Anglo American CEO To Meet With Alaska Group Over Pebble Project
April 19 2011 - 7:30PM
Dow Jones News
A delegation of Alaska Native leaders and the director of a
large commercial fishing fleet are due to meet with Anglo American
PLC (AAUKY, AAL.LN) Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll and Chairman
John Parker Wednesday to voice their concerns about the
construction of a large Alaskan gold and copper mine.
The delegation wants to voice their concern that the mine may
destroy an important spawning habitat for wild sockeye salmon and
harm communities around Bristol Bay that depend on fishing.
"We've come to London to let Anglo American's leadership and
shareholders know that the Pebble Project is a dead end," said
Kimberly Williams, executive director of Nunamta Aulukestai, an
association of nine village corporations, the regional corporation
and Tribes representing more than half of the Alaska Native People
of Bristol Bay.
"This project will jeopardize the fishery that supplies 50% of
the world's commercial supply of sockeye salmon," said Bob Waldrop,
director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development
Association, which represents approximately 2,000 commercial
fishermen.
"The fishermen are putting their full weight against this
project," he added.
The move by the native group comes just before Anglo American's
annual general meeting, which will take place Thursday.
Anglo American said it was premature to make judgements about
the project since it is still in exploration phase and no mine plan
has been developed.
"We do believe that Pebble can be developed in a way that
protects the fishery and the onus is on Pebble to prove that and to
convince Alaskans," James Wyatt-Tilby, a spokesman for Anglo
American said in an emailed statement.
The Pebble project, which is located in southwestern Alaska, is
one of the world's largest undeveloped gold and copper deposits. It
is jointly owned in equal measure by Anglo American and
Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NAK, NDM.T).
Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.LN) owns
a 19.8% stake in Northern Dynasty. Mitsubishi Corp. (MSBHY,
8058.TO), another prominent shareholder in the project, sold out of
its 11% stake in Northern Dynasty recently.
The project is still in its pre-feasbility study, but some
options include an open-pit mine and possibly an underground mine
that could potentially produce 350,000 tons of copper annually and
a significant amount of gold and molybdenum byproducts.
Anglo American has so far invested about $350 million in the
project and said it would commit $1.4 billion to take the project
through various stages of development, but only if a mine could be
designed in accordance with Alaska's stringent environmental
standards and to the benefit of the local community.
Nearly 30 investment organizations representing more than GBP105
billion in assets have sent an open letter to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, urging it to exercise its
authority to safeguard Bristol Bay.
More than 50 jewelers representing GBP3.5 billion in annual
sales have also signed a "No Pebble" pledge to abstain buying gold
sourced from the mine.
The delegation arriving in London is concerned that an open-pit
mine would generate up to nine billion tons of toxic mine waste,
which would be disposed of on-site and require constant water
treatment.
"We of course recognize the range of concerns that exist and we
encourage all interested parties to participate and to make
informed decisions based on the facts and reality, not
scaremongering," Wyatt-Tilby said.
Pebble's Alaskan management team is talking to local people day
in, day out he noted. "[W]e are being as open and transparent as
possible, making our environmental baseline studies available for
independent scientific scrutiny, for example."
Anglo American CEO Carroll also traveled to Iliamna and
Anchorage, Alaska, in March, where she held town-hall meetings and
met with local officials, businesspeople and native leaders, to
listen to a whole spectrum of opinion.
Wyatt-Tilby said concerns that a potential failure at Pebble
could wipe out the Bristol Bay fishery were misplaced, since the
large majority of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery actually derives
from the six river systems that are hydrologically disconnected
from Pebble, he noted.
The project is expected to complete its pre-feasbility phase
study in 2012.
-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)7776 200 924;
alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
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