Alaska

Traditionally, the New Year is the time when people reflect on the past twelve months and formulate resolutions for the months ahead. As the first hours of 2013 have been dominated by the drama the Fiscal Cliff, our Federal lawmakers may not have gotten around to focusing on other less publicized — but no less pressing — issues, we at the American Resources Policy Network have put together a few New Year’s Resolutions for U.S. policymakers as they relate to critical and strategic metals and minerals.

2012 provided a year of opportunity for Congress to enact legislation to better harness the United States’ mineral potential, but in spite of thoughtful bills put forward by a group of lawmakers who are critically aware of our mineral needs and challenges ahead — and a better-sensitized public (at least with regard to the much-publicized challenges regarding Rare Earths) – on the federal level at least, the year has to be written off as a missed opportunity.

While the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Critical and Strategic Minerals Production Act (H.R. 4402) sponsored by Rep. Marc Amodei (R, NV-2) in the summer, the Senate failed to take up the bill. It remains to be seen what U.S. inaction on the mineral policy front does to our ranking in the forthcoming and instructive Behre Dolbear “Where Not to Invest” report. Being tied with Papua New Guinea for last place in terms of the mine permitting process, there’s little room for the U.S. to get worse, but 2012 did nothing to make things better.

On the state level, however, there is a shining example of what can be done to improve the strategic and critical mineral policy framework, and it hails from the State of Alaska. Alaska’s Parnell Administration understands the stakes of mineral resource policy, and has taken the lead in not only formulating a critical minerals strategy, but also implementing it in 2012.

As lawmakers shift focus on the other non-fiscal cliffs ahead, ARPN has assembled a list of resolutions for the coming year. Check back tomorrow to see what they are!

 
American Resources Principal Dan McGroarty appeared on the Glen Biegel Show on Tuesday to discuss domestic mineral development and what the United States can do to take advantage of its critical metals, particularly in the resource-rich state of Alaska. Listen below.

Leading up to last Friday’s second Alaska Strategic and Critical Minerals Summit in Fairbanks, the Juneau Empire spoke with our very own Dan McGroarty, who had the honor to present alongside many distinguished members of Alaska’s State government and private sector representatives. The Juneau Empire’s Russell Stigall has summarized their conversation in an article highlighting [...]

American Resources Principal Daniel McGroarty will address the audience at the second annual Alaska Strategic and Critical Minerals summit in Fairbanks, Alaska, this Friday, November 30th, on the issue of critical minerals and national security. Embedded in the context of the Parnell Administration’s five-part strategy to support the state’s mining industry, the day-long conference will [...]

Alaska Attorney General Daniel S. Sullivan gives an account of the state of the Parnell Administration’s five-part strategy to support the mining industry in a column for Petroleum News. This strategy, which was unveiled at the September 2011 Strategic and Critical Minerals Summit, comprises the following components: Undertaking a statewide assessment of strategic minerals; Providing [...]

Business Week’s Lydia Mulvany covers the U.S. Department of Defense’s recent efforts to “crack China’s monopoly on mining the most valuable rare earths.” In early October, we discussed the Pentagon’s studying of Canadian mining company Ucore Rare Metal Inc.’s REE-rich Bokan Mountain property in southeast Alaska, but according to a recent Business Week story, the [...]

As the Canadian daily Chronicle Herald reports, the U.S. Department of Defense is conducting a study of Canadian mining company Ucore’s rare earth-rich Bokan Mountain property in southeast Alaska. Under the auspices of the Defense Logistics Agency, the study will “focus on the possible development of Bokan Mountain to meet defence department requirements for an [...]

A profile of Alaska’s mining industry in Petroleum News showcases the benefits the sector provides to the state, including “substantial and growing contributions” to Alaska’s economy and its communities. Here are some of the piece’s key points: In 2011, the mining industry accounted for 4,500 direct and 4,500 indirect jobs, most of which were year-round [...]

While most Rare Earths-related stories focus on China these days, there’s no denying that the race for critical mineral resources has arrived on the North American continent. As the Fairbanks Daily News Miner reports, Alaska State geologists are excited by the findings of recent mineral cataloguing efforts, with a new $3 million program underway. The [...]

The Daily Caller reports that the EPA’s preemptive assessment of the Pebble copper and gold mine in Alaska could cost the U.S. $220 billion in investment. The agency’s report, based on an evaluation of a hypothetical mine, expresses concern over the site’s potential environmental impact and could lead to Pebble’s rejection before it has a [...]