Pebble Opponents Call for River Protection

PERMITS – Teck Resources Limited and partner, NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. Feb. 17 said Trustees for Alaska; and the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment have joined local tribal and environmental organizations to appeal the renewal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of the Red Dog Mine's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, which was due to take effect March 1. The latest appeal was filed by the same groups that last month challenged a State of Alaska decision certifying that the same permit complied with the state's water quality standards. Until EPA issues a notice clarifying which provisions of the permit are subject to appeal and consequently stayed, the entire new permit is stayed. The notice is usually issued by EPA within 30 days of the appeal. The un-stayed provisions would then come into effect 30 days after the notice. The corresponding provisions of Red Dog's existing permit would remain in effect for any stayed provisions. Until EPA issues the notice, Teck will not know whether and to what extent access to Aqqaluk, the next deposit to be mined at Red Dog, will be affected by the appeal. The current operating plan calls for continuing to mine the Main Deposit under existing permits until mid-2011. However, the producer has said that in order to maintain efficient production rates, Main Deposit ore will eventually need to be supplemented with ore from Aqqaluk. If permit delays extend beyond May, its transition plan will be affected and production at Red Dog would likely be curtailed in October, Teck said.

GOLD – Johannesburg, South Africa-based Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. Feb. 16 said it is not associated or affiliated, in any way whatsoever, with Harmony Gold Corp, a Vancouver-based company which has optioned the high-grade Lucky Shot gold property in Southcentral Alaska. "This matter is being investigated," Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. CEO Graham Briggs said. "We will take legal action against the company for making use of our company's name without prior consultation. Harmony has an established brand and with the potential confusion that this could cause investors and analysts, we would have expected Harmony Gold Corp. to have used another name."

PEBBLE - Trout Unlimited Feb. 18 said it and a group of partner organizations nominated the Koktuli River in Southwest Alaska as an Outstanding National Resource Water, a designation under the Clean Water Act that aims to protect high-quality waters for existing uses. By designating a river or stream as an Outstanding National Resource Water, no new or increased pollution discharges can occur within that body of water. Additionally, no new or increased discharges can occur in a tributary if it results in lower water quality to the designated river or stream. The designations are enacted under the anti-degradation provisions of the Clean Water Act. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is charged with overseeing Alaska's anti-degradation policies, including identifying Outstanding National Resource Waters with help from the public. Trout Unlimited said the main goal of designating the Koktuli as an Outstanding National Resource Water is to make sure that the development of any large-scale metallic sulfide mine will not cause any direct, indirect, or cumulative adverse effects on the river's wild salmon, trophy rainbow trout, and other fish and the main industries and activities these fish support.

MERGER – Freegold Ventures Ltd. and Western Standard Metals Ltd. Feb. 17 said they have entered into a letter of intent to amalgamate the two companies. Management of Western Standard and Freegold are of the opinion that the combination of their assets into one company will result in a company with stronger management and financial capabilities better able to accelerate the exploration and development of their projects. Pursuant to the letter of intent, Western Standard and Freegold will amalgamate to form a new company called Amalco. The issued shares, options and warrants of Western Standard and Freegold will be exchanged with shares, options and warrants of Amalco at a ratio to be negotiated on the effective date of the definitive agreement to be entered into with respect to the amalgamation. Amalco will retain the management and exploration teams of both companies resulting in a company with greater financial and technical strength to move their advanced stage projects forward. The Board of Directors of Amalco will be Alvin Jackson, who will assume the role of chairman and CEO, Kristina Walcott, who will assume the position of vice chairman and COO, David Knight, Bruce Ramsden, Amin Somani and Garnet Dawson. Other Officers of Amalco will be Walter Melnyk as president, Tanuja de Silva Skerlec as CFO, and Gordon Steblin as controller. All of these individuals are currently either officers or directors of Western Standard or Freegold.

GOLD/COPPER – Millrock Resources Inc. Feb. 16 said it has staked two claim blocks in the Kahiltna Terrane of Alaska that will form the basis of two 50-50 joint ventures with Altius Resources Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Altius Minerals Corporation. The prospects, which have been named St. Eugene and Monte Cristo, were identified through the activities of the Millrock – Altius strategic alliance. The Kahiltna Terrane is emerging as a prolific mineral belt that hosts the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit, the Whistler copper-gold deposit, and the Terra gold deposit, as well as Millrock's Estelle gold prospect. The Monte Cristo project, located 130 kilometers, or 81 miles, northwest of Anchorage, consists of 29 claims covering 1,878 hectares, or 7.25 square miles. The claims target a large tonnage, intrusive-related gold-rich porphyry deposit. The St. Eugene project, located 150 kilometers, or 93 miles, northwest of Anchorage, consists of 26 claims covering 1,683 hectares, or 6.5 square miles. The claims are situated on a copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry system initially discovered in the 1970s. Millrock President and CEO Gregory Beischer said, "Millrock continues to make great early-stage surface discoveries of gold and copper mineralization in the Kahiltna Terrane of Alaska. True to our business model, we will continue to generate projects such as these, and advance them with funding from joint venture partners."

PERMIT VIOLATION – The Pebble Limited Partnership has been assessed US$45,000 in fines after the partnership reported to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources that drill crews had inadvertently withdrew water from unauthorized sources during the 2009 exploration season. Upon further investigation DNR discovered a total of 45 incidents. "Pebble's actions are, at a minimum a trespass against the state's property and resource interests. Although it does not appear that any environmental damage occurred as a result of these violations, the state's ownership and management interests in state resources were nevertheless damaged by Pebble's trespass," wrote Dick Mylius, DNR Division of Mining, Land and Water's director. "While we appreciate Pebble's candor in coming forward with information concerning these violations, steps must be taken to protect the state and its resources and avoid future violations." In addition to the fine, the state has required the Pebble Partnership to provide a detailed water withdrawal plan that assures all water sources used are properly permitted, and the company to hire a compliance officer who will be responsible for confirming that all water withdrawals are properly permitted. The Pebble Partnership agreed to these conditions and said it hired a new environmental site coordinator. The company is also developing a plan to coordinate staff training to ensure all permit applications are strictly observed.