Skagway hands across the border: revitalized 'Gateway to the Yukon'.

• Author: Lavrakas, Dimitra
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: MINING

Since the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, Skagway has been the "Gateway to the Klondike." Stampeders headed up the "Golden Stairs" and over the Chilkoot Pass or the White Pass hauling their ton of supplies to the Klondike, and came back through with their golden gains. Not much has changed.

AN ECONOMIC ROAD NORTH

Today, the Yukon's bulk oil comes through Skagway's port and, in return, the port ships out ore from the mines in Faro down the South Klondike Highway.

When the highway was punched through in 1978, it joined the unconnected routes between Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to Carcross and Skagway to the border of British Columbia. And while it opened a means to drive the Alaska Highway to Anchorage or the Lower 48, the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad looked on with suspicion. It foretold a change in transportation modes, the company didn't like it and with good reason.

Without freight to haul to and from the Yukon, the railroad closed in 1982.

It devastated Skagway, which always considered itself a railroad town.

In 1986, the road originally built to boost tourism became a vital commercial transportation route, and Faro mine owners convinced British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska to keep the road open year-round as the mines went into production again.

Two years later, WP&YR reopened as a tourist attraction, and has been quite successful, being something of a golden goose for its owner ClubLink Enterprises Ltd. (formerly Tri-White Corp.) based in Toronto, Ontario.

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But it's never forgotten its original purpose--freight hauling. And a new mine on the Yukon-Northwest Territories border, solid prices for lead-zinc ore, a demand for it from the Far East are driving a push to improve Skagway's port facilities.

On Aug. 24, the Yukon government approved work permits to Selwyn Chihong Mining Ltd. to expand exploration work on its large lead-zinc deposit at Howard's Pass. Canadian company Selwyn Resources Ltd. partnered in August with Selwyn Chihong Mining of China, which invested $100 million into the joint venture. While the company is considering Skagway, it is also looking at Hyder, which is further south on the coast next to Stewart, British Columbia.

"AIDEA views that ore terminal as a strategic asset in the state and we want to partner with the municipality to make it grow," said Jim Hemsath, deputy director of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. An added value in using Skagway as the port is the...