Permit issued to explore uranium properties near Elim

On October 2, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, authorized a permit to Canadian mining company Panther Minerals for hardrock exploration on state and federal mining claims 30 miles north of Elim.

The purpose of the project is to further explore and define the uranium concentrations at the claims owned by Panther which have been previously determined to be the largest known uranium resource in Alaska.
The permit authorizes drilling until December 31, 2028, a four-season window between June and September to conduct the proposed 30 to 50 core samples at 11 sites.

After Panther first announced their intent to apply for permits in May of this year,  the Native Village of Elim, City of Elim and Elim Native Corporation passed a resolution in a tri-entity meeting requesting government-to-government consultation regarding the mining exploration.

The consultation was not awarded and the DNR stated in a document responding to the 133 public comments issued on the proposed exploration, the state does not have “a legal obligation to provide a sovereign government with additional or greater rights or consultation opportunities than the rest of the public, or, for example a municipality.”

At first, Panther was hoping to get the permit this summer to begin a few weeks of drilling, geologist and consultant to Panther David Hedderly-Smith said.
Hedderly-Smith attributed the delay in permit approval to the strong pushback from the community of Elim.

“They’ve been misled and they’re just spreading mistruths,” Hedderly-Smith said about the 133 comments submitted to the DNR during a 14 period regarding the permit applications.

According to the decision document released by the DNR none of the public comments submitted were in support of the project. The DNR responded broadly to the opposition, stating the project is solely for exploration drilling and won’t discharge anything into the Tubutulik River, whose headway is located by the drill site and feeds into Norton Bay.

It’s also a major site for subsistence use and the biggest concern of the people of Elim if the project were to move forward to a mine.

Mayor of Elim Paul Nagaruk was notified about the permit approval through a call with the Nugget. He clarified that the concern from the locals isn’t about current operations, but the potential effect a mine could have on the land. “We just don’t know what’s gonna happen to our river system,” Nagaruk said.

The news of the May application came as a shock to many in the community, as did the permit approval.

“It’s very upsetting, but we have to keep a clear head. We’re still gonna fight, we’re still gonna look for ways to stop it,” Vice President of Norton Bay Watershed Council Emily Murray said during a call with the Nugget on October 4. Murray found out about the permit approval two days after it was issued and immediately began searching for ways to fight it.

On October 7 she began organizing another tri-entity meeting and is working to draft a resolution with a lawyer to bring to the Alaska Federation of Natives Conference, taking place in Anchorage October 17-19.
Murray said she’s planning to appeal the permit, which needs to be done within 20 days of it being issued.

“I hope to have more tribes sign on to appeal the decision,” Murray said. “This is gonna affect not only Elim but our whole region.”

To access the camp and drill areas requires a flight to the preexisting airstrip, leftover from past drilling projects. Equipment will be barged to Nome and flown to Elim, if approved. From there it will take another flight out to the proposed 12-person camp. From there, workers will access drill sites via four-wheeler, store core samples at the camp, and fly them back to Nome to be transported out for testing.

Hedderly-Smith said he hopes to work with the people of Elim to form a “symbiotic relationship.” Moving operations through Elim is ideal because of its location, but if the community doesn’t want Panther in town, they will have to find a workaround.

“We’d like to be friends with them if a mine were ever to be developed up there,” Hedderly-Smith said.

Panther is still waiting on the approval of a Temporary Water Use Application. Drilling is set to begin next June.