At a public meeting hosted by Lynn Canal Conservation last week speakers cast doubt that Haines could be a viable port for Yukon mining interests.
The meeting was organized after discussions between Haines Borough officials and Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority staff about the possibility of AIDEA financing an ore terminal in Haines that could support the Palmer Project in the event it becomes an operating mine.
Such a development was billed by supporters as a potential terminal for other industries including Yukon mines that might ship ore concentrates if AIDEA decommissions its ore terminal in Skagway. The lease expires in 2023 and AIDEA commissioned a study on the cost of modernizing the facility versus decommissioning it.
Yukon Conservation Society mining analyst Lewis Rifkind described the mines currently operating in the Yukon Territory. He said the distances required to travel to Haines are barriers for regional mining interests who, if Skagway’s port was unavailable, would use a port in Stewart, B.C.
“If there was no other ore terminal available, Haines makes sense but there are other terminals available and they’re cheaper and closer,” Rifkind said.
In a separate interview with the CVN, Yukon Producers’ Group co-project manager Jonas Smith confirmed the claim. Smith’s organization aims to promote mineral exploration and industry development in the Yukon.
“For the vast majority of companies I work with, Stewart is Skagway’s main competition, and should the Skagway terminal be decommissioned, Stewart would likely get most if not all of the business,” Smith said.
After the discussions with AIDEA this spring, the borough assembly approved a resolution that would seek funding for two phases of a four-phase Lutak Dock rebuilding project. The assembly declined to seek funding for all four phases because of public concern that it was a Trojan horse for an ore terminal.
“By describing it rhetorically as phases one, two, three and four, it’s raised concerns that (the borough) has this plan for getting from here to there and the phase four part of the plan has been to perhaps build an ore terminal,” environmentalist Gershon Cohen said at last week’s meeting. “I don’t think it’s been good for the community for those two things to be put in the same package.”
Fred Gray is a former fuel distributor in Haines and a member of the port and harbor committee that recommended the four-phase project. He attended Thursday’s meeting and said that the issue of an ore terminal is likely decades away.
“We look at phase four which we’re talking about tonight, mostly, is 20 years off in our commitment,” Gray said. “Constantine and the Japanese (DOWA) could come in and talk us into an ore terminal next year, but I just don’t see it in the near future, but it is a concern for all of us.”
The borough has had discussions with AIDEA going back to 2013 when a Yukon mining interest near Burwash landing, Y.T., expressed interest in Haines as a potential customer if it had an ore terminal.
The mining company said it wouldn’t pay for such a project, and AIDEA, which provides financing for large-scale development projects across the state, met with local officials regarding a potential loan. It’s unclear how far those discussions advanced.
Former economist for the State of Alaska Gregg Erikson also spoke at the meeting. He said AIDEA is likely seeking a new home for its ore facility because some Skagway officials have expressed reluctance to continue the lease.
“If they can’t find a home for that lease, they have to take a hit on their balance sheet,” Erikson said. “Suddenly when they disassemble that facility and they can’t sell it or move it to Haines they’re…poorer and that’s really important to them.”
Aside from DeLong Mountain Transportation System, a road and port that supports the Red Dog mine, Erikson was critical of AIDEA’s track record of financing profitable projects.
AIDEA did not respond to questions by press time.