New life for old mines.

• Author: Swagel, Will

Mining companies are exploring old properties in Southeast, some closed since World War II, for new profits. To get these facilities up and running, developers must overcome environmental hurdles - not an easy task in today's anti-smokestack atmosphere.

Steep Mount Roberts looms over downtown Juneau and the wealth contained in that town, from state government to tourism, local businesses and a lively arts scene.

But great wealth for Juneau lies within Mount Roberts in the form of gold. In fact, it was the gold inside the towering mountain that led white settlers to Juneau more than a century ago. At the peak of production, thousands of workers labored in what became the Alaska-Juneau (A-J) Mine and in the Treadwell Mine, located across from Juneau on Douglas Island.

From 1883 until 1917 when it was accidentally flooded, the Treadwell Mine produced over 90 tons of gold. The A-J produced even more, about 109 tons, from 1880-1944, until gold mining was deemed inessential to the war effort during World War II and was stopped. From 1920 to 1940, the A-J was the largest gold mine in North America and one of the most inexpensive producers in the world.

Today, Echo Bay Alaska Inc. is seeking to reopen the mine. A-J is in the middle of its permitting process, says Echo Bay spokesman Dave Stone. If production goes as planned, Echo Bay will mine more than $100 million in gold out of the A-J each year for more than a decade, which amounts to 325,000 ounces annually. And each of those years, the city of Juneau will collect more than $7 million in royalties and taxes, a 5 percent boost to the city's $120 million budget.

Echo Bay has already spent $80 million on the still-closed mine and will need to spend $300 million more to get the facility up and running. At its peak, the A-J is expected to result in 450 direct jobs.

But times have changed for smokestack industries like mining, and local opposition to the mine is strong from some quarters. The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (SCLDF) opposes company proposals to funnel waste water into Gastineau Channel, which rims in front of Juneau, and also opposes the use of a nearby valley for the storage of tailings. Unless plans are changed, says SCLDF mining analyst David Chambers, the A-J mine is fatally flawed in the view of environmentalists.

A Slow Grind

"Some individuals in the community are flat out against the projects," says Al Clough of the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development...