Frontier tracks: the Northwest Alaska Railroad.

• Author: Tyson, Ray

For years, mining advocate Steve Borell has touted the virtues of building a great railroad stretching from the rich coal fields of the western Brooks Range to a deep-water port on Norton Sound. Ocean freighters could then more easily transport the huge volumes of coal and other minerals to Pacific Rim and European markets.

Borell, executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, has taken on the railroad as a personal project, willing to discuss the idea with anyone who will listen.

"It's going to take a lot of (mining) projects to make this work," he says, "and it's going to take a lot of people saying 'I see an opportunity here.' It's going to require a massive, massive effort."

If international markets are the target, Borell contends, a railroad and deep-water port are necessary for two basic reasons. For one, the use of freighters would be limited farther north because of the heavy ice conditions and shallow water.

"And when you're talking about coal, you're talking about a commodity that is low value and very high volume, and your transportation system has to be efficient," he adds.

Borell has gained an important ally in Arctic Slope Regional Corp. (ASRC), the Native group that holds title to most of the available coal reserves in the Brooks Range. ASRC hasn't endorsed the railroad but is giving it a serious look, along with other transportation options.

"In my opinion, it's a lot more realistic than some of the other alternatives, particularly for the long haul," says John McClellan, head of2 ASRC's International Business Development group.

Both McClellan and Borell believe their idea for a northwest Alaska railroad as a transportation link for hauling coal and hard-rock minerals to the international marketplace is more plausible than one examined in a recent study commissioned by the Alaska Industrial Development Export Authority (AIDEA).

Prepared for AIDEA by CH2M Hill and Sandwell Inc., "The Northwest Alaska Resource Development Transportation Alternatives Study" looks at the viability of building a $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion railroad and world-class port facility to handle 10 million to 15 million tons a year of coal and other minerals.

The 710-mile rail corridor would begin at ASRC's Aluaq Mine, proceed east along the north side of Lookout Ridge, turn south near the junction of the Colville and Kuna rivers, cross the Brooks Range, and then head south through the Noatak National Preserve toward Ambler. The route would then...