A private-public partnership to restore the Chilkoot Lumber Co. dock as an ore terminal was floated as a potential model at the Haines Port Development Council’s second “summit” on mining, transportation and tourism at the American Bald Eagle Foundation Sept. 25.

The meeting included Canadian government and mining company officials, state Rep. Sam Kito, D-Juneau, Alaska Department of Transportation planner Andy Hughes, as well as representatives of Yukon College and Alaska Mountain Guides.

Haines Borough Mayor Stephanie Scott sat on the panel. Asembly members George Campbell and Diana Lapham attended as audience members.

The discussion zeroed in on Wellgreen Platinum, a company exploring a platinum, nickel and copper deposit near Burwash Landing, Y.T., which sees Haines as its “preferred” port, if a mine develops.

John Sagman, senior vice-president for Wellgreen, said development of a mine there wouldn’t start until 2016, at the earliest. “I can’t stress enough. We’re still compiling our technical reporting. It’s still very preliminary. We still have a long way to go to have a mine.”

Sagman said after the meeting that he expected 110,000 tons of construction materials would need to be shipped to the site and that operation of a mine would generate traffic of four ore trucks a day and as many as five trucks per day of liquefied natural gas, which would be used exclusively to power a mine. As many as 1,000 workers would be on site during construction, he said. The mine would produce about 110,000 tons of concentrate annually, he said.

(Sagman cited much higher trucking, equipment and ore figures during the meeting, but said afterward he didn’t have accurate figures at the time. The corrected figures are “very preliminary estimates,” he said in an email.)

Bill Kurz, a member of the council, suggested the borough’s Lutak Dock as the freight terminal for a mine, and the Chilkoot Lumber deep-water dock as the site of an ore terminal. “They’re interested in our port. If we work together, we could do this,” he said.

Larry Beck, president of Chilkoot Lumber, said the site has potential as an industrial port and that the company is seeking partners or a private-public partnership for a facility that would support a port for mining or transshipment of liquefied natural gas. The company has 500 feet of permitted dock frontage, a half-mile of waterfront and 24 acres of upland property. “We’re looking forward to finding a niche so we can go ahead in developing this property,” Beck said.

Mayor Scott at the meeting said there’s no template for private-public partnerships and that proponents might look at establishing a port authority.

In an interview after the meeting, Scott said the municipality would need an “anchor tenant” before investing money in an ore terminal. She also questioned why a private entity wasn’t looking to invest in port development here.

“Mining is a hugely capital-intensive endeavor. That’s what makes it iffy,” Scott said.

To enter into a partnership agreement on an ore facility would require a mining company to reveal its finances and intentions, she said. The community would also have to be shown to benefit from such an arrangement, she said.

Scott said it’s important for the borough to be involved in the “visioning” for mine port development. “Our role right now is to improve the (borough’s) Lutak Dock to carry heavy loads” that would be associated with freight arriving for mine development, she said.

Wellgreen’s Sagman said the company is just starting a pre-feasibility report on the prospect of a mine at the Burwash Landing site. That should be completed before the end of 2015, he said.

Sagman said after the meeting that he was encouraged by the potential for a port here and that the development council’s efforts were “tracking well” with his company’s project. “I see good teamwork. I see more work on the road and the (Wells) bridge. We keep coming back (to Haines) because we think it has potential.”

For hauling ore, Haines is a shorter distance than Skagway, with a road that sees better weather than the one to Skagway, he said. “It comes down to money. If Haines could get some investment here, we’d be very interested in coming here. Our preference would be to come to Haines,” Sagman said.

Chilkoot Lumber’s Beck said Wellgreen looked to be the first company that might bring ore through town, as its mine development schedule appears to be ahead of Constantine Metal Resources, a prospective mine in the Haines Borough near 40 Mile. He said the “summits” were worthwhile. “Everybody’s got to stay in touch. This is a good way for everybody who has an interest – including the government – to stay on the same page.”

DOT planner Hughes told the panel that with respect to mining in Haines, his agency had identified more than $100 million in improvement needs. Those include rebuilding of the Haines Highway between 21-25.3 Mile (including replacement of Wells Bridge), $36 million; 12.2-21 Mile, $27 million; 3.5-12.2 Mile, $33.5 million; resurfacing 3.5 Mile to Sixth Avenue, $13 million.

Hughes also mentioned replacement of the Klehini River bridge (Steel Bridge), an $8.3 million project that he called the “Palmer Project bridge.” The new bridge will be designed next summer. Construction of the bridge would occur in 2016-17, he said.

The first priority of the highway expansion is between mileposts 21-25.3, Hughes said, with construction starting in 2017 at the soonest. The section between 3.5 Mile and 12.1 Mile might happen sooner, however, if a project elsewhere defaults, he said.