Saving Red Dog Mine: transitioning the Aqqaluk deposit.

• Author: Edmunds, Mary
• Position: MINING

The Red Dog Mine, operated by Teck Alaska Inc., lies 82 miles north of Kotzebue on land owned by NANA Regional Corp. The treeless landscape is close to the bones of the earth. A thin skin of vegetation covers looming hills. To the north, the DeLong Mountains are outlined against the Arctic sky.

Red Dog has been the largest producer of zinc and lead in the world, only recently surpassed by a mine in India. But the Main Deposit, opened in 1989, is expected to run out of ore in 2012. In order to continue, Teck must extend its operations to the smaller Aqqaluk (AH ka luke) deposit, which was named after Robert Aqqaluk Newlin Sr., the first chairman of the NANA Regional Corp. board.

PERMITTING ISSUES

The permitting process for the Aqqaluk Deposit was completed in January 2010. In February, parts of the permit were appealed by individual plaintiffs from Kivalina, a village 66 miles downstream from the mine. They were joined by plaintiffs from Point Hope, as well as by the San Francisco-based Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment. However, 20 Northwest tribal organizations supported the new permitting.

The effect of total dissolved solids (TDS) on drinking water has been an issue. Discharge water from the mine goes into the Middle Fork of the Red Dog Creek, a tributary of the Wulik River, the source of Kivalina's drinking water. In 1998, when mining began in the Main Deposit, the limit was 200 milligrams per liter. In 1999, the EPA approved a more lenient interim standard at 1,500 milligrams per liter for wastewater discharge.

Teck's process for treating wastewater to remove traces of lead and zinc uses lime. The minerals are precipitated out and held in the form of sludge. The calcium from the lime forms calcium sulfate in the water in the form of TDS. So far, mine personnel have not been able to find a process that would meet the more stringent limit.

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In May, a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement required by the EPA concluded that the discharge limits would protect the environment. In fact, the discharge water from the mine has reduced the original acidity of the water caused by minerals naturally leaching into the stream. Aquatic life has appeared where it was absent previously.

Work on opening the Aqqaluk deposit has progressed over the summer even though the permitting process was unresolved. Issues dealing with TDS, as well as levels of lead, zinc, selenium and cyanide, were still being reviewed.

Teck is...