Sealaska Regional Native Corporation owns about 25-thousand acres of subsurface mining rights in an area being contested by the City and Borough of Juneau and Petersburg.
The area includes Hobart Bay, where Juneau’s Native Corporation Goldbelt owns 30-thousand surface acres.
Sealaska Vice President Rick Harris says the company will follow Goldbelt’s lead in commenting on the dispute.
“We’ll support them in whatever way is necessary to achieve a result that’s best for Goldbelt’s shareholders and also our shareholders,” says Harris.
Juneau plans to file a competing petition to Petersburg’s proposed borough boundaries, which includes land previously slated for annexation to the CBJ.
So far, Goldbelt hasn’t expressed a preference for which borough, if any, the corporation’s land should be in. Earlier this month, Goldbelt Vice President Derek Duncan sent a letter to the state’s Local Boundary Commission saying it would make a statement in the near future.
Harris says sand rock and gravel are quite prevalent in Hobart Bay, and that some precious metals are nearby.
“We don’t believe that it’s on our property,” Harris says. “We think that if there’s any precious metals, they’re actually to the north of our property.”
October 26th is the deadline to submit competing petitions and opposing briefs to the state’s Local Boundary Commission on Petersburg’s proposed borough.
The CBJ Assembly plans to introduce an ordinance Monday to make its petition official.
