A Salcha man was killed Monday on the Richardson Highway, when the vehicle he was driving was struck by a double-trailer gold-ore haul truck headed for the Manh Choh gold mine near Tetlin.
Salcha Fire and Rescue Chief Ricky Holland said a call reporting the crash, south of Eielson Air Force Base, came in early Monday.
“So we were dispatched at 6:25 a.m. for a motor-vehicle accident of a semi versus a car,” Holland said. “It was one of the Black Gold ore trucks.”
That’s about when Alaska State Troopers also got a report of the collision at about Mile 332 of the highway, near the intersection of Tom Bear Trail. Holland said he asked for help from Eielson’s fire department while on his way to the wreck.
“I requested a rescue from Eielson,” he said, “and they sent me a rescue, an engine and an ambulance.”
An online trooper dispatch says an investigation showed the driver of a four-door sedan failed to stop at the intersection, and when he entered the highway the vehicle was struck by the Black Gold Transport truck.
Troopers identified the driver as 42-year-old Temitayo Iyanu Kalejaiye. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his body was being sent to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsy.
A trooper spokesperson said one of the lanes on the Richardson was closed for about five hours. He said the truck wasn’t loaded with ore. That’s because it was southbound — headed to Tetlin for another load. A Kinross spokesperson said Monday that Black Gold Transport trucks make the equivalent of 60 round trips every day. The trucking operation is expected to last about four more years.
Black Gold Transport: truck was traveling under 65 mph
Fairbanks-based Black Gold Transport has been contracted by Kinross Alaska and its partner Contango Ore to haul gold ore from Manh Choh to the Kinross mill near Fox. Black Gold said in a social media post Monday that the truck was traveling 63 mph in a 65-mph speed limit zone. And it said Black Gold is cooperating with troopers’ ongoing investigation.
The company said in a prepared statement Monday that said in part, “our thoughts and prayers are with the occupants of both vehicles and their families.”
Kinross Alaska also issued a statement Monday that said, “We are devastated by today’s crash. Our thoughts and prayers remain with all who have been impacted and we extend our condolences to the drivers and their families.”
Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways, which opposes Kinross’s ore-hauling operation, shared condolences for the families of the victim and the truck driver in a statement it issued later Monday.
“We are heartbroken to hear about the loss of a neighbor and fellow citizen who was killed when their vehicle was struck by a Black Gold Transport ore hauler this morning on the Richardson Highway,” the group said.
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Patrice Lee, a member of the group, questioned the safety of the ore-hauling operation Monday.
“While we know it is never, ever a truck driver’s intent to cause harm and that they are fully aware of the inherent risks of operating such large vehicles, we are disappointed that these gigantic trucks are allowed to use the same roads to haul industrial loads of ore as our smaller vehicles, school buses, bicycles, and pedestrians, to haul mostly industrial waste,” Lee said.
Lee reiterated the organization’s ongoing opposition to Kinross using Black Gold’s 82-ton trucks to make the 250-mile trip from the mine to the mill through busy communities along the Alaska, Richardson and Steese highways. The trucks began hauling late last year.
“We maintain that this ore haul simply is not worth the risk,” she said. “One accident resulting in any loss is one too many. We cannot turn back the clock but we can let reason prevail. Our public roads, meant for the traveling public and commerce are not intended or safe for industrial ore hauls.”
A trooper investigation into the fatal wreck continues.
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
