Jet fuel goal of Tyonek coal to liquids 10/31/2010
Cook Inlet would be one of two major Accelergy initiatives in North America; in Pennsylvania coal, coal waste would become fuel
Tyonek Native Corp. has a memorandum of understanding with Accelergy Corp. for a coal-to-liquids project on the west side of Alaska's Cook Inlet (see story in Oct. 24 issue) aimed at turning the area'...

Mining News: Anti-coal groups descend on Utah to rally against Alaska's Chuitna Coal Project 11/22/2009
Sierra Club Alaska has joined several other environmental and anti-coal groups to hold a Nov. 12 rally in opposition to developing a coal mine at the Chuitna Project in Southcentral Alaska. Richard "...

Mining News: Greens threaten Seward coal dust suit 11/22/2009
Environmental groups' law firm plans to sue Usibelli affiliate and Alaska railroad for alleged clean water violations in Seward
Three environmental groups � Sierra Club Alaska Chapter, Alaska Center for the Environment and Alaska Community Action on Toxics � have threatened to file a lawsuit against Alaska Railroad Corp. and U...

Mining News: Recession walloped exploration spending 10/25/2009
As drought in available venture capital eases, miners seeking acquisitions would do well to accelerate the pace of purchases
As the active exploration season winds down in Alaska, both good news and bad is afoot and both sets of news turn out to be the same data. Double speak you say? Read on and judge for yourself. Halifa...

Mining News: Alaska mining project roundup 01/25/2009
Alaska saw robust mining activity in 2008 across the full spectrum of the industry, from small placer operations to major producers, and from exploration programs to advanced development projects. Her...

Mining News: Advanced stage exploration projects 10/26/2008
Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp.'s Kensington gold mine project, located about 45 miles northwest of Juneau, is expecting a Supreme Court ruling on its tailings permits in early 2009. If the court upholds th...

Mining News: When the dust settles... 10/26/2008
AMA director Borell predicts Alaska will become more attractive to mining companies and reflects on important events of 2008
Alaska's mining industry captured the attention, not only of Alaskans but also the country during the past year when a controversy over the proposed Pebble Project in Southwest Alaska bubbled to the s...

Mining News: Beluga whales may have to freeze in the dark 10/26/2008
Federal regulators roll out restrictive environmental policies that likely will strip protections from Alaska's mining industry
While resource development issues other than those offered in conjunction with the availability of affordable energy have gotten very little play during the presidential campaign, a few sub-rosa devel...

Agrium advancing Blue Sky project 12/16/2007
Phase two results for coal gasification plant to feed company's Nikiski, Alaska fertilizer plant expected in first quarter 2008
Agrium is continuing to progress its Blue Sky project for a coal gasification plant to feed the company's fertilizer plant on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. Agrium closed the Nikiski fertilizer plant in De...

MINING NEWS: Coal petition lacks merit, DNR rules 07/29/2007
Environmental coalition told it failed to prove allegations that entire Chuitna River watershed could be harmed by coal mining
Alaska's commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources, Tom Irwin, has rejected a petition to designate the Chuitna River watershed as unsuitable for coal mining. The petition was filed by non-...

MINING NEWS: Options open for Chuitna coal project 10/29/2006
Scoping meetings provide wide-ranging suggestions for EPA to consider as it prepares supplemental environmental impact statement
Members of the public, particularly Native Alaskans, have made a wide variety of comments about the Chuitna coal project that is being proposed for the Cook Inlet area. Following a series of scoping m...

Coal gasification options in Alaska 10/29/2006
DOE/SAIC studying coal gasification at Nikiski and coal to liquids at Healy; Nikiski plant looks marginally economic
In the portfolio of possibilities for the development of Alaska energy resources, coal gasification has taken a prominent position in the past year. In November 2005 Agrium announced its Blue Sky proj...

CTL study in works for Beluga coal 10/08/2006
Taiwan set to join Alaska, potential investors in assessing scope and benefits of proposed 80,000 barrels-per-day Cook Inlet plant
Spurred by high oil prices, the world is ramping up investment in coal-to-liquids projects, a trend that bodes well for future natural resources development in Cook Inlet. The state-owned petroleum co...

Popp bullish on the inlet 09/10/2006
Kenai Peninsula Borough official sees increasing interest in Cook Inlet exploration; possibility of deep drilling signals $300-$500 million more in capital investment over the next four years
Dwindling oil reserves in the Cook Inlet oil fields, the Agrium fertilizer plant at Nikiski under threat of closure and uncertainty about the future of the Nikiski LNG plant don't seem to add up to a...

Agrium moves forward on Blue Sky coal gasification project to feed Nikiski fertilizer plant 09/10/2006
It's still all systems go for Agrium's Blue Sky project to use coal gasification to feed the company's fertilizer plant on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. Aug. 31 the company announced that the project is p...

MINING NEWS: Chuitna coal permitting process fires up 07/30/2006
It's the second EIS to be prepared, but still the first time for development of coal resources in Alaska's Cook Inlet area
Alaskans are taking their first look at proposals to develop the coal resources in the Cook Inlet area, as project developers attempt to complete the NEPA process for the second time. A previous desig...

MINING NEWS: Coal conversion faces capital crunch 05/28/2006
Witnesses tell Congress coal-to-liquids and coal gasification projects may be hampered by lack of funding, not technology
As oil prices continue to climb in tandem with global demand, policy makers are examining the potential of converting coal, one of America's most abundant fossil minerals, into a liquid or gas fuel to...

Agrium to decide on coal project in July 04/30/2006
Company is close to finishing first phase of feasibility study that's likely to decide the fate of huge Nikiski fertilizer plant
This coming summer will provide a crucial "litmus test" on whether Agrium Inc. and other potential investors pony up well north of a billion dollars to convert coal into feedstock for the Canadian com...

Shell will offer to market State of Alaska's natural gas 04/23/2006
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski met in The Hague April 11 with Malcolm Brinded, Royal Dutch Shell executive director, exploration and production. The governor's office said Shell expressed interest in ma...

MINING NEWS: Usibelli starts Jumbo Dome permitting 03/26/2006
One hundred million ton Jumbo Dome resource estimate has Alaska's Usibelli hunting for new coal markets
Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. has seen the future, and the future - its Jumbo Dome project - is bigger and better than anything the company has mined in the past, says Steve Denton, Usibelli vice president...

MINING NEWS: Mining news update: Not a bad start for the year! 02/26/2006
All in the last month: Pogo start-up, permit approvals at Nixon Fork, substantial resource increases at Donlin Creek and Pebble
In the last month the Alaska mining industry has seen start-up of its first major gold mine in five years (Pogo) and approval of permits for the Nixon Fork copper-gold mine. We also saw announcement...

MINING NEWS: Stiles: Alaska coal competes with gas 02/26/2006
Power plants in state and as far away as Chile could be fueled by coal if price is right, according to developer Bob Stiles
Alaska's main rival in the international coal market is Indonesia, developer and rocket scientist Bob Stiles told an Anchorage audience at a myth-busting session Feb. 3. Stiles' goal in speaking to th...

Ethics complaint dismissed against Alaska AG Marquez 01/08/2006
Independent counsel said Alaska attorney general does not own shares in BP or ConocoPhillips, not a lead player in negotiations
The state Personnel Board on Dec. 30 dismissed an ethics complaint which requested Alaska Attorney General David Marquez, a former oil industry lawyer and executive, recuse himself from Alaska natural...

Step closer to coal 11/20/2005
By 2010 Agrium, Usibelli expect to replace gas with coal as feedstock for Nikiski plant
Agrium announced Nov. 16 that it and Usibelli Coal Mine have completed the first part of a study into the use of a coal gasification plant to generate feedstock for the company's fertilizer plant in N...

National energy policy clears Congress 07/31/2005
Alaska senator played key role in crafting bipartisan legislation; sweeping measure offers something to everybody
As a new energy bill emerged from conference July 26, Congressional leaders predicted Congress would send a sweeping national energy policy to President Bush for his signature by Aug. 1, meeting a sel...