The state approved the first segment of a new access road for the controversial New Amalga gold mine in Juneau on Tuesday, after the vast majority of public comments opposed the project.
The approval comes just a few weeks after the mine secured a fast federal permitting process and would be located at the face of Herbert Glacier. It’s proposed by Grande Portage Resources, Ltd., a Canadian junior mining company.
The 1.3 mile-long gravel road and helicopter pads will cut through forest and wetlands. It’s a popular recreation area, between Herbert River and Eagle River — just off of Glacier Highway, around mile 27.
The road would allow the company to stage drilling supplies and transportation to the proposed mine, which is on U.S. Forest Service land. This summer, the Forest Service cancelled a popular public-use cabin project due to “conflicting uses” of the proposed mine.
According to the public notice, this will be the first segment of road that will eventually reach the mine site if the Forest Service authorizes the company’s mineral extraction plan in the Tongass National Forest. Grande Portage plans to run about 72 ore trucks per day from the mine site to an ore barge dock about 20 miles north at the controversial Cascade Point terminal.
The state received 196 public comments. About 90% opposed the road.
“I would be heartbroken and angry to see this habitat destroyed to only benefit a foreign mining company,” wrote Juneau resident Kimberly Valverde in public comment.
Most commenters took issue with noise and habitat disruption that the road and eventual mine could bring to the recreation area, and criticized a piecemeal approach to approving parts of the mining project before considering its cumulative impacts.
Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson, president of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, commented concerns on behalf of the tribe. He wrote that building the road now “risks committing the landscape to industrial development before the full consequences of a potential mine and associated developments are analyzed.”
Peterson also requested government-to-government consultation, which the state denied and said it’s “outside the state’s purview.”
Some 20 commenters wrote in support of the project and the mine that might come down the road.
Including Rebecca Parks, executive director of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce.
“Projects like New Amalga have the potential to contribute to long-term economic activity in Juneau, Alaska, while operating within Alaska’s strong environmental and regulatory framework, providing a much-needed additional tax base for our schools and local economy,” Parks wrote.
The federal government has not yet posted a timeline for evaluating the mining proposal.
