I agree, never had a chance in the alaska waters , never was any leases available , alaska pulled all existing leases except 1 that was being worked enough to prove up a little , norm stiles from nome owned that lease ,and that leases expires this year and can't be bought or renewed ,,, the state was mad because all the old existing leases holders were just holding paper , alaska wanted them working to provide jobs and some income for the state , as the state gets a percentage of gross ,, will be 2-3 years , at least , before they auction off leases again ,, maybe the big mining co.'s were behind pulling existing leases not being worked as the climbing price of precious metals may have brought in new operations ,, got to maintain control of volume and pricing ,,, anyone having a real interest in mining alaska coastal waters , give me a pm !!!! doinit !!!! imo , everything about alaska coastal mining had to be bogus because there were no leases available , hadn't been for some time and won't be for some time !!!!