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That's all well and good " rock collecting as a hobby" but for Pete sake you don't need to lead a company with shareholder's money to support a hobby. My confidence is decreasing by the day in this company and yes I'm expecting the flipper cheerleaders to tell me to sell now if I'm unhappy with LBSR's performance we have all heard it before time is passing and JB and the boys our playing with there rocks in there parents basement eating twinkie's while the shareholders are being informed by tweets looking at an unprofessionally prepared website that apparently isn't important to the upper management. Sorry everyone we are funding a hobby not a company that has even an ounce of consideration to the shareholders who pay for there hobbies. It's TIME do something or do nothing but at least have the descency to tell the shareholders the truth. Oh and Tracy I hear the local crooked bank needs a receptionist able to decieve there clientel you should be a shoe in.
Well Larry, Briscoe and the rest still at this point are not considering market cap/ shareholder value certainly on purpose, so my thoughts are as follows, those that have made there money here are gone, those hoping to make money here are hoping to someday I'm one of those people why all the twist and turns and dead ends are beyond my comprehension. Hope for the best prepare for the worst. LBSR at this point has nothing at this point of any value until real drilling takes place and it doesn't seem they are to aggressive about doing just that. Pray! Glta longs we will need it.
Pebble: Supreme Court grants state's emergency review, amicus motions
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/pebble-supreme-court-grants-states-emergency-review-amicus-motions
by dylan.e.mcfarlane | August 3, 2011 - 5:59pm
0
votes
+Vote up! -Vote down!
"Poor and dangerous mining practices" is a common fear promoted by anti-Pebble activists. But those practices are never made clear, or how they relate to the Alaskan scientists currently working on the project.
Failed operations are suggested as the norm, such as at Butte. Here in Alaska was recently witnessed the failure of Rock Creek in Nome. A good idea but poorly executed and currently no mine in operation. However, I encourage everyone reading to investigate Red Dog, Fort Knox, Pogo, Usibelli, Kensington, and Greens Creek, and give me clear evidence that Alaskans (Native and Non-Native, Rural and Urban) cannot operate a successful, large-scale mining operation. I believe we can, and we do, and I support the continued studies of the economics and engineering of mining the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit.
Or maybe more people will be forced to work on government subsidies, oil companies, and fishermen will lie more about the by-catch they sell illegally...
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/pebble-mine-girl-alaskas-most-unlikely-celebrity
http://m.juneauempire.com/state/2011-08-02/pebble-mine-going-states-highest-court-move-try-and-block-borough-proposition
Wednesday, Aug 3, 2011
Pebble Mine going to state's highest court in move to try and block borough proposition
By Mary Pemberton
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Didn't need MLV's help for this announcement! Hmm what's next?
Pacific Ridge Appoints Director and Grants StockOptions
July 29, 2011 08:30 AM EDT
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/29/11 -- Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: PEX) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has appointed Bruce Youngman as a director of the Company. Mr. Youngman has thirty years of experience in the minerals industry. From 2008 to 2010, he was President and COO of Canplats Resources Corporation, during which time the 4 million ounce Camino Rojo deposit in Mexico was outlined and the company acquired by Goldcorp Inc. for $300 million. Mr. Youngman previously held senior positions with Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., including President, Vice-President and Director, and was closely involved in the acquisition and expansion of the Pebble Gold-Copper Porphyry Project in Alaska. Mr. Youngman graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the University of British Columbia. He is currently Chairman and Director of Strategic Metals Ltd. and Director of ATAC Resources Ltd.
The Company has granted incentive stock options to Mr. Youngman to purchase 200,000 common shares at an exercise price of $0.61 per share exercisable for a period of five years. The options vest as to 50% on the date of grant and 50% in one year, subject to the terms and conditions of the Company's stock option plan. The options are subject to acceptance for filing by the TSX Venture Exchange.
http://opensource.sys-con.com/node/1926812
s4s you must either be the youngest Grandfather ever to exist or you think LBSR and Briscoe have our best interest at heart and will get this show on the road in short order. I hope your plan happens for all our sake we are all getting grey waiting. Briscoe is 69 let's hope he remembers that!
Is this new or old? If new great, if old good reminder! Everyone hang in there!
Liberty Star seeks well capitalized joint venture partners to further explore and develope the Big Chunk Super Project. More than one globally important mining company has signed letters of confidentiality to review Big Chunk data through Liberty Star's secured website.
Last paragraph on website home page
Larry Liang's other position:
http://investuseb5.com/about-invest-u-s/who-we-are
MLV believes that there is substantial hidden value in emerging or growing companies in a variety of industry sectors. Discovery, innovation, and translation into marketable products very often happen at smaller to mid-size companies that create disruptive technologies with the potential to drive significant market changes. Earlier investors in companies with new ideas and the capability to create substantial added value stand to reap the greatest benefits from their investment. Don't sell!
10-4 Banks, some folks around here think Briscoe is a god they have fell in love with him and LBSR, I could care less about Briscoe, Tracy etc.., it's about making money period. Let's get this thing going!!!!
Let's get this show on the road!!!! At this pace were lible to ride commodity prices to the highest highs and watch others take the market without ever fully taken advantage of it! Briscoe don't let NAK handcuff you and all the LBSR shareholders! Good luck to all longs, flippers go to hell!!!!
Finally a smart article!
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/07/big-green-pharaohs-want-more-bricks-no-straw
Let's all hope they don't let this summer pass us by without drilling BCSP!!!!
You folks make me laugh, last chance, last chance, please I'm thinking we all own sand at this point no matter how tight lipped a company is the street usually gets a whiff of what's going on apparently LBSR is not very impressive at this point, I hope we just didn't get the shaft from our so called leadership of our company. This isn't exciting it's very sad! Now the replies I'll receive is sell your shares it's a free country that is true but I hold a little hope that we may reach a market cap of at least 100 million by the fall if we haven't been duped all ready by the pump and dump clan. Good day oh yeah Load Up it's your last chance! Ha
K-9 it certainly isn't everyone but it's is going on and I know it's part of trading but it's discouraging, hope uncle John drops a bomb soon, to take out those who are playing games with this stock. Time will tell.
Well spoken, it's time to take this junior mining company seriously!!!
Volume and positive SP action tomorrow? Maybe LBSR will issue an additional PR before the bell tomorrow. Glta
Hope it's a hurricane, trade cat. 5!
This might be a stretch, could be the beginning of infrastructure support for the Pebble. Hmm
http://homertribune.com/2011/06/high-speed-buzz-line/
S4 surprisingly enough, the comments to the local paper are predominately pro process, most reasonable folks want to see the process and study's before shutting down the project. The sentiment of the Alaskan people has been changing the past few months from the position of NO mine to let's see how the studies play out. GLTA
Pebble Partnership suit could stifle Bristol Bay residents
http://www.adn.com/2011/05/28/1888109/pebble-partnership-suit-could.html
U.S. Senators introduce bipartisan Critical Minerals Policy Act
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page72068?oid=128038&sn=Detail&pid=102055
Please everyone be Cautiously optimistic, all this cheerleading was done on it's way to .19 also stay grounded so these boards can continue to support good DD. Enjoy the rise but don't take your eye off the ball. GLTA
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page72068?oid=127840&sn=Detail&pid=102055
U.S. House Subcommittee told foreign minerals dependence costs jobs, threatens natl. security
Without increased domestic exploration, significant declines in U.S. mineral production are unavoidable as reserves are exhausted, said House Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Wednesday , 25 May 2011
RENO, NV -
U.S. House Subcommittee told foreign minerals dependence costs jobs, threatens natl. security
Dorothy Kosich
Without increased domestic exploration, significant declines in U.S. mineral production are unavoidable as reserves are exhausted, said House Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado.
RENO, NV
Witnesses before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources' hearing on strategic and critical minerals policy warned that federal policies are restricting production of strategic and critical minerals and the negative consequences of America's reliance on foreign countries for these minerals.
Consultant Robert H. Latiff, who chaired the National Academies' Committee on Assessing the Need for a National Defense Stockpile, stressed "it is not only the rare earth materials about which we should be concerned, but also a broader range of important critical materials."
"We must also pay more attention to the importance of critical material recycling and at least not dismiss, out of hand, a consideration of stockpiling, when appropriate," he said.
"While clearly we must have access to the materials, we also need to have facilities and an ability to process those raw materials once we have them and be able to manufacture a product with the resulting processed materials," Latiff stressed. "Assuring an ability to mitigate supply disruptions seems to be a necessary but obviously insufficient activity if we are then forced to depend on foreign sources of materials processing and manufacturing, which could be just as easily disrupted."
Daniel McGroary, president of newly launched American Resource Policy Network, emphasized that mining projects developed in the U.S. are "likely to be conducted with higher standards of safety, against stronger environmental structures, with better benefits to the surrounding communities than projects in many parts of the world. And projects developed here will lessen if not eliminate the ‘surety of supply' issue and fear of materials disruptions."
MIT Professor of Theoretical Physics Dr. Robert Jaffe warned, "If appropriate steps are not taken, we face possible disruptive short-term constraints on supply of some elements that are not presently mined, refined, or traded in large quantities, but are critical to the deployment of potentially game-changing energy technologies."
"Casualties might include things ranging from important petroleum refinery catalysts to state-of-the-art wind turbines or market competitive solar panels," he predicted.
However, Jaffe stressed that mining alone will not solve the problem. "Many ECE [Energy Critical Elements] are simply not found here in economically viable deposits, and others are produced more efficiently - for a variety of reasons - by other countries. Free international trade with a diverse set of suppliers works to everyone's advantage."
Jaffe, who chaired a study of Energy Critical Elements on behalf of the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society, said the study recommended:
1) The government should closely monitor worldwide resources and make that information accessible to U.S. industries and labs.
2) The government should also promote fundamental research aimed at the twin goals of increasing supplies and decreasing our dependence on ECEs.
3) The government could help increase recycling of ECEs by enabling greater consumer awareness and industry could stimulate it by providing consumer incentives.
Hal Quinn, CEO of the National Mining Association, noted that "the U.S. import dependence for key mineral commodities has doubled in the span of two decades."
"America's drift away from greater self-sufficiency for the basic building blocks of our economy compromises our economic and national security and ignores this country's rich reserves of metals and minerals," he said. "It is time for policymakers to meet head-on the larger issue of how our country can produce more domestic minerals to meet a greater share of our needs."
In his testimony, Quinn observed that while the U.S. "has one of the world's greater mineral repositories, our ability to get these minerals into the supply chain to help meet more of America's needs is threatened. Numerous public policies have placed high hurdles in our lane of the global race to remain competitive."
Among the hurdles referred to by Quinn are restrictions on federal land access, as well as the struggle of U.S. mining "under the world's highest statutory taxation rate."
Quinn also objected to decade-long U.S. regulatory hurdles, particularly permit delays that he asserted "pose the highest hurdle for domestic mining. ...If commodity cycles are historically 20 years in duration, the 10 years it takes to obtain permits leaves U.S. mining still in the starting blocks with the race half way over."
Finally, as Congress seeks long-term solutions and strategies to address domestic mineral needs, Quinn stressed "it must also consider that many of today's emerging technologies rely on combinations of a variety of different minerals-not just single commodities. As new applications are found, markets for mineral commodities will expand considerably along with demand."
U.S. Magnetic Materials Association President Ed Richardson suggested a "manufacturing first" approach to mitigate U.S. dependency on unreliable foreign suppliers. This strategy would establish a domestic capability to manufacture rare earth end products, such as permanent magnets, through "incentivizing U.S. commercial involvement in the end-to-end value chain, leveraging materials available from trusted ally nations like Australia and the United Kingdom, and giving defense component manufacturers an alternative to Chinese suppliers."
Dr. Roderick Eggert, division director of the Colorado School of Mines Division of Economics and Business, also stressed that the issues involving strategic and critical materials "are broader than rare earths, despite the prominence of rare earths in the news over the last year."
Second, Eggert stressed that "each element has its own story, and import dependence by itself need not be risky."
Third, "markets are responding, but time lags can be significant," he observed.
However, Eggert suggested there are essential roles for government in ensuring mineral availability over the longer terms and reliability of suppliers over the short to medium term including:
--Encouraging undistorted international trade by fighting policies of exporting nations that restrict raw-materials exports to the detriment of users of these materials.
--Improving regulatory approval for domestic resource development. "I am not suggesting that mines be given preferential treatment, rather than attention be focused on developing better ways to assess and make decisions about the various commercial, environmental and social considerations of project development."
--Facilitating the provision of information and analysis.
--Facilitating education and research.
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Interesting read!
http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/052011/loc_lkpswe.shtml
GLTA!
I think we can all agree on the CEO's "accomplishments" as a geologist, the predominant question these last couple of weeks is whether he is as cerebral when it comes to shareholder value. Time will tell. GLTA
http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/050611/loc_mieca.shtml
Mining in Alaska, something I'm hoping someday we play a role in.
That a boy Skell!
This is all bs trading no volume trying to shake the tree again. Greedy scum!
May 6th, 2011 4:28 am | Alaska Newspapers Staff | Share this
New nonprofit advocates for resource development
A new nonprofit organization based in Anchorage says it is advocating for a sustainable economy in Bristol Bay via responsible resource development through due process.
"We want to do something that will provide jobs in the region year round, and that comes on the cusp of supporting responsible resource development through due process, not just Pebble," said Abe Williams, president of Nuna Resources Inc.
While the nonprofit's website makes no specific mention of the proposed Pebble mine, individual members of its board are proponents of examining the possibilities of what the mine could do for the region.
Williams, a resident of King Salmon, is also the president of Paug-Vik Corp., an Alaska Native corporation based in Naknek, whose subsidiary, Paug-Vik Development Corp., offers a range of construction and environmental services in rural Alaska.
He grew up in a family of Bristol Bay commercial fish harvesters, but, he said, "that only happens for a certain period of time through the summer. For the rest of the year, the dollars are gone. The locals feel the hardship from not having jobs."
Williams said he has been meeting with community tribal leaders and talking with individuals and business owners about supporting the permitting process for the copper, gold and molybdenum mine that the Pebble Limited Partnership wants to build at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed.
The reaction, he said, has been mixed.
"The permitting process will be the key to deciding that maybe this can co-exist with the area it is projected for," he said. "The whole scare process that it can destroy a fishery is atrocious to me."
The Pebble Limited Partnership is the sole financial contributor to Nuna Resources at this time, Williams said. Once Nuna Development is approved by federal authorities as a nonprofit, they hope to apply for grants from foundations, he said.
Mike Heatwole, a spokesman for the Pebble Limited Partnership, said he has "periodic conversations with all of their folks (at Nuna Resources). They have an important voice to be heard."
Williams and Heatwole declined to say how much of a contribution had been made to Nuna Resources, but Heatwole did say that primary funding for the Pebble Limited Partnership is coming from Anglo American, which is partnered in the exploration project with Northern Dynasty Minerals.
Heatwole announced last week that the partnership plans to spend $91 million during the 2011 work season, to develop a prefeasibility study, all part of the process needed to gain permits needed to develop the mine. To date more than $400 million has been invested in the project, he said.
Trefon Angasan, a Nuna Resources board member and chairman of the Alaska Peninsula Corp., said he sees the mine as an opportunity. "We have seen tremendous benefit in that because if they are spending that kind of money trying to figure out what's on our land, we have that data base as a storehouse for us. We don't have to reinvent the wheel.
"Alaska Peninsula Corp. owns land adjacent to the prospect. We will have a better idea of what our lands hold, on what the environmental baseline is on our lands," he said. "It's a collateral benefit. Newhalen is our shareholder base. The tribe has an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with Pebble for jobs now.
"Raymond Wasillee is our agent on the ground in Newhalen. He is the tribal chief of Newhalen. His role is to find people jobs."
Wasillee is also a board member of Nuna Resources.
Angasan said he is also concerned with proposed regulations to stop the Pebble mine because he feels they will have an adverse impact on Alaska Peninsula Corp.'s ability to develop lands acquired under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
"We can no longer afford to do business if we have to go through the barriers that would be thrown at us because of new regulations to stop Pebble, which are going to be too cost-prohibitive for us to develop small projects," he said. Angasan declined to say what any of those projects would be.
Angasan has been a consultant to the Pebble Limited Partnership for quite some time, Heatwole said, and "we have tried to work with the village corporations, on everything from environmental services to helicopter services," he said. The partnership also works on contracts with the Iliamna Development Corp., whose chief executive officer, Lisa Reimers, serves on the board of Nuna Resources.
The proposed mine itself continues to be the center of a national public relations campaign, with proponents, including mining concerns and some Alaska Native village firms, arguing for its economic potential and opponents, including other Alaska Native firms, commercial fishermen, major jewelry firms, investors and chefs, concerned about adverse affects the mine could have on the Bristol Bay fishery, a world class salmon run.
Reimers said this is in large part the reason for creating Nuna Resources. Many who have come out against the proposed mine don't live in the Bristol Bay region. And many who live in the region who support consideration of Pebble as a viable economic resource for a depressed region don't feel like they're being heard.
"Our village corporation, Iliamna Natives Limited, and the Lake and Peninsula support Pebble's right to go through the permitting process," Reimers said. "When you hear groups like Nunamta Aulukestai speaking, they don't represent us all. We represent ourselves. That's why we created Nuna Resources."
Nuna Resources has drawn criticism from Nunamta Aulukestai, (Caretakers of our Lands), based in Dillingham and funded by member Alaska Native Village corporations, based in Dillingham, Ekwok, Koliganek, New Stuyahok, Clarks Point, Aleknagik, Togiak, and Manokotak.
In an open letter to residents of the Bristol Bay region, Nunamta Aulukestai noted that both Angasan and Reimers have close financial ties to the mining company, "so if you get contacted by Nuna Resources, rest assured you really are getting a message from Pebble Partnership and Anglo American," wrote Bobby Andrew, a spokesman for Nunamta Aulukestai, and Kimberly Williams, executive director.
Reimers said that Andrew's group should be honest about where its money is coming from.
"Nunamta Aulukestai's not accurate in saying that their funding comes from tribes and village corporations exclusively," Reimers said. "Money may be flowing through these tribes and village corporations, but the funding is coming from outside the region."
May 6th, 2011 4:28 am | Alaska Newspapers Staff | Share this
New nonprofit advocates for resource development
A new nonprofit organization based in Anchorage says it is advocating for a sustainable economy in Bristol Bay via responsible resource development through due process.
"We want to do something that will provide jobs in the region year round, and that comes on the cusp of supporting responsible resource development through due process, not just Pebble," said Abe Williams, president of Nuna Resources Inc.
While the nonprofit's website makes no specific mention of the proposed Pebble mine, individual members of its board are proponents of examining the possibilities of what the mine could do for the region.
Williams, a resident of King Salmon, is also the president of Paug-Vik Corp., an Alaska Native corporation based in Naknek, whose subsidiary, Paug-Vik Development Corp., offers a range of construction and environmental services in rural Alaska.
He grew up in a family of Bristol Bay commercial fish harvesters, but, he said, "that only happens for a certain period of time through the summer. For the rest of the year, the dollars are gone. The locals feel the hardship from not having jobs."
Williams said he has been meeting with community tribal leaders and talking with individuals and business owners about supporting the permitting process for the copper, gold and molybdenum mine that the Pebble Limited Partnership wants to build at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed.
The reaction, he said, has been mixed.
"The permitting process will be the key to deciding that maybe this can co-exist with the area it is projected for," he said. "The whole scare process that it can destroy a fishery is atrocious to me."
The Pebble Limited Partnership is the sole financial contributor to Nuna Resources at this time, Williams said. Once Nuna Development is approved by federal authorities as a nonprofit, they hope to apply for grants from foundations, he said.
Mike Heatwole, a spokesman for the Pebble Limited Partnership, said he has "periodic conversations with all of their folks (at Nuna Resources). They have an important voice to be heard."
Williams and Heatwole declined to say how much of a contribution had been made to Nuna Resources, but Heatwole did say that primary funding for the Pebble Limited Partnership is coming from Anglo American, which is partnered in the exploration project with Northern Dynasty Minerals.
Heatwole announced last week that the partnership plans to spend $91 million during the 2011 work season, to develop a prefeasibility study, all part of the process needed to gain permits needed to develop the mine. To date more than $400 million has been invested in the project, he said.
Trefon Angasan, a Nuna Resources board member and chairman of the Alaska Peninsula Corp., said he sees the mine as an opportunity. "We have seen tremendous benefit in that because if they are spending that kind of money trying to figure out what's on our land, we have that data base as a storehouse for us. We don't have to reinvent the wheel.
"Alaska Peninsula Corp. owns land adjacent to the prospect. We will have a better idea of what our lands hold, on what the environmental baseline is on our lands," he said. "It's a collateral benefit. Newhalen is our shareholder base. The tribe has an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with Pebble for jobs now.
"Raymond Wasillee is our agent on the ground in Newhalen. He is the tribal chief of Newhalen. His role is to find people jobs."
Wasillee is also a board member of Nuna Resources.
Angasan said he is also concerned with proposed regulations to stop the Pebble mine because he feels they will have an adverse impact on Alaska Peninsula Corp.'s ability to develop lands acquired under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
"We can no longer afford to do business if we have to go through the barriers that would be thrown at us because of new regulations to stop Pebble, which are going to be too cost-prohibitive for us to develop small projects," he said. Angasan declined to say what any of those projects would be.
Angasan has been a consultant to the Pebble Limited Partnership for quite some time, Heatwole said, and "we have tried to work with the village corporations, on everything from environmental services to helicopter services," he said. The partnership also works on contracts with the Iliamna Development Corp., whose chief executive officer, Lisa Reimers, serves on the board of Nuna Resources.
The proposed mine itself continues to be the center of a national public relations campaign, with proponents, including mining concerns and some Alaska Native village firms, arguing for its economic potential and opponents, including other Alaska Native firms, commercial fishermen, major jewelry firms, investors and chefs, concerned about adverse affects the mine could have on the Bristol Bay fishery, a world class salmon run.
Reimers said this is in large part the reason for creating Nuna Resources. Many who have come out against the proposed mine don't live in the Bristol Bay region. And many who live in the region who support consideration of Pebble as a viable economic resource for a depressed region don't feel like they're being heard.
"Our village corporation, Iliamna Natives Limited, and the Lake and Peninsula support Pebble's right to go through the permitting process," Reimers said. "When you hear groups like Nunamta Aulukestai speaking, they don't represent us all. We represent ourselves. That's why we created Nuna Resources."
Nuna Resources has drawn criticism from Nunamta Aulukestai, (Caretakers of our Lands), based in Dillingham and funded by member Alaska Native Village corporations, based in Dillingham, Ekwok, Koliganek, New Stuyahok, Clarks Point, Aleknagik, Togiak, and Manokotak.
In an open letter to residents of the Bristol Bay region, Nunamta Aulukestai noted that both Angasan and Reimers have close financial ties to the mining company, "so if you get contacted by Nuna Resources, rest assured you really are getting a message from Pebble Partnership and Anglo American," wrote Bobby Andrew, a spokesman for Nunamta Aulukestai, and Kimberly Williams, executive director.
Reimers said that Andrew's group should be honest about where its money is coming from.
"Nunamta Aulukestai's not accurate in saying that their funding comes from tribes and village corporations exclusively," Reimers said. "Money may be flowing through these tribes and village corporations, but the funding is coming from outside the region."
While Heatwole said signs now point to Pebble going ahead with the project, he said "quite a bit of scrutiny and work" remains before any construction could begin, let alone operations. He estimates it will take about three years for the company to work its way through the federal permitting process.
Interesting someone knows the judges decision?
Alaska: Pebble Mine taking step toward permitting
By BECKY BOHRER
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JUNEAU, ALASKA
A world-class gold-and-mine prospect near the headwaters of Bristol Bay is moving one step closer to the permitting phase.
On Monday, a spokesman for Pebble Limited Partnership, Mike Heatwole, said a $91 million work program is scheduled for this year, with the main objective being to create a detailed project description and proposal for developing the deposit that will serve as a precursor to seeking project permits.
The so-called "prefeasibility study" is expected to be completed sometime next year, he said.
Another important piece required before seeking permits is an environmental baseline, Heatwole said. Hundreds of scientists contributed to Pebble's baseline report, which is essentially an inventory of water, soil, wildlife, fish and other resources in the area. He said the company plans to make that report public later this year.
The proposed Pebble Mine is at the heart of an intense public relations campaign, with supporters touting its job-creating potential and opponents fearing it could have a devastating impact on the environment and way of life in rural Alaska.
Bristol Bay is home to a premier commercial sockeye salmon fishery. By one preliminary assessment, the project has the potential to produce 53 billion pounds of copper, 50 million ounces of gold and 2.8 billion pounds of molybdenum over nearly eight decades while developing just over half the known resource.
While Heatwole said signs now point to Pebble going ahead with the project, he said "quite a bit of scrutiny and work" remains before any construction could begin, let alone operations. He estimates it will take about three years for the company to work its way through the federal permitting process.
Pebble anticipates needing hundreds of permits -- roughly 100 just for a road corridor -- to operate.
Rick Halford, a former state legislator and mine opponent, is worried the permitting process won't be sufficient for a project of this scale. When it comes to mines, he said the proposed Pebble project "overwhelms everything that's ever been proposed in Alaska, combined."
He also worries about the availability of objective science, calling Pebble's reports "contracted science based from the advocates."
"The state and the federal government have to have the resources to verify that this can be done safely," he said, "or it shouldn't be done."
http://m.juneauempire.com/state/2011-05-02/may-10-be-mining-day-alaska
Have a great day everyone!