[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6314449,"mediaKeyId","2383756-e86cb7ed881588401eaf7aed3ffe1a33","parentId",2383756,"title","Mining industry briefs Senate Resources on operations, workforce and 7(i) revenue exposure","audioSeconds",4073,"startMs",1642000,"endMs",5715000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2383756-e86cb7ed881588401eaf7aed3ffe1a33&start=1642&end=5715","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2383756-e86cb7ed881588401eaf7aed3ffe1a33/thumbnail_1642000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6314449/Alaska/Mining-industry-briefs-Senate-Resources-on-operations-workforce-and-7i-revenue-exposure","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6314449-2651b4d88980cf334b7f572fa8741d8e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771150607&Signature=e1evDpe3tCR4t2vDkmxt-5hwXzlJD~TrzLlAij46hUpM0AuakBvDOLhnise83utt-iLplG6EZ6EcJ3CBpabfX~jj0qxwZkPgUTsu3hlyydtBO4CbFsTwycM9MEAATY3TiafBaFlPJfm0MOLsrcv~84LVgu8ktqkXMRyaXmY16IXDqymqw0jj8HE50v-e0cPhs4RUYGRAUQAtjJiuQmZZeCMZl1zWagGTHWxhLn~Pgf~m4Rv5yA5e0~qToHSHllq7aFkjiXiOjkPCedducbfwTnt5sAeT1~zjwR0n6soyjDns8~oOSAme4eKxLsth66Dn1sxvUciy90bAc9EZV-mNEA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Alaska Legislature","date","2025-02-24T00:00:00Z","article","Representatives of Alaska Metal Mines, the Alaska Miners Association, Teck (operator at Red Dog), Donlin Gold and a small placer miner briefed the Senate Resources Committee on Feb. 24 about mine operations, workforce challenges, environmental monitoring and the state and local revenues tied to mineral development.

Karen Mathias, executive director of Alaska Metal Mines, said the industry supports thousands of Alaska jobs and high wages: the committee packet cited an industry estimate of about 11,800 total jobs (direct, indirect and induced) and a combined payroll just over $1 billion for 2023, with an average annual wage of about $122,000. Mathias also summarized the statewide map of active operations and advanced projects and said miners live in more than 90 Alaska communities.

Greta Shirk, senior advisor for government and external affairs at Teck (Red Dog operator), reviewed Red Dog operations, describing the mine and port logistics, the subsistence committee that provides local oversight on shipping and wildlife interactions, and Teck’s exploration and permitting work on adjacent state lands. She said the current life of the Red Dog operations on NANA lands is anticipated through 2031 but that exploration on adjacent state lands is underway and a decision on potential extension would require about five more years of exploration and subsequent economic evaluation.

Chris Eckert of Donlin Gold described project logistics including a planned long natural gas pipeline right-of-way and a river-barge supply route; he said federal permitting (EIS completed in 2018) is in an appeals phase and that the company expects approximately two more years to resolve outstanding appeals before a sanction decision. Eckert described environmental baseline and monitoring efforts on aquatic resources, pilot wetlands mitigation and a community-driven fish monitoring pilot to close data gaps on juvenile smelt escapement.

Bronk Jorgensen, a placer miner and trustee for the 40 Mile Mining District, described small-scale placer practices and reclamation experience. He presented photos and described multi-year reclamation work to reestablish stream channels and bank stability, noting that effective, lower-cost approaches often imitate natural beaver-style structures and that reclamation is an ongoing challenge for family operations.

Speakers and committee members discussed workforce composition and nonresident-hire rates, access to capital for small miners, tax and royalty streams, and the centrality of 7(i)/7(j) ANCSA revenue sharing. Mathias reported that Red Dog (NANA) has been the state’s largest contributor to 7(i) revenue: she cited $3.2 billion in total since 1989 and $235 million in 2023 (figures as presented). Committee members and industry representatives noted the prospect of a revenue “gap” or “fiscal cliff” for villages and regional corporations if work on NANA lands declines without replacement revenues.

Mathias and other presenters also summarized state-level receipts from mining (local-government payments and taxes); they highlighted the mining-license tax structure and corporate-income tax as additional state revenue sources and noted that year-to-year calculations can vary with commodity prices, refunds and timing differences between fiscal and calendar years.

Committee members asked detailed operational and timing questions: Teck and Donlin representatives described exploration and permitting time frames (multi-year exploration and appeals before potential sanctioning; construction windows of several years before production), Red Dog’s limited Arctic shipping season and subsistence coordination, and Donlin’s aquatic monitoring pilots intended for community operation once established.

No formal committee action followed this invited testimony; the presentations were informational. The committee adjourned at 5:02 p.m.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","02/24/2025 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES","oneSentenceSummary","Representatives from Alaska Metal Mines, Teck (Red Dog), Donlin Gold, the Alaska Miners Association and a placer miner briefed the Senate Resources Committee on Feb. 24 about operations, workforce needs, environmental monitoring and revenue implications tied to mining activity, including potential effects on ANCSA 7(i)/7(j) distributions.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature Alaska, Alaska","taxId",78559,"location","Alaska","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6314454,"Senate Resources advances electronic-device recycling bill after task-force testimony",1228,272000,1500000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2383756-e86cb7ed881588401eaf7aed3ffe1a33&start=272&end=1500","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2383756-e86cb7ed881588401eaf7aed3ffe1a33/thumbnail_272000.jpg","/articles/6314454/Alaska/Senate-Resources-advances-electronic-device-recycling-bill-after-task-force-testimony","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6314454-9c6136b7b0e707c7da2d85285993b30c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771150607&Signature=mKvKRGVqn38VloGkg31RAG1wmePyYlosUadS2jrZpv4FRv5OSKtUnOw-L-ulkb78MBxyPbYrPRH6Kv7FaqbTreM5cWy4Fb4p89InPDRdoj2dRTK5ucUDUD1VvhpFVaXrSafZv7YEKodLUl82IuX9xA8YifkctFm81ezRNCFbZN5yLpCglgrcw9bATAtliRPWAZ0TVJ~uzadFh7-Z7A-c1c3wfJ5nicl~KE25VHQJ6Dlu6IKVKh2rv3KVSGgzxa76gbLw-CHyfob5IiN46S3AzopH-mDSWlmvpmI6WX6hpcdkko077ZA8KDcrs3aFP4kPo5PO-Ls7cnxaFeUyxuDQug__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Resources Committee on Feb. 24 adopted a committee substitute for Senate Bill 61, a proposal to establish an electronic-device recycling program in Alaska, and voted to report the substitute out of committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal notes.

Committee Chair Senator Jesse Giesel said the substitute would serve as the working document after members removed objections and adopted it by voice vote. Senator Wilkowski moved the final committee action; no member registered an objection on the record.

Louis Flora, staff to Senator L. Tobin, walked the committee through key edits in the working draft. Changes give manufacturers the ability to propose fewer permanent collection sites or fewer collection events if they demonstrate that a community has safe, adequate storage for devices; delete a specific penalty for knowingly mixing electronic devices with landfill waste; permit the program council to meet virtually as well as in person; exclude Food and Drug Administration–regulated medical devices from the covered list; and remove microwave ovens and broadly defined “battery-containing electronic devices” from the bill’s covered-device definition. Flora said some changes came after stakeholder and medical-association concerns and work with committee members.

Riley Kosinski of the Solid Waste Alaska Task Force and Backhaul Alaska told the committee Alaska already has logistics and partners that ship recyclables from remote communities using existing freight routes. Kosinski said Backhaul Alaska started in 2018, has supported roughly 100 operational activities similar to those asked of manufacturers in SB 61 (training, pop-up collections, logistics) and estimated about 70% of Alaska communities already have some access to e-waste recycling or events. He warned that Backhaul Alaska’s federal funding is largely expiring this summer and that programmatic grant uncertainty limits long-term planning; he said a statutory program would create stable, long-term funding and coordination.

Alyssa Murphy, an environmental specialist with the State of Alaska and secretary of a local recycling nonprofit, testified in support, saying local electronics collection events are intensive and costly and that community organizations want legislation to reduce the burden on individual communities.

The committee accepted the committee substitute as its working document and later moved, without recorded objection, to report the substitute out of committee “as amended” with individual recommendations and attached fiscal notes; legislative legal staff were authorized to make technical and conforming changes. The committee did not record a roll-call tally on the floor; the motion passed on a voice vote with no objections recorded in committee.

The substitute remains before the full Legislature; committee staff indicated the bill package includes an attached fiscal note and will be transmitted per standard procedure.","The Senate Resources Committee adopted and reported out a committee substitute for Senate Bill 61, creating an electronic device recycling program with several changes after invited testimony and public comment about existing Alaska logistics and funding gaps.","actionData","errors"]

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Mining industry briefs Senate Resources on operations, workforce and 7(i) revenue exposure

Senate Resources advances electronic-device recycling bill after task-force testimony