By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

A Canadian mining firm with eyes on a huge copper, gold and molybdenum prospect in southwestern Alaska is revving up its exploration program to greatly exceed its 2006 drilling efforts.

Sean McGee, a spokesman for Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., said April 24 that the mining company plans to have as many as eight drills on the job through early December. The company aims to accomplish 243,000 feet of drilling at the Pebble prospect, compared to about 100,000 feet last year.

McGee said that Northern Dynasty expected to exceed in 2007 the total of 638 people who worked on the project last year. Of that total, 82 percent were Alaska hires and about 125 were from communities in the area, he said. Most of the 638 workers were hired by consultants and contractors, rather than directly by the mining company, he said.

“We are still focused on trying to find the extent of mineralization at Pebble East,” McGee said in a telephone interview.

Exploration at the Pebble prospect was initially concentrated at an area now dubbed Pebble West. The focus has since moved to an area called Pebble East, which could be developed as an underground mine, whereas the Pebble West deposit is being considered as an open-pit mine.

As Northern Dynasty prepares to ramp up its exploration efforts, critics of the project have continued their efforts to derail it.

Opponents of the project filed documents April 23 with the offices of Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell to gather signatures for the Alaska Clean Water Initiative.

Lauren Yocum, special assistant for regulations and initiatives for the lieutenant governor's office, said the initiative would affect new large-scale metallic mineral mining operations by restricting any activities that might release toxic pollutants into or cause or contribute to toxic pollution of waterways.

Pebble opponents also released of a new poll conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Cromer Group, which asked 600 Alaska residents their views on the project. The poll found 62 percent opposed and 23 percent favoring the project, with 15 percent undecided.

McGee said the Northern Dynasty's current advertising campaign was aimed at “answering alarmist claims of our critics. Our point of view is for a project at our stage of development, investing in advertising is not where we want to put our money. (Funds are going) to the environmental study program, technical studies and stakeholder outreach program, which is about one-on-one communications.”

Gail Phillips, a spokeswoman for Truth About Pebble, a nonprofit group pushing for the project to get a fair hearing through the permit process, said its advertising dollars were being spent to educate people on the right of anybody to go through the permitting process.

Dick Jameson of the Renewable Resources Coalition, which opposes the project, said he felt his group's advertising campaign has been quite effective in educating the public about the project.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.