New coal developments full-steam ahead: new consideration for Northwestern Alaska coal.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 February 2008
• Author: Liles, Patricia

Northern Alaska has been blessed with giant-sized natural resources found in its vast, remote lands, including the Prudhoe Bay oil field, once one of the nation's largest single sources of crude, and the Red Dog zinc and lead mine, currently the world's largest single source of the industrial metal.

Currently untapped, but with the potential for an even larger impact, is another giant-sized natural resource found in the northern region of Alaska --high-quality, near-surface coal deposits located mostly on Native-owned land in the far northwestern part of the state.

It's not a new discovery--geologists and landowners have known about the coal resource in Northwestern Alaska for years. In fact, explorers in 1826 and 1827 first reported coal in the area and whaling ships in the late 1800s and early 1900s used coal mined from the Corwin Bluffs and Cape Beaufort areas along the coast of the Chukchi Sea, according to the state-produced Alaska's High-Rank Coals publication.

"The resource has not been developed previously because of low coal prices, lack of infrastructure, harsh winter conditions and the high cost of mining and transporting the product," said Rich Hughes, development specialist in the state's Office of Economic Development/Minerals. "It could not compete with other sources that were more accessible and less expensive to mine. Those conditions have changed."

Global coal prices have risen dramatically in recent years, in some cases doubling in price per ton. That price factor, combined with a renewed national interest in weaning the United States off of foreign sources of energy resources and technological improvements in clean coal methods could create opportunity for a large-scale coal project in Northwestern Alaska.

TURNING CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES

Two companies have joined forces to prepare the Northwestern Alaska coal resource for that possible development opportunity. Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which owns much of the land containing the high-quality, large coal resource, and BHP Billiton, a global mining giant, have joined forces in "turning challenges into opportunities," according to their project's Web site.

The two companies announced in July 2006 an agreement to conduct a five-year coal exploration program and concept level project evaluation on the giant-sized coal resource in Northwest Alaska, located approximately 35 miles south of Point Lay and just a few miles from the Chukchi Sea.

During the summer of 2006, a...