Dunleavy to Biden: reconsider Ambler Road

While hailing President Joe Biden’s use of the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic production of critical lithium-ion battery minerals and metals as good news for the Far North State’s mining sector, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says this move contradicts actions taken by the administration to reevaluate a road to the Ambler Mining District.

“I fully support the President making the development of these minerals a priority in our nation’s interest. But the Biden Administration also needs to reconsider earlier actions it made to delay development of just such a resource of critical minerals: the Ambler Mining District,” Dunleavy penned in a statement.

Located in Northwest Alaska, about 200 miles west of the state’s limited highway network, the Ambler Mining District hosts a rich domestic supply of the copper, zinc, cobalt, silver, and other minerals critical to the Biden administration’s renewable energy, electric vehicle, and infrastructure initiatives.

“Stalling development of the road to the Ambler Mining District is preventing access to the cobalt for the lithium batteries and the copper for the wires for charging stations,” the Alaska governor added.

The most advanced of these potential domestic clean energy metal sources are found on the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects, a 448,217-acre land package made up primarily of Alaska Native and state lands that hosts roughly 8.9 billion lb of copper, 3.6 billion lb of zinc, 626 million lb of lead, 88 million lb of cobalt, 770,000 ounces of gold, and 58.3 million oz of silver in the indicated and inferred resource categories.

Ambler Metals LLC, a joint venture owned equally by South32 Ltd. and Trilogy Metals Inc., has plans to establish at least one mine in the district. However, a road to transport the metal-rich concentrates produced there to market is needed to make the mining endeavor viable.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), which intends to build the 211-mile road connecting the Ambler District to Alaska’s highway system and then collect tolls to pay for its construction and maintenance costs, previously received federal permits and right-of-way to build this industrial access.

Earlier this year, however, federal agencies filed a motion to rescind the permits for further review and suspended the right-of-way across 25 miles of federal land.

Gov. Dunleavy says delaying access to the Ambler District runs counter to the White House’s recent use of the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic supplies of the minerals and metals that are needed for the lithium-ion batteries vital to the envisioned clean energy future.

“An emergency call for critical minerals makes it timely to reverse the recent and contradictory federal decisions on Ambler. Restore the road right of way,” he penned in an April 5 statement.

Established in 1950 to ensure the United States could secure goods needed for national security during the Cold War, the DPA provides American presidents access to funding and other tools to shore up the American industrial base and ensure the private sector has the necessary resources to defend national security and face emergencies.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and a bipartisan group of colleagues urged President Biden to utilize this enhanced authority to accelerate domestic production of lithium-ion battery materials, in particular graphite, manganese, cobalt, nickel, and lithium.

“My hope is that this decision marks the start of a much more serious emphasis on our nation’s mineral security, and that real projects, especially mines, in states like Alaska, result from it,” Alaska’s senior senator said in response to the President’s decision to use the DPA to support domestic battery material production. “It is also critical that the five minerals addressed under this decision are just the start, not the end, of federal efforts to rebuild our domestic supply chains.”

Alaska hosts deposits with four of the minerals and metals covered under the DPA – cobalt, graphite, manganese, and nickel – as well as most of the other 50 minerals that have been deemed critical to the economic well-being and security of the United States.

“I’m pleased to see President Biden recently put the Defense Production Act to work to accelerate our critical battery material development. He’s going to find Alaska is key to the electrification of everything,” said Dunleavy.

This includes Ambler District deposits with the cobalt for lithium-ion batteries, copper for EVs and renewable energy, silver for solar panels, and zinc to build out the clean energy infrastructure envisioned by the White House.

“We believe that the resources at the UKMP will become a critical source of green metals for the US economy, as well as a significant economic contributor within the Northwest Arctic Borough, its Native communities, and the Alaskan economy,” said Trilogy Metals President and CEO Tony Giardini.

Many Northwest Alaska Native communities and governments have come out in support of the proposed Ambler Road and responsible mine development in their region.

“Resource development when carried out in a way that respects our subsistence lifestyle, our culture, and the well-being of the land, has the potential to create progressive economic and employment outcomes for the people of our communities within the Northwest Arctic Borough,” said Dickie Moto, mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough, which encompasses the Ambler District. “I believe that the Ambler Access Project would have a positive, meaningful effect on our communities given that gas prices are currently $16 a gallon and that we are witnessing some of the highest unemployment rates in Alaska. I also want to reiterate that on October 11, 2021, the Northwest Arctic Borough, which is the regional government for Northwest Alaska, passed a resolution in support of the Ambler Access Project.”

The borough mayor said several Northwest Alaska villages – Kobuk, Shungnak, Kiana, Selawik, and Deering – have also passed resolutions in favor of development of the road.

“The road and the proposed mines, if developed responsibly, would provide jobs and the ability to sustain our subsistence lifestyle for future generations of Inupiaq within the borough,” Moto added.

NANA, the Alaska Native regional corporation for Northwest Alaska; AIDEA; the state of Alaska; and Ambler Metals filed motions in response to the U.S. Department of Interior’s motion to remand the federal Ambler Road permits for further review.

Ambler Metals told the court that it does not oppose the DOI’s remand as long as the road permits are not terminated, and the extra review of the permits is completed within nine months.

Gov. Dunleavy contends that road access to the Ambler District should be given the same priority as the battery minerals and metals covered under President Biden’s recent DPA authorization.

“The Ambler Access Project is also in our nation’s interest. Allow it to lead to critical and vital resources,” he said.