Optimism vital to success AMA President Profile: Bartly Kleven
in his tenure at the mine, I had to go to him with some bad news we had recent- ly discovered. There are times the Envi- ronmental Manager will need to give the General Manager bad news but not this bad and on his second week of work! It crossed my mind I might be looking for work soon — but as painful as it was, I needed to let him know ASAP. Instead of blaming and being angry, Jeremy thanked me for telling him as soon as I discovered the issue. He then immedi- ately jumped into action, breaking down the problem and looking at potential solutions. We looked at all the options as a group and picked the best solution. We then set that solution as our first priority at the mine — over everything else — and executed. The problem was solved, and we all learned a tremendous amount. The lesson I learned from Jere- my is to be an intelligent receiver of in- formation. In mining we work with very complex models. We need to have some simple checks to make sure these mod- els are telling us the truth, so we don’t discover an error down the line. You’ve been a leader in AMA for a while … what does AMA mean to you? Interesting question: when I think of what AMA means to me, I see the faces of all the miners I’ve worked with over the years. These are faces of people who have worked all night fixing a dewa - tering system in -40F weather with a windchill of -55F. Or the welders and mechanics who worked all night out in the same weather to get a shovel re- paired. Or the blasters down on the pat- tern working outside all day every day. Or the safety coordinator who spent the weekend escorting MSHA on an unan- nounced inspection, instead of camp- ing with his family. Or the consultant outperforming wetland delineations in a cloud of mosquitos. Or the geolo- gist hiking through thick brush licking rocks. And I see the face of the placer miner who single-handedly handles the permitting, geology, safety, engi- neering, operating and maintaining! The faces of strong, tough people with incredible dedication are what I see. AMA’s role is to work just as hard, if not harder to defend and promote the right for these miners to continue to do their excellent work.
Bartly Kleven became president of the Alaska Miners Association in November. We took time to talk with her about her perspective on Alaska mining and her goals for AMA. How did you get started in mining, what do you do in your current job? I had an interest in the Environ- mental Field when I was in college. At that time, my university (Montana State University in Bozeman) did not offer a degree in Environmental Engineer- ing, so I studied Civil Engineering with an emphasis in environmental. (Yes, I was environment before environment was cool!) I returned to Alaska after re- ceiving my degree and went to work at Eielson Air Force base cleaning up con- taminated sites. My next job was as the Environmental Coordinator for the City of Fairbanks Municipal Utilities System where I set up the environmental pro- grams for the power plant, water plant, wastewater plant, public works facility and electric distribution system. When the city privatized the utilities, Usibelli Coal Mine bought the power plant. They offered me a job to look after the per - mits for the power plant and to learn about mining. I worked for Usibelli for 13 years where I had responsibility for the en- vironmental compliance work for the Aurora Energy Power Plant, the mine, and the port facility in Seward. Beyond environmental, I also got to put up new prill towers UCM and expand the district heat system for Aurora Energy. From there I was offered a job at Kinross Fort Knox as the Environmental Superinten - dent where I stayed for a year. I left for a three-year stint where I permitted an oil exploration project on BLM land (Umiat) in the Arctic. We found oil but there was not adequate pressure on the reservoir and by that time there was an opening for the Environmental Manager position at Fort Knox. I am now the Director of Environ- mental Affairs for Kinross Alaska. My primary responsibility is to ensure we are in strict environmental compliance with our existing permits. My second- ary responsibility is to permit expansion projects the company is proposing to undertake in Alaska.
Photo Courtesy Bartly Kleven
Bartly with her children, Carson and Shayne at Mount Rushmore.
Where did you grow up? I was born in Montana, but my fami- ly moved to Chugiak, Alaska in the early seventies when I was a small child. My father was an engineer who worked on the pipeline and my mom was a teacher. My mom still lives in the same house I grew up in to this day. My brother and his family live in Anchorage. Who was your mentor in this industry and what did they teach you that remains true today? My first boss in mining was Steve Denton at UCM. He taught me that if you have a big project to complete to set a date and stick to it no matter what. I put this lesson into action when I per- mitted the Gilmore and Gil expansions for Fort Knox. I recently completed an - other large permitting project where I had to lead about forty internal and for- ty external (consultants) to complete a complex, multi-disciplinary project on a very expedited schedule by a date cer- tain. I advertised that date early and of- ten, and then we checked in as a group on a scheduled basis. We met the due date with six hours to spare! My most recent supervisor has been Jeremy Brans at Kinross. Very early on
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The Alaska Miner
Spring 2022
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