Tetlin mine project permit draws three public comments online
Three public comments, quoted below, have been submitted online to the state as of Wednesday morning on the waste management permit for the proposed open-pit Tetlin mine.
The Manh Choh site is about 10 miles south of Tok. To comment on the project, go to the state Division of Mining, Land and Water website.
Information about how to submit online comments can be found here.
Comments can be sent by email to manh.choh.comments@alaska.gov
The state Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Conservation have published documents on the reclamation plan and waste management permit.
DEC says it has “tentatively decided” to issue the permit.
“Any interested person may submit a written request for a public hearing. A request for a public hearing shall state the nature of the issues to be raised, as well as the requester's name, address and telephone number. DEC will hold a public hearing if it determines that good cause exists,” the state says.
To read the comments submitted so far, click here.
The comment deadline is March 13.
It’s an exercise to track the complex ownership chain of the mining project.
The Manh Choh project is owned by Peak Gold LLC, according to the reclamation plan. Peak Gold LLC is based in Delaware, with offices at 5075 South Syracuse Street in Denver, Colo.
Peak Gold LLC is 70 percent owned by KG Mining (Alaska) Inc., and 30 percent owned by Core Alaska LLC.
KG Mining (Alaska) Inc. is also headquartered at 5075 South Syracuse Street and is the manager of Peak Gold LLC.
The state of Alaska corporations database has no entry I can find for KG Mining (Alaska) Inc., the 70 percent owner of the Manh Choh project.
( I expect someone will let me know if this is my mistake, if the company has a different name or if the company is not registered with the State of Alaska for some reason.)
The state corporations database has an entry for Kinross Gold USA, Inc., a Nevada corporation at the same South Syracuse Street address in Denver of KG Mining (Alaska) Inc.
Kinross Gold USA Inc. is 100 percent owned by Bema Gold (USA) Inc., which is at the same South Syracuse Street office as the other entities.
(Again, the state corporate database shows no entry for Bema Gold (USA) Inc. that I can find. I expect someone will let me know if this is my mistake, if Bema Gold (USA) has a different name or if the corporate owners of Manh Choh do not have all of their entities registered with the State of Alaska for some reason.)
Kinross purchased Bema Gold in 2006 for $3.1 billion. The state of Nevada has a listing for Bema Gold (U.S.) Inc., headquartered at South Syracuse Street in Denver.
The 30 percent owner of Peak Gold LLC, Core Alaska LLC, is a Delaware company with offices in Houston, Texas.
Core Alaska LLC is owned by Contango ORE Inc., which has the same Houston office. The State of Alaska, through the Alaska Permanent Fund, is the fourth largest shareholder of Contango, with a $10 million investment.
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