Fort Knox reclamation: journey began before mining started.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Mining

From the side of a hill northeast of Fairbanks, the view stretches for miles with waves of rolling green hills just starting to pale with autumn colors. A stiff breeze bounces cloud shadows across the landscape; the rustle of trees and grass and the occasional twitter of birds are the only sound except for the idling of our truck.

Although this region has been a hub of mining for more than a century, no buildings or roads are visible. But just more than a decade ago, this site on the side of Pedro Dome was carved into roads, piled with rocks, and bustling with traffic as huge shovels and dozers carved into the bedrock in search of gold. A steady parade of oversize trucks carried the ore to the mill at Fort Knox a few miles to the south.

This is the site of the True North gold mine. Between 2001 and 2004 it produced approximately 530,000 ounces of gold. More than 36 million tons of ore were moved in its brief lifespan.

Today, it's one of the few road-accessible sites in Alaska where it's possible to see the process of reclamation from start to finish, says Jennifer Pyecha, senior environmental engineer for Fairbanks Gold Mining, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corporation, which operates True North and Fort Knox.

The reclamation of the True North gold mine is nearly complete. In a few years, trees will cover the hillside, and aside from the road leading to it, it will be virtually indistinguishable from the hills around it. The process from industry to nature is a long and expensive one, a journey that begins even before mining starts.

Under Alaska law, mines must post a bond to cover the costs of reclamation, and reclamation plans must be approved by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The plans must be updated whenever there is a change to mining operations.

Reclaiming True North was a fairly straightforward operation, according to Pyecha and Fort Knox environmental manager Bartly Kleven. All the mining at True North was done above the water table. The only buildings on the site were for equipment maintenance. Because all the ore was trucked to Fort Knox for processing, no mill was necessary.

A Matter of Scale

But the process at True North is a snapshot of what Fairbanks Gold Mining will be undertaking when Fort Knox shuts down, a process that could start as early as 2018. Like nearly everything to do with Fort Knox, it's a matter of scale. Fairbanks Gold Mining posted a $3.6 million bond for True North reclamation. For Fort Knox, it was required...