Inside Alaska industry.

• Author: Woodring, Jeannie

Facts and figures from media around the state

TOURISM

New wilderness adventures are afoot in the Alaska Bush, the result of a joint venture between NANA Regional Corp. of Kotzebue and Alaska Discovery Inc., an expedition company based in Juneau. For next summer, the effort has tentatively scheduled a 10-day canoe trip near the Gates of the Arctic National Park and a week-long boat trip through the middle Kobuk River. Both ventures will allow visitors to view scenery, wildlife and Native villages.

MINING

Good News for Statewide Mining. Add up all the recent mining events happening around Alaska recently, and the industry glimmers like gold.

First, the $227 million, 53-mega-watt Healy Clean Coal Project got a boost in early November when the National Park Service dropped its objections to the plant's development. Initially, the Park Service voiced concern that the coal-burning power plant would produce clouds of pollution that could obstruct views at Denali National Park, four miles away, in the winter months.

After Golden Valley Electric Association, the proposed operator for the plant, announced that it would cut nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions at the Healy site, the Park Service dropped its objections. Construction of the new plant could begin as early as next summer, creating up to 300 jobs to build the facility.

In another positive mining move, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources will open more than 550,000 acres of Alaska state lands to mineral entry. Some of the acreage has been closed to claim-staking for 18 years. Though the new sites are scattered across Alaska, they occur in greater concentrations on the Seward Peninsula and around Fairbanks.

Finally, a new Joint Mineral Development Program now exists between Alaska and the Yukon Territory. The program will share geological, technological and regulatory information between the two governments. According to Steve Borell, executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, "This is an important step for these two governments. It comes at a time when many companies are leaving the U.S. and Canada and taking their exploration dollars to other countries."

Other mining news nuggets:

* The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority will purchase a 49 percent interest in the Suneel Alaska coal terminal in Seward for $6.9 million. The move improves Suneel's cash flow, beleaguered by drops in world coal prices.

* The amount of gold in the Ryan Lode Mine atop Ester...