Canadian mine wins approval without raising fears in Alaska

JUNEAU -- Canadian mine regulators have given environmental approval to a new mine that drains into Alaska's Misty Fjords National Monument, but unique attributes of the Brucejack Mine mean that it has not raised the same concerns as several other transboundary mines.

The Brucejack project is located in an area that drains into the Unuk River, important for salmon production, and which eventually flows into Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

Unlike other British Columbia mines, such as the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM), Tulsequah Chief and Red Chris, the Brucejack has not raised major concerns in Alaska, said Kyle Moselle, large mine coordinator for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

The project is located directly east of Wrangell, and about 40 miles north of Hyder in Alaska and Stewart in British Columbia.

The determination from the federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency that the Brucejack would not likely have significant adverse impacts follows similar determinations from the Province of British Columbia and clears the way for construction to begin, though various permits and additional financing are still needed.

The KSM Mine, just a few miles from the Brucejack, has raised concerns in Southeast. Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott held two days of meetings in Juneau recently with tribal, fishing, environmental and other groups about how to respond.

But the KSM and Brucejack mines are different, say Moselle and others. The KSM is a huge, open-pit mine targeting lower concentrations of ore. The Brucejack is an underground mine targeting higher value metals, mostly gold and silver.

But diminished environmental concerns have even more to do with the issue of tailings disposal. While Alaskans have feared collapse of tailings dams, heightened by the collapse of the Mount Polley Mine's tailings dam a year ago, that's not how Brucejack will dispose of its tailings.

"It's next door, relatively speaking to the KSM, but the Brucejack is much different," Moselle said.

The Brucejack will dispose of some of its tailings as backfill to mine tunnels.

Canadian mine regulators have also approved disposal of the remaining waste rock in a high mountain lake near the mine.

"It's a natural deep lake, so there's no need for a dam," he said.

The environmental group Rivers Without Borders has raised strong concerns about Canadian mines and what they call inadequate regulation from British Columbia, but agreed the Brucejack doesn't raise the same level of fear as KSM and the others.

"If it was just the Brucejack in that area we wouldn't be as concerned, but there is the cumulative effect of so many mines coming so fast," said Chris Zimmer, the group's Alaska campaign director.

Disposal of tailings in the lake "certainly is not good for the lake," he said, but that's an issue for Canadians that doesn't raise concerns in Alaska, he said.

The group is counting on Canadian regulators to monitor possible arsenic and heavy metal pollution from the lake, he said.

Brucejack is one of two British Columbia mines being developed by Vancouver-based Pretium Resources. In reports filed with securities regulators in the United States and Canada it projected it needed $750 million in capital to fully develop the mine over an expected life of 18 years.

It reports having invested more than $448 million so far on acquisition, exploration and engineering on the mine, which will take additional financing to go into production.

In addition to the environmental approvals, Pretium has also recently announced a cooperation and benefits agreement with the Nisga'a Nation, a tribal organization in British Columbia, which it said would provide for a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.