Updated: 1 hour ago Published: 1 hour ago

Alaska’s mining industry supported 11,800 jobs and $1.1 billion in total wages in 2023, according to a report commissioned by the Alaska Miners Association and Alaska Metals Mines.

The four-page report, by the McKinley Research Group, uses data from 2023 and earlier years to calculate the economic impacts of one of the state’s largest industrial sectors.

The 2023 employment totals show growth from 2021 figures detailed in a more extensive report released in 2022 by the McKinley Research Group. That earlier report listed 10,800 jobs and $985 million in wages, a total that included 5,400 direct mining jobs and additional indirect and induced employment created by what’s known as a “multiplier effect.” That multiplier calculated jobs and wages created by mining companies’ and mining employees’ spending.

There are economic impacts beyond employment, the new report said. Those include revenues for state and local governments, job training and skill development for Alaskans building their careers, shared revenue among Alaska Native corporations and contributions to nonprofits, it said.

Mining companies provide the largest share of the local property tax revenues in the Northwest Arctic Borough, the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the City and Borough of Juneau, the report said. Local tax payments from mining companies totaled $50 million in 2023, it said.

For the state government, the industry provided $136 million in revenues in 2023, the report said.

State revenues include royalties, which are charged at 3% on revenues from minerals production on state land. There is, additionally, a royalty charged on coal produced on new state leases.

The 3% royalty rate for minerals compares with the 12.5% rate normally charged on oil produced from state lands.

There are seven major producing mines in the state, six of which are metals mines in locations ranging from Southeast Alaska to Arctic Northwest Alaska: Red Dog, Greens Creek, Fort Knox, Pogo, Kensington and Manh Cho. The seventh major producing mine is the Usibelli Coal Mine. There are also eight large projects nearing development or in advanced stages of exploration. Among those considered to be near development is the controversial Pebble mine, which faces an uncertain future because the Environmental Protection Agency in 2023 invoked a special rule to bar permitting of that project. Also listed as near development is the Donlin Gold project in Western Alaska.

[In Northwest Alaska, an economic engine runs low on ore]

Red Dog is one of the world’s largest zinc producers, and it produces lead as well. The Greens Creek mine is one of the world’s largest silver producers. Kensington, Fort Knox, Pogo and Manh Cho are gold producers.

Among the state’s seven largest producing mines, Alaska residents make up 72% of the workforce, according to the McKinley report. The 28% share of nonresident workers compares to a statewide average, among all industries, of 15.3% as of 2019, according to a 2021 report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

According to the more extensive 2022 McKinley Research Group report, zinc accounted for 51% of the value of Alaska’s statewide minerals production. Gold ranked second in value at 37%. That was followed by silver at 7%, lead at 3%, coal at 2% and rock, sand and gravel at 0.2%.

Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.

An Alaska Airlines flight was recently diverted from its scheduled destination due to a shocking admission from the pilot. As Flight 3491, operated by Skywest, approached Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) in Wyoming, the pilot revealed over the intercom that he was not certified to land at that specific airport, Fox Business reported. 

According to a passenger’s account on Reddit, the flight attendants were preparing for landing when the pilot made an unexpected announcement over the public address system. The pilot announced: ”Hey, I’m sorry folks but due to me not having the proper qualification to land in Jackson Hole, we need to divert to Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ll keep you posted on the next steps.”

His announcement prompted a diversion to Salt Lake City, where the Embraer ERJ 175 twin jet safely landed, as confirmed by FlightAware.

After diverting to Salt Lake City, the plane remained grounded for approximately an hour and a half, awaiting the arrival of a new pilot. Once the replacement pilot took the controls, the aircraft finally departed for Jackson Hole, but the journey was far from smooth.

Passengers described the landing as exceptionally turbulent, one of the bumpiest they had ever endured. The flight ultimately arrived at its intended destination three hours behind schedule.

SkyWest, a regional airline, told the Cowboy State Daily in a statement that the flight was indeed diverted and cited a lack of “correct paperwork” as the reason. 

“[Flight 3491] landed for a short time in Salt Lake City to correct a paperwork error related to the flight crew,” the airline said in the statement. “The flight continued to Jackson Hole after a delay while a new pilot was secured to operate the flight. All pilots involved were qualified to fly and land the aircraft; the flight diverted from Jackson Hole due to an internal administrative error and out of an abundance of caution.”

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska wants top officials in the Interior Department to hand over texts, emails and other communication they’ve had with conservation groups.

Sullivan made the request in a four-page letter to Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the Bureau of Land Management, this week.

Sullivan told reporters Tuesday that he wants to know why the Bureau of Land Management has dropped an effort to open the door for the federal government to convey the land beneath the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline to the state.

He said he’s concerned the agency’s lack of action comes in response to conservation groups who have filed a petition with the Interior Department calling for a plan for the decommissioning of the 47-year-old pipeline.

Earlier this summer, Stone-Manning abandoned a process to lift a land order that would have enabled the conveyance of the land to the state, Sullivan said in the letter.

“Your decision to abruptly abandon the public process associated with lifting (Public Land Order) 5150, without notice, at the same time that far-left environmental groups are trying to shut down the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) raises questions regarding potential collusion between the Biden Administration and the Lower-48 radical environmentalists that want to shut down Alaska,” Sullivan writes.

[Previously: Environmentalists urge US to plan ‘phasedown’ of trans-Alaska pipeline amid climate concerns]

The Bureau of Land Management in Alaska did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Officials with the Interior Department, which oversees BLM, declined to comment Wednesday.

“We don’t respond to congressional letters through the media,” Interior spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said in an email.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also pressed Stone-Manning in June about the agency’s inaction on the revocation of the land order, at a committee hearing.

Stone-Manning cited a busy workload as the reason for the delay.

Groups such as Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, the Center for Biological Diversity and Alaska Community Action on Toxics submitted the petition in June to the Interior Department. They asked for a “managed phasedown” of the pipeline, along with a supplemental environmental review.

The groups said a supplemental analysis should consider new information, including a review of oil’s impact on global warming and a proper examination of vulnerable wildlife such as polar bears, they said.

Since 1974, the Bureau of Land Management has granted two, 30-year right-of-way approvals for the pipeline system. The current one is set to expire in 2034.

The pipeline today delivers a fraction of the crude oil it did in the 1980s. But revenue from the oil remains vital to state operations. The pipeline is expected to carry more oil in the coming years as large, new fields begin production, including ConocoPhillips’ Willow field.

Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday that the potential dismantling of the pipeline might seem unlikely, but it “should scare every single Alaskan.”

Sullivan is asking the agency for all communications on the matter between Interior Department officials and third parties, starting in 2021, according to the letter. He’s seeking text messages, Microsoft Teams chats, telephone call logs and other records. He wants them by Sept. 13.

Public Land Order 5150 was issued in 1971. It established a utility and transportation corridor along the pipeline route and made the lands unavailable for selection by the state.

Sullivan spoke at the Anchorage offices of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, during a press conference organized by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to highlight actions by the Biden administration that limit resource development in Alaska.

Three Republican members of the House Committee on Natural Resources also criticized the Biden administration’s policies on resource development. U.S. Reps. Pete Stauber of Minnesota, Russ Fulcher of Idaho and Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin are visiting Alaska for a tour of the North Slope this week.