative on the statewide ballot in 2020. To defend against this and make sure Alaska stays open for business, we must: Accept nothing less than the highest caliber of safety and environmental performance. We know that our mines, large and small, are some of the best in the world, and that Alaskans have a generally favorable opinion of them. Making sure that we operate them to the highest safety and environmental performance standards deprives our detractors of ammunition and provides our supporters with great examples of how we “do it right in Alaska.” Alaskan miners should have no qualms in making sure their colleagues meet this high bar and this is a case where peer pressure is good. If someone in our industry isn’t holding up their end of the bargain, we shouldn’t hesitate to point it out and help them improve.
A big, heartfelt thanks to all 171,111 Alaskans who voted no on Ballot Measure 1 in November. Without question, if that initiative had passed, our economy would be in shatters and our Alaskan way of life would have been destroyed. But it didn’t. With your dedicated efforts to educate your family, friends and neighbors; with your help in proudly displaying campaign signs, bumper stickers and pins; and our collective refusal to believe the anti-development and anti-mining rhetoric funded by outside interests, we won this battle. It took every one of you to make that happen, and the Alaska Miners Association will be forever grateful for your hard work. Thank you. With the efforts that the mining community put into fighting the ballot measure and saving our economy, it is no wonder that newly elected Governor Dunleavy made his first post-election public appearance in front of our convention and declared that “Alaska is open for business.” We couldn’t agree more! With both our state and federal governments standing ready to encourage responsible development of our mineral resources,
The Alaska Miner
January 2019
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