{"id":1361,"date":"2013-09-27T16:08:53","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T20:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/?p=1361"},"modified":"2013-09-27T16:08:53","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T20:08:53","slug":"anglo-bail-pebble-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2013\/09\/27\/anglo-bail-pebble-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Did Anglo Bail Out of Pebble Mine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those of you who have followed my writing over the years (thanks, I appreciate it) will recognize the name “Pebble Mine.” It’s a proposed copper\/gold\/molybdenum mine in Bristol Bay, AK, home to Native Alaskans and the last pristine sockeye salmon fishery in the world. \u00a0A classic “resource war,” the battle over Pebble is\u00a0an important story with broad implications for mining, salmon, Indigenous people, Alaska, the ‘green gold’ movement, environmentalists, bear, caribou, etc. \u00a0I spent time in Bristol Bay and wrote about the dispute in my book “The Ripple Effect,” and again for the Conde Nast Traveler magazine (https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/ecotourism\/2012\/05\/bristol-bay-alaska-environment-salmon-wildlife-poltics).
\nNow AngloAmerican, a huge multinational mining concern, has 1) replaced its CEO, the American Cynthia Carroll; 2) walked away from a $451 million (!) investment in the Pebble mine. \u00a0It’s a nice battle to win, but, as my friends in Alaska remind me, it’s not a victory to end the war.
\nFor that, the EPA must rule on the 404(c) question:\u00a0<<Clean Water Act Section 404(c) authorizes EPA to prohibit, restrict, or deny the discharge of dredged or fill material at defined sites in\u00a0waters of the United States<\/a>\u00a0(including\u00a0wetlands<\/a>) whenever it determines, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, that use of such sites for disposal would have an unacceptable adverse impact on one or more of various resources, including fisheries, wildlife, municipal water supplies, or recreational areas. (https:\/\/water.epa.gov\/lawsregs\/guidance\/cwa\/dredgdis\/404c_index.cfm)>>
\nMeanwhile, here is my friend Brad Wieners on why Anglo bailed out of this “sure thing”:<\/p>\n

\n

Mining<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Why Miners Walked Away From the Planet’s Richest Undeveloped Gold Deposit<\/h1>\n
By\u00a0Brad Wieners<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0September 27, 2013<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\"The<\/a>Photograph by Bob Hallinen\/Anchorage Daily News\/MCT via Getty Images
\nThe Upper Talarik River’s headwaters are near the proposed Pebble Mine site in the Iliamna Lake area of the Alaska Peninsula\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\nBefore pulling out of the Pebble Mine project last week,\u00a0Anglo American(AAUKY<\/a>), one of the world\u2019s biggest mining companies, had invested six years and at least $541 million\u2014in a partnership with Vancouver-basedNorthern Dynasty Minerals\u00a0(NAK<\/a>)\u2014to develop the site in southwestern Alaska. Wait, pause on that number for a sec: $541 million. That\u2019s right, the London-based multinational and its U.S. subsidiary (AA Pebble) just forfeited a return on more than half a billion dollars of its shareholders\u2019 money. By the end of its 60-day withdrawal from the project (mid-November), that figure will probably end up closer to $580 million. Anglo American has also indicated it will write down a $300 million loss (misreported as a \u201cpenalty\u201d elsewhere) to remove the proposed mine as an asset from its books.
\nAlthough a far smaller player, Northern Dynasty will soon own 100 percent of the project, thought to be worth $300 billion or more, and vows to carry on. Having completed more than a million miles of exploratory, diamond-core drilling in 1,200 holes, the former partners also amassed a 27,000-page study of the terrain, but had not begun the formal permitting process. In fact, Northern Dynasty has plowed $180 million into Pebble since it first secured the rights to the region in 2001. Huge mining consortiums frequently seed nine-figure projects, but $760 million-plus is still a large sum, so why did Anglo American bail now?
\nFor the answer, see: \u00a0https:\/\/www.businessweek.com\/articles\/2013-09-27\/why-anglo-american-walked-away-from-the-pebble-mine-gold-deposit\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those of you who have followed my writing over the years (thanks, I appreciate it) will recognize the name “Pebble Mine.” It’s a proposed copper\/gold\/molybdenum mine in Bristol Bay, AK, home to Native Alaskans and the last pristine sockeye salmon fishery in the world. \u00a0A classic “resource war,” the battle over Pebble is\u00a0an important story…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Did Anglo Bail Out of Pebble Mine? - Alex Prud'homme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2013\/09\/27\/anglo-bail-pebble-mine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Did Anglo Bail Out of Pebble Mine? 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