Another ballot measure has thrown yet another hurdle into Northern Dynasty’s quest to develop the Pebble Project.
RENO (MINEWEB) – As Alaskan voters demonstrated they are more than willing to tax and regulate the production, sale and use of marijuana in the state, and resoundingly voted to increase the state’s minimum wage, they are not about to make it easy for the Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay.
Ballot Measure 4, or the “Bristol Bay Forever” initiative, was aimed squarely at the proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska. The measure was passed by a resounding margin of 65.32% to 34.68%, according to the Alaska Division of Elections.
Officially described as “An Act Providing for Protection of Bristol Bay Wild Salmon and Waters Within or Flowing into the Existing 1972 Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve”, the measure requires the Alaska Legislature to “approve future large-scale metallic sulfide mines in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserves (BBFR) by passing a law”.
“The law would have to find that any proposed mine would not endanger the BBFR fishery. The approval would be in addition to any other required permits or authorizations,” according to the full ballot summary.
The measure defines “large-scale metallic sulfide mining operation” as “a specific mining proposal to extract metals, including gold and copper, from sulfide-bearing rock and that would directly disturb 640 or more acres of land.”
The ballot measure only applies to large-scale metallic sulfide mines in the BBFR that lack all required permits, licenses, or approvals before the bill’s effective date. In plain English, the measure only applies to the Pebble Project.
Supporters of the measure listed three reasons for voters to protect the Bristol Bay area from the Pebble Project. “10,000 jobs are linked to sockeye salmon production from Bristol Bay.
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