“It’s a goal for the university to support industrial applications and to help industry and help Alaska’s econ- omy,” HyLab Director Martin Stuefer said. “It’s our goal to help more and to get more involved in industrial work as the industry needs and wants us to.” “Airborne hyperspectral remote sensing can help target specific min - erals in an environmentally least in- vasive way,” he said. Mining is a key part of Alaska’s economy, as noted in the annual state proclamation declaring May 10 as Alas- ka Mining Day. HyLab can help the mining industry and, therefore, the economy. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in his 2020 proclamation, noted that Alaska’s six large producing mines generated a combined $3 billion in annual gross produc- tion and provide full-time em- ployment to 4,200 people. He added that more than 200 small- scale mining operations produce 85,000 ounces of gold each year and employ 1,700 people. “Alaska is home to world- class explorers, geologists, min- ers, mining engineers, and oth- ers working continuously to discover, delineate, map, and de- velop new mineral deposits,” his proclamation reads. HyLab can benefit not only the local, Alaska and national economies but also national de- fense by helping delineate Alas- ka’s deposits of critical minerals. Former President Donald Trump in 2017 directed feder- al agencies to compile a list of minerals deemed critical to the nation’s economy and defense. That final list included 35 miner - als. Trump wrote in a follow-up order in 2020 that, “For 31 of the 35 critical minerals, the United States imports more than half of its annual consumption. The United States has no domestic production for 14 of the critical minerals and is dependent on imports to supply its demand.” Alaska fits in with the solu - tion to that problem, and the Geophysical Institute’s HyLab has the tools to help. Z The U.S. Geological Survey points out that Alaska’s “geo- graphic separation and complex tectonic history” have combined to provide it with mineral re- sources not common elsewhere
in the nation. It states that Alaska has “high potential” for containing strate- gic and critical elements such as thori- um, niobium, tantalum, indium, galli- um, germanium, rare-earth elements, platinum-group metals, tin, man- ganese, titanium and vanadium. But the USGS also notes that “discovery is hindered by Alaska’s vast size, remote- ness, and rugged terrain.” Hyperspectral surveying, the agen - cy states, can help. It “is one meth- od that can be used to rapidly acquire data about the distributions of surficial materials, including different types of bedrock and ground cover.” That’s HyLab.
Universities across the nation often provide essential early support to in- dustry because of their research capa- bilities and government funding. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geo - physical Institute can act in the same manner through HyLab in supporting mineral exploration in Alaska. “Hyperspectral imaging — imaging with hundreds of colors instead of the usual red, blue, green — has enormous potential to identify regions rich in min- erals critical to the U.S.,” Geophysical Institute Director Robert McCoy said. “Scientists in the Geophysical Institute’s HyLab are ready to work with industry to help find these valuable resources.”
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Changing the way business is done in Alaska
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Summer 2021
The Alaska Miner
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