Mining

Mine developers turn down mediated talks on tailings

Kensington Mine developers say they are not interested in taking part in mediated talks set up by a conservation group that sued to block their plans for disposing of mine tailings.

Termination orders cut Kensington Mine workforce in half

Half of the workers at the Kensington Mine near Juneau are losing their jobs because of layoffs.

Kensington Mine owners return to old tailings plan

Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. announced Tuesday it is abandoning its pursuit of an alternative tailings plan for the proposed Kensington gold mine north of Juneau.

Red Dog will build pipeline for wastewater

The company running the state's largest mine agreed Wednesday to pursue building a 55-mile pipeline costing tens of millions of dollars to route its wastewater to the Chukchi Sea, settling a pollution lawsuit that nearby villagers filed.

Vote shows which rural areas back mining

Alaska's mining industry has long claimed its greatest economic rewards occur in rural Alaska, where some of the state's richest natural resources are located and other job opportunities are scarce.

Measure 4 supporters regroup

The day after voters failed to pass Ballot Measure 4, initiative supporters were regrouping, trying to come up with strategy for fighting the mining industry and the Pebble Mine, a huge copper and gold deposit in Southwest Alaska near the world's most productive wild salmon streams.

Vote shows which rural areas back mining

Measure 4 failing by large margin

"No" votes took a big lead over "Yes" votes in the epic battle over Ballot Measure 4.

Commission says DNR mining initiative site needs fixes

FAIRBANKS -- The state's political watchdog agency says a Web site launched this week by the Department of Natural Resources on the mining ballot initiative does not have to be dismantled but must undergo changes.

Foes of mining measure still flush with cash

With the election four days away, the "vote no" side in the contentious and expensive battle over Ballot Measure 4 still has plenty of money left to spend.

ELECTION 2008

Neither side can agree on what Ballot Measure 4 says or will do

The war over Ballot Measure 4 has been reduced to slogans. The two sides don't agree on what the proposed law would do. They don't even agree on the plain meaning of sentences contained in the proposed law.

The proposed law

Alaskans for Clean Water

Alaskans Against the Mining Shutdown

The state's mining initiative Web site

Canada firm looks to reopen uranium mine

A company is spending $4 million this year on an exploration program at Bokan Mountain, the Prince of Wales Island site where Alaska's only producing uranium mine was in operation from 1957 to 1971.

ELECTION 2008

Millions spent on Measure 4 advertising

Turn on a TV or radio or open a newspaper. Somebody is gunning for a yes or no vote on Alaska's Ballot Measure 4. Who is paying for the ads? On one side, it's clear. But the other side is another story.

Blog: The Pebble Blog

Contractor fined $115,000 in worker deaths

A federal agency has fined a contractor in a deadly accident last year at Rock Creek Mine in Nome.

Red Dog operator asks judge to step in

It looks like the settlement between the Red Dog Mine and residents of Kivalina is falling apart. The mine operator asked a federal judge Friday to enforce an agreed-to and amended settlement of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit accusing the mine of discharging excess pollutants into a creek.

Both sides of Pebble fight throw money to lure voters

Alaskans are being deluged with TV, print and radio ads asking them to vote for or against Ballot Measure 4, which seeks voter approval for more water quality regulations for large mines.

Blog: The Pebble Blog

State biologist accepts Pebble job

A deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has agreed to take the top environmental post at the company seeking to develop the massive and controversial Pebble copper and gold prospect.

Mining ballot measure tough to sort out

The friends and foes of Ballot Measure 4, the proposed state law seeking tougher pollution standards for large, new mines, can't seem to find much to agree on.

State biologist accepts Pebble job

Blog: The Pebble Blog

State confident fish are protected

State mining coordinator Tom Crafford says he remains confident that ongoing exploration drilling at the proposed Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska will have no significant impact on fisheries resources.

Blog: The Pebble Blog

TIM BRADNER

Pebble company has history of helping out its neighbors

I had a chance to meet the director of Anglo American's corporate community development group recently, and I was frankly surprised to learn that one of the world's largest mining companies even does something like this.

Court OKs initiative for ballot

The Alaska Supreme Court issued a order Thursday allowing a "Clean Water" initiative to go on the statewide ballot in August.

Gold mine case on next-term docket

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to step into an environmental dispute over the disposing of mine tailings at the Kensington gold mine near Juneau.