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Irwin highlights new players, Pogo advances Alaska DNR commissioner announces final Pogo permits at miner’s convention in Fairbanks, talks about Anglo American Patricia Jones Mining News Editor
Alaska Natural Resources Comm-issioner Tom Irwin revealed two new players in the state’s oil and gas and mining industries and also announced issuance of a federal permit sought by developers of the Pogo gold deposit near Delta Junction March 15.
News about Teck-Pogo’s receipt of its final development permit for Pogo received solid applause during Irwin’s speech at the biennial meeting of the Alaska Miners Association in Fairbanks.
Earlier that day, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to developers of the 5.5 million ounce gold deposit located about 40 miles northeast of Delta Junction in Interior Alaska.
Pogo permitting, which began in August 2000 with the company’s application to state and federal agencies, “… was a long process,” Irwin said in an interview following his speech.
Comparatively, permitting for Alaska’s largest gold mine took a little more than two years during the early 1990s, noted Irwin, a former Fort Knox mine manager who became Natural Resources commissioner in January 2002 under the Murkowski administration.
“We were treated well,” Irwin said. “In spite of the policy then, we got our permits from working with the large mines permitting team.”
Now, he plans to used that large mine permitting model for overseeing other industrial development projects in Alaska.
It came into play with the Pogo project. State permits were issued in December 2003. “I asked if we could get the permits out before the end of the year, which put pressure on the (U.S.) Corps of Engineers,” Irwin said.
The wetlands permit came from the Corps in early January. A technical issue regarding EPA and the state’s water quality standards held up the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the additional period, regulators said.
“I know business doesn’t come here because they love us … they go where they will get the greatest return on their investment,” Irwin said. “Our role in reducing costs is a reduction in delays and disputes of procedures that are vague … that cost companies money and do not do anything to protect the environment.” Anglo American signs Alaska land deal Irwin also talked about a company relatively new to Alaska’s resource development community, which he and others in the Murkowski administration have been in contact with.
A letter written by Gov. Frank Murkowski to the head of Anglo American Exploration (Canada) Ltd., a subsidiary of the world’s largest mining company AngloGold Ltd., helped sway the company in its consideration of a joint venture on a nickel, copper and PGE exploration project in the Alaska Range.
Anglo American and its partner NevadaStar Resources, announced completion of a joint venture agreement March 15, finalizing a deal for the MAN project first announced in mid-December (see story in Dec. 16 issue of Petroleum News).
In recent weeks, Anglo American’s parent company and board chairman in London received a number of letters from environmental groups opposing the exploration. “They were wondering if they really should be coming to Alaska,” Irwin said.
The governor’s letter came at a critical juncture in Anglo’s consideration making a new foray into Alaska.
“They haven’t been exploring in the United States since before World War II, so it’s a big issue for them to come back in,” said Bill Ellis, an Anchorage-based consulting geologist who worked on the MAN project last year. “The state responded vigorously, because it would be bad if Anglo decided not to come due do to comments from outside NGOs (non governmental organizations).”
Another subsidiary of AngloGold is also working in Alaska, on gold properties near Pogo and in the Livengood district. The state needs such investments from a “quality company,” Irwin said.
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