Photo Courtesy Red Dog Mine
village corporations. There are also implications for schools in the Northwest Arctic Bor - ough and for the borough itself with the end of Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes, or PILT, to support local government from current mining. This will almost surely be replaced by a PILT Teck will negotiate for the new underground mine. Geologists say there are oth - er zinc deposits the area, so that over time several mines could be developed. The zinc mineralization trend also ex - tends north into the southern National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, where gov - ernment geologists have found miner - alization. The southern NPR-A is now closed to mineral exploration, but this could change with new policies for the reserve now being implemented by President Donald Trump.
or AIDEA, which owns the present ac - cess road from the Red Dog Mine to ore storage and marine loading facilities on the Chukchi Sea coast. AIDEA financed the road and port in the late 1980 and is now paid a toll by Teck Alaska, the mine operator, for use of the road and port. The possible production of ad - ditional lead and zinc ore from Teck’s new mine beyond 2031 will extend the use of AIDEA’s facilities, bringing con - tinued revenues to the authority. The pending closure of the main Red Dog Mine creates challenges, however. The end of shared mining royalties from the current mine ,under terms of the 1971 Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act, will be a hardship for smaller ANSCA village corporations in the state. They have been able to use the revenue to pay basic administra - tive costs including for management and security on lands owned by the
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the use of facilities at Red Dog partly owned by NANA, such as the ore pro - cess mill. NANA support contractors would also be involved. NANA shareholders now working at Red Dog (more than half of the mine workers) will be able to work at the new mine, although different skills are needed for underground mining so training will be needed. The jobs for local residents at Red Dog have made the mine a shining example of the economic benefit that mining can bring to rural areas of Alaska. Prior to Red Dog, Northwest Alaska was one of the more economically depressed parts of the state. High-paying jobs at the mine changed that. New zinc development will also benefit the state’s Alaska Industri - al Development and Export Authority,
— Tim Bradner
THE LINK: SUMMER 2025
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