Ambler road project

[cubdriver84d]

I wanted to provide some further information on this statement. The critical materials initiative has been ongoing for a number of years now to meet the demand for renewable, battery, and critical electronic/technology components. Here is a summary video published by the Department of Energy in 2023 that does a nice job explaining the initiative. I also pulled out a graph of this video to highlight that the materials they are targeting in this initiative are some of the primary ones being targeted by the Ambler Road mine.

View attachment 971047

This initiative is very much active with Representative Susie Lee (D-NV) and others appearing last week at a seminar focused on the materials crucial for renewable energy supply chains put on by Critical Materials and SEIA, the largest renewable lobbying group in the country: https://seia.org/events/forum-on-es...hain-supporting-the-u-s-grid-storage-industry . The Department of Interior recently posted a listed of 60 critical minerals for the US economy and national security: https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-releases-final-2025-list-critical-minerals .


This is what a mandated net zero renewable energy policy looks like folks. It is not simply the large scale development of renewable generation on private and public lands. It is the supply chain including projects such as Ambler Road. Some of the largest conservation groups in the country and world that are now posting their opposition to this and other mining projects are the very groups that helped make the Ambler Road project financially attractive by embarking on PR campaigns to promote large scale renewable energy build outs for net zero. Those PR campaigns promoting national and international policy initiatives for renewable build outs have been highly effective. A graph of energy capacity changes shows where we are heading. It's more of these projects, not less.


View attachment 971048View attachment 971057

Do we actually need more projects like that though, or maybe we just need to take better advantage of existing projects?

U.S. already has the critical minerals it needs – but they're being thrown away, new analysis shows

The findings, published in the journal Science, show that improved recovery of critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements currently being discarded as tailings of other mineral streams could meet the U.S. demand for energy, defense and technology applications.

www.minesnewsroom.com

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw8997

Department of the Interior launches effort to recover critical minerals from mine waste

The Department of the Interior is taking decisive steps to recover critical minerals essential to America’s economic strength, national defense, and energy future from mine waste, coal refuse, tailings and abandoned uranium mines. In launching the effort, Secretary Doug Burgum cited...

www.usgs.gov

Department of the Interior Launches Effort to Unlock Critical Minerals from Mine Waste | U.S. Department of the Interior

The Department of the Interior is taking decisive steps to recover critical minerals essential to America’s economic strength, national defense, and energy future from mine waste, coal refuse, tailings and abandoned uranium mines

www.doi.gov

Also, I've posted this in other related threads, but the WACH working group always discusses the ambler road during their meetings regarding impacts to caribou, subsistence, etc. https://westernarcticcaribou.net/the-group/past-meeting-summaries/

https://westernarcticcaribou.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/000-TC-Packet-2024.r.pdf

 

[MThoundhunter]

Existing projects are going to find new copper, gold, and moly?

 

[CJ19]

Do we actually need more projects like that though, or maybe we just need to take better advantage of existing projects?

U.S. already has the critical minerals it needs – but they're being thrown away, new analysis shows

The findings, published in the journal Science, show that improved recovery of critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements currently being discarded as tailings of other mineral streams could meet the U.S. demand for energy, defense and technology applications.

www.minesnewsroom.com

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw8997

Department of the Interior launches effort to recover critical minerals from mine waste

The Department of the Interior is taking decisive steps to recover critical minerals essential to America’s economic strength, national defense, and energy future from mine waste, coal refuse, tailings and abandoned uranium mines. In launching the effort, Secretary Doug Burgum cited...

www.usgs.gov

Department of the Interior Launches Effort to Unlock Critical Minerals from Mine Waste | U.S. Department of the Interior

The Department of the Interior is taking decisive steps to recover critical minerals essential to America’s economic strength, national defense, and energy future from mine waste, coal refuse, tailings and abandoned uranium mines

www.doi.gov

Also, I've posted this in other related threads, but the WACH working group always discusses the ambler road during their meetings regarding impacts to caribou, subsistence, etc. https://westernarcticcaribou.net/the-group/past-meeting-summaries/

https://westernarcticcaribou.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/000-TC-Packet-2024.r.pdf

I will just reiterate before I respond. I feel neutral and conflicted on the Ambler Road project. I like the idea of roadless, remote areas, but I use a smart phone, synthetic clothing, drive a combustion vehicle etc.

I was not able to access the actual article. I will just go off the news article. I am not an expert on mining practices so I am not sure my analysis would be all that better than a layman's. I absolutely agree with the idea that better efficiency and recycling practices should be employed to help meet demand. Doing so is not only a good way to delay or avoid mining in sensitive areas, but making reserves last longer into the future. I don't think any mining operation would be against improving efficiency but doing so in practice is costly and probably difficult operationally.

As to whether efficiency and recycling improvements can meet demand, I think that is a stretch personally. The reason I continually talk about net zero is because it bring scale of the energy transition and timeframe of the transition into the picture. The idea that recycling and mining efficiency technology are going to evolve and be retrofitted into existing operations on such a small timeframe to meet the increasing demand seems impossible. The scale of the energy demand we are talking about meeting is replacing all fossil fuel emissions by 2050 (minus capture technology). That is only energy demand, vast storage requiring huge quantities of lithium and other battery components are required to make the transition to a renewable grid. Then, if we start talking about the rapid growth of AI and AI datacenters then demand for these minerals increases even more.

The second article about mine water as a source of minerals. I am also a big yes on that one. I have been in numerous conferences in which someone has a poster or presents that are trying to address that or mineral extraction from oil and gas brines. Seems like this might be a potential source, but like the first article, meeting demand with this method is going to be a stretch especially in a short term scenario. I don't think this tech is quite there yet and certainly not close to being deployable at scale from what I have heard. Maybe someone more knowledgeable in that field can correct or confirm my understanding.

As far as caribou behavior and conservation links, you forgot more caribou knowledge just yesterday than I have ever possessed. I can't comment on that species or study specifically other than the guy/group in the article seems sincere and knowledgeable.

The point of my post was pretty much that telling the general public that the world is going to end catastrophically in a few years unless we globally transition to renewable and emission free technology within 2 decades has resulted in a large push towards increased mining. Many of those mineral deposits are in remote locations that we as hunters would prefer stay remote.

 

[cubdriver84d]

I will just reiterate before I respond. I feel neutral and conflicted on the Ambler Road project. I like the idea of roadless, remote areas, but I use a smart phone, synthetic clothing, drive a combustion vehicle etc.

The first article you linked from Science was a news article about a published study. I was unable to find the published study. According to the news article, more efficiency at existing mining projects as well as better recycling procedures can provide a large supply of some of these minerals. Without looking at the actual study, I am not able to provide my detailed opinion on it. I am not an expert on mining practices so I am not sure my analysis would be all that better than a layman's. I absolutely agree with the idea that better efficiency and recycling practices should be employed to help meet demand. Doing so is not only a good way to delay or avoid mining in sensitive areas, but making reserves last longer into the future. I don't think any mining operation would be against improving efficiency but doing so in practice is costly and probably difficult operationally.

As to whether efficiency and recycling improvements can meet demand, I think that is a stretch personally. The reason I continually talk about net zero is because it bring scale of the energy transition and timeframe of the transition into the picture. The idea that recycling and mining efficiency technology are going to evolve and be retrofitted into existing operations on such a small timeframe to meet the increasing demand seems impossible. The scale of the energy demand we are talking about meeting is replacing all fossil fuel emissions by 2050 (minus capture technology). That is only energy demand, vast storage requiring huge quantities of lithium and other battery components are required to make the transition to a renewable grid. Then, if we start talking about the rapid growth of AI and AI datacenters then demand for these minerals increases even more.

The second article about mine water as a source of minerals. I am also a big yes on that one. I have been in numerous conferences that are trying to address that or mineral extraction from oil and gas brines. Seems like this might be a potential source, but like the first article, meeting demand with this method is going to be a stretch especially in a short term scenario. I don't think this tech is quite there yet and certainly not close to being deployable at scale from what I have heard. Maybe someone more knowledgeable in that field can correct or confirm my understanding.

As far as caribou behavior and conservation links, you forgot more caribou knowledge just yesterday than I have ever possessed. I can't comment on that species or study specifically other than the guy/group in the article seems sincere and knowledgeable.

The point of my post was pretty much that telling the general public that the world is going to end catastrophically in a few years unless we globally transition to renewable and emission free technology within 2 decades has resulted in a large push towards increased mining. Many of those mineral deposits are in remote locations that we as hunters would prefer stay remote.

I had included a link to the science article, but it didn't come up as a big one like the others. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw8997

It's paywalled, but here's an excerpt from the abstract: "Ninety percent recovery of by-products from existing domestic metal mining operations could meet nearly all US critical mineral needs; one percent recovery would substantially reduce import reliance for most elements that we evaluated."

Found this video from USGS too. Just seems to me looking in existing tailings is such low hanging fruit that should be tapped before trying to push through a huge project that won't actually produce anything for years (at which point who knows if we'll even need those minerals at the rate tech advancements are occurring -- maybe space minerals are the future).

Caribou links were meant for the group, not necessarily in response to your post.

 

[2531usmc]

I will just reiterate before I respond. I feel neutral and conflicted on the Ambler Road project. I like the idea of roadless, remote areas, but I use a smart phone, synthetic clothing, drive a combustion vehicle etc.

I was not able to access the actual article. I will just go off the news article. I am not an expert on mining practices so I am not sure my analysis would be all that better than a layman's. I absolutely agree with the idea that better efficiency and recycling practices should be employed to help meet demand. Doing so is not only a good way to delay or avoid mining in sensitive areas, but making reserves last longer into the future. I don't think any mining operation would be against improving efficiency but doing so in practice is costly and probably difficult operationally.

As to whether efficiency and recycling improvements can meet demand, I think that is a stretch personally. The reason I continually talk about net zero is because it bring scale of the energy transition and timeframe of the transition into the picture. The idea that recycling and mining efficiency technology are going to evolve and be retrofitted into existing operations on such a small timeframe to meet the increasing demand seems impossible. The scale of the energy demand we are talking about meeting is replacing all fossil fuel emissions by 2050 (minus capture technology). That is only energy demand, vast storage requiring huge quantities of lithium and other battery components are required to make the transition to a renewable grid. Then, if we start talking about the rapid growth of AI and AI datacenters then demand for these minerals increases even more.

The second article about mine water as a source of minerals. I am also a big yes on that one. I have been in numerous conferences in which someone has a poster or presents that are trying to address that or mineral extraction from oil and gas brines. Seems like this might be a potential source, but like the first article, meeting demand with this method is going to be a stretch especially in a short term scenario. I don't think this tech is quite there yet and certainly not close to being deployable at scale from what I have heard. Maybe someone more knowledgeable in that field can correct or confirm my understanding.

As far as caribou behavior and conservation links, you forgot more caribou knowledge just yesterday than I have ever possessed. I can't comment on that species or study specifically other than the guy/group in the article seems sincere and knowledgeable.

The point of my post was pretty much that telling the general public that the world is going to end catastrophically in a few years unless we globally transition to renewable and emission free technology within 2 decades has resulted in a large push towards increased mining. Many of those mineral deposits are in remote locations that we as hunters would prefer stay remote.

Telling the general public that the world is going to end catastrophically also results in massive malinvestment in renewable energy resources. And in the case of Europe the transition to renewable energy has resulted in a quadrupling of energy costs

 

[CJ19]

I had included a link to the science article, but it didn't come up as a big one like the others. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw8997

It's paywalled, but here's an excerpt from the abstract: "Ninety percent recovery of by-products from existing domestic metal mining operations could meet nearly all US critical mineral needs; one percent recovery would substantially reduce import reliance for most elements that we evaluated."

Found this video from USGS too. Just seems to me looking in existing tailings is such low hanging fruit that should be tapped before trying to push through a huge project that won't actually produce anything for years (at which point who knows if we'll even need those minerals at the rate tech advancements are occurring -- maybe space minerals are the future).

Caribou links were meant for the group, not necessarily in response to your post.

Like I said before, I am not a mining guy but i have oil field sector experience. I think if it a company saw a high profitability in tailings somewhere they would be after them in a heartbeat. I am not sure about the regulatory and compliance part of tailings mining but it is done plenty of places. Gus surely knows more about it than me. Buying someone else's mess can come with all kinds of nasty surprises and unforeseen liability. If a company asked me about it, I would tell them do a lot of background work and proceed with extreme caution before you buy something you might not want to own.

 

[inyago]

Hello, i may be wrong but my reading about this mining area is that all this material is going to be trucked out to where?? Anchorage for processing or then shipped where. Would that be efficient way to process extraction.
To my way of thinking if you are going to trash an area[ figure of speech] you might as well build a processing plant as well then you can use 300/400 ton dump trucks to run from the mine to the plant, then use the access road for saleable product and then the whole thing can be kept in a tight area. This one mine will not be the only one as the Ambler geological area has potentially more mining areas to be assayed and exploited if conditions are met. The world demand for everything is the real problem.

 

[KingGus]

Hello, i may be wrong but my reading about this mining area is that all this material is going to be trucked out to where?? Anchorage for processing or then shipped where. Would that be efficient way to process extraction.
To my way of thinking if you are going to trash an area[ figure of speech] you might as well build a processing plant as well then you can use 300/400 ton dump trucks to run from the mine to the plant, then use the access road for saleable product and then the whole thing can be kept in a tight area. This one mine will not be the only one as the Ambler geological area has potentially more mining areas to be assayed and exploited if conditions are met. The world demand for everything is the real problem.

No, the ore will be concentrated on site, basically turning big rocks into small rocks using SAG and ball mills, then using flotation to separate the concentrate and tailings. For example, concentrating the copper at the Arctic deposit will turn ~2% Cu mill feed into ~30% Cu concentrate. The concentrate will then be trucked to a port via the Ambler road and then shipped to a smelter. Based on the pre-feasibility study for the Arctic deposit, about 450kt of Cu, Zn, and Pb concentrate could be trucked a year from there.

 

[inyago]

That all seems reasonable until you start adding all the movement of trucks per day, that will then use the state highway system and it comes back too the ordinary citizen having to subsidize their commercial activity. I

 

[inyago]

I screwed that up trying to do two things at once. I personally know that the Government will do what Governments do and many times that is not often the best outcome for wild life or humans. Can they not push in from the coast and barge the concentrates that way. Anyway i better get some work done, cheers.

 

[Ophert]

Not sure how related it is to Ambler but it involves mines, roads and caribou.

In the 1980's the Bathurst caribou herd in the NWT was estimated to be 450 000. The ice road to two mining projects opened up in 1982. This allowed far greater access to these areas. Since then, the herd has been declining and in 2025 the herd was estimated to be 3609 caribou. Some of it is probably cyclical declines but the herd is now at such a low level that they do not think it will be able to rebound. Every winter that road opens and there are massive poaching issues. Sometimes 50 + caribou killed and discarded.

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

I need to correct your statements about Red Dog. I work there.

I can tell you we employ primarily Alaska Natives, about 70% of the total workforce, and a lot of them are Iñupiat from the surrounding region. We operate weekly charter flights to villages in the region to allow travel to and from. Of the other 30% of the workforce, the majority would be based in Alaska, and I'm based in Anchorage.

This will give you a bit of background on the benefits to the region

I did some fact checking, looks like the actual number is 50-60 percent, close. But i guess maybe what i was getting at is

Teck Resources Limited is a Canadian company who has a CEO making 2-8 million off this endeavor. I am sure they do other stuff.​

From what i could google, find on NANA reports, and articles. in 2022 or 2023 they made around 600 million. 100 million went to the northern borrow. So tell me, can i come to your house and make 100k and only give you 10k? that is what will happen to ambler. I am glad you have a job up there and are from Alaska.​

Cheers

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

So I looked up information about Red Dog Mine and primarily employing foreign labor. That was not in line with the information I habe been able to find. NANA reports Red Dog as primarily hiring locals and as a key employer of the local population. Is there a specific source that you have for that claim about foreign labor? I am not saying you are not correct but the employment picture in the 2021 is far more in line with what I have observed in extraction based companies. Local labor, local other technical workers if its available but its usually not so you get them from where ever you can.

Many see Red Dog as an ANCSA success story. What happens when the ore runs out?

The mine has brought wealth to Northwest Alaska, supporting Alaska Native communities and culture. But its relationship with the only village downstream is fraught, and the mine is running out of ore.

www.ktoo.org

Natural Resources | NANA Regional Corporation

NANA’s lands are rich with mineral resources and metal deposits. Responsible resource development provides a sustainable economic base for NANA and the region. Red Dog…

www.nana.com

As far as ownership, I was aware of the companies owner of canadian and australian corporate head quarters. I also read about 10.5% US govt ownership and 1.1 billion est dollars projected to go to Alaska. I appreciate you providing that though.

I was specifically interested in verifying the claims that all the minerals would be sold out of the country. A foreign ownership does not mean the US production and manufacturing will not be seeing significant benefit financially or from the raw materials. I have worked some in the extraction sector and have been around foreign owned companies. In those cases, little if any of the extracted product went oversees, perhaps a small portion <10% to canada.

I was going off what my buddy who worked in management said. I apologize. I did more research and found 50-60 are locals. I imagine these are labors with the upper management being not locals. Since my buddy is from Montana. From all i can see and hear, is like anything govt/big native corps. Certain people make out and the rest get left hold the bag or the fall out. there are plenty of articles of concerned villages who are not seeing all this money. As far as where the oar goes? google said it is sold all across the world. i could not find percentages. as far as red dog, it is Canadian owned who pay money to NANA. they employ roughly 300-400 locals outs of 600 folks and pay dividends to shareholders. that on top of giving back looks to be around 100 million. the rest roughly 500 million goes somewhere else. I am not saying 100 million is small but trust me it isnt much in this world.

As far as Ambler, 1.1 billion coming to alaska out of what? and for how long? is that over 10 years? and Alaska is who? the people, the governor? to put in perspective google the Nome port expansion project. roughly over a billion dollar project. 1.1 billion dollars does not mean shit when it is used against the peoples interest. Like i said above, ambler will happen, it will benefit a few and the rest will be left wondering.

 

[9.3koolaid]

I'm not a mining guy, but all of the "they're not even an american company" stuff, while correct, seems a bit silly to me. Mining in the US is pretty difficult from a regulatory standpoint, as a result, most mining companies are NOT american. Vancouver is to mining what Houston is to oil.

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

I'm not a mining guy, but all of the "they're not even an american company" stuff, while correct, seems a bit silly to me. Mining in the US is pretty difficult from a regulatory standpoint, as a result, most mining companies are NOT american. Vancouver is to mining what Houston is to oil.

I think it is money interests. Yes we have a lot of regs, but who is going to take care of your land better you or some outsider? I think the point is mute, it will go through the NPS land easily. if the natives work a deal through their land than this road will happen. For me, do whatever but just leave the wildlife alone, which means no ROAD. It will happen, and i soon will have to fly to new Zealand to hunt and the cycle continues.