Faces of Mining
Kaleb Froehlich Managing Director, Ambler Metals
In each issue of The Alaska Miner, we recognize a member of our Alaska mining community. This is- sue we are interviewing Kaleb Froehlich, Manag- ing Director for Ambler Metals.
Who was your mentor in this in- dustry and what did they teach you that remains true today? My background has been in the mining legal and policy area, and I have learned extensively from Jim Clark, former Chief of Staff to Governor Murkowski. As a fellow Juneauite and political appointee, Jim has taught me how to build bridges with stakeholders, com- munities, tribal organizations, mining companies and environ- mental groups in order to move projects forward. Jim’s consistent engagement has been felt by mining projects across our great state, and espe- cially in Southeast Alaska. Jim especially taught me the value of hard work and dedica- tion within the mining (and oth- er natural resources) community and how we, as Alaskans, must work together to develop our re- sources. We have to be creative in our problem solving, often over- coming the challenging bureau- cracy in Washington, D.C. De- veloping our resources isn’t easy, but it is important that we do it right while acknowledging that we have the right to do it under the Statehood Act and ANILCA. What brought you to mining in the first place? I first started working on min - ing issues as the Senior Repub- lican Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources. It was incredible to be a part of mining policy day in and day out and I was able to gain a quick understanding of the importance of the mining indus- try to Alaska’s and our country’s economy as well as the import- ant national security role that the mining industry plays for our na- tion.
Kaleb with his father, Peter, and brother, Ephraim, on the Tustumena Ferry.
Growing up in Juneau, I was always keenly aware of the ben- efits the mining industry pro - vided my community and region. Many of my friends growing up in Juneau ended up working for Greens Creek or Kensington. You can't overstate the importance of the industry to the State of Alas- ka. The jobs have been incredi- bly important for all of Southeast Alaska. What was one experience you will never forget? One of my proudest accom- plishments as Chief of Staff for Senator Murkowski was the work we did to move the Willow Project
forward for Alaska. This project will bring thou- sands of direct and indirect jobs to our state at an important time. I will never forget the White House meetings that I was able to join with our full Congressional Del- egation and top Administration officials where each delegation member made incredibly power- ful points about why resource de- velopment is so important to our State. The Willow Project gives a blueprint on how to move im- portant economic development projects forward for Alaska and I
CONTINUED on PAGE 18
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The Alaska Miner
Summer 2024
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