Mining leaders from across the state had an optimistic outlook at the third annual Juneau Mining Forum on Tuesday.
Attendees said the next four years of Trump administration policy could mark a turning point for the acceleration of resource development in Alaska.
It’s an opportunity that Hecla Greens Creek Mine on Admiralty Island plans to take full advantage of, said Mike Satre, Hecla’s director of government affairs.
“There’s great opportunity for our industry right now. There’s great opportunity here in Alaska,” he said. “We have the resources that the nation and that the world needs. We have the opportunity with this administration to hopefully move a bunch of projects forward.”
Satre was a panelist for a federal issues discussion that considered how the new administration could change the U.S. mining industry’s permitting process to streamline development.
In his first day in office, Trump issued executive orders that called for more drilling, logging and mining in Alaska. An order called “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” aims to undo most of the Biden Administration’s work to limit resource development in the state.
Greens Creek is the largest silver mine in the nation and pays the most property tax in Juneau.
Last year the U.S. Forest Service permitted a project for the mine to expand storage for its tailings — the rock leftover after digging for metals. It was a five-year process, but the approval means the mine could live on for up to another 18 years.
Jerry Mullins with the National Mining Association said the prolonged permitting process is one of the industry’s biggest barriers, and it’s a part of the reason the U.S. is in a losing battle for mineral dominance against countries like China. He said that poses a risk to national security.
“The permitting process itself is self-explanatory. It doesn’t incentivize mining, it disincentivizes mining,” he said. “Every day we see examples of just how important mineral production is, and every day we see examples of why it’s so difficult to gain that mineral production.”
Mullins said he’s hopeful that the new administration will find ways to expedite the process and increase opportunities for projects in the state.
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