Between a rock and a hard place: Alaska has plenty of rock, sand and gravel. But getting it to market is a huge problem, as Alaska can't competitively transport its resources.

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.

For developers of Alaska's rock, sand and gravel industry, the road ahead remains rough and pitted with logistical adversity-all the more ironic considering the opportunity visible both around the bend and here at home.

For perspective's sake, consider that 3,900 companies from 6,200 operations in 50 states produced $5.5 billion worth of construction sand and gravel last year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's "Mineral Commodity Summaries 2002." States leading the production were California, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Washington and Colorado--accounting for some 45 percent of the nation's total output.

Alaska, on the other hand, is a net importer of such product and was among the buyers, despite the state's rich expanses of the geologic resource.

Alaska's import status largely stems from the lack of a developed rock, sand and gravel infrastructure in the state. And of the operations that are successful, they primarily serve only the surrounding region and are not established to serve the entire state, given its expansive waterborne geography.

According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the U.S. West Coast imported crushed rock, sand and gravel from Canada to the tune of between 2.75 to 3.25 million metric tonnes per year from 1997 to 2001. Estimates for 2002 show import of Canadian material jumping to over 5 million metric tonnes.

Alaska alone (with Anchorage considered the primary port) historically imported an average 20,000 metric tonnes of the material from Canada each year from 1997 to 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That climbed to 50,000 million metric tonnes last year and is expected to top 86,500 metric tonnes for 2002. These figures represent only Canadian imports. If considering both Canadian and Puget Sound material sent to Alaska in 2001, the figure jumps to over 150,000 million metric tonnes.

The roadblocks to Alaska actively competing in the Northwest or West Coast gravel markets are familiar ground and suitably grand in scope: the ability to cheaply transport the product to domestic markets south, and to create the necessary stable infrastructure that offers credibility as a reliable market supplier.

Those issues aside, Alaska's vast mineral fields offer the industry's necessary resources in abundance. In fact, the elements responsible for the resource read like an Alaska weather forecast: water, wind and ice.

TUNNEL AHEAD

Despite such challenges, a handful of Alaska rock, sand and gravel developers continue forward with some growth.

Alaska sand and gravel production rose from an estimated 10.6 million tons in 1999 to an estimated 12.5 million tons last year, according to the report "Alaska's Mineral Industry 2001: A Summary," by R.C. Swainbank of the Alaska Division of Community and Business Development and D.J. Szumigala of the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. The...