Powering Pebble

The proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska, which would tap one of the world's biggest copper deposits, will require about as much electricity as the city of Anchorage. The mine's developers are considering three possible plans to generate that much power, all of which involve natural gas.

Executives at the Pebble Limited Partnership (which is comprised of two companies, Anglo American PLC and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.) estimate that production at the mine is still eight or nine years away. The state will first have to approve the partnership's development plan, of which energy will be a crucial component. One aspect of that energy plan is the possibility of providing low-cost power to communities in the region. The high price of energy in rural Alaska is a heavy burden for many residents, and has forced some rural Alaskans to move to urban centers.

"It seems to me that if we're going to get relatively inexpensive power into the region, then we have a responsibility to try and get that power to other people," said John Shively, CEO of the Pebble Partnership.

Some of those people, however, say they will oppose the mine no matter how much power it gives away.

"They're looking at the needs of the community in order to buy them out," said Bobby Andrew, a Yup'ik elder who lives in Dillingham and opposes the mine.

Andrew grew up in Aleknagik, upriver from Dillingham, hunting moose and caribou and eating salmon in the summer and trout and grayling all year long. He's now approaching 70, and he said his opposition to Pebble stems from the fact that he wants future generations to grow up with the same resources he and other elders enjoyed when they were young.

A mine would kill the fish and poison the land, he said.

Andrew is a leader in the fight against Pebble. He traveled to London in April to meet with Anglo American executives and tell them villages in the region don't want the mine built. He also doesn't buy the idea that the mine would end up providing power to communities in the region.

"Are they going to be providing enough power for themselves, plus the power needs of the entire region? I don't think so," Andrew said. "I doubt that they would be willing to spend that much money."

The most important part of the mine won't be the power it might produce for nearby villages, Shively said, but the jobs and economic impact it will generate. He is aware of the opposition to the mine, but said he would ask Pebble's critics what other options they have for people in the area.

People will make their own decision on the mine, Shively said, based on the partnership's plans and whether people believe them.

"I don't think you can co-opt people in rural Alaska," Shively said.

Mining has come a long way since the day of the pickaxe-toting prospector; modern mining operations are machine-driven and energy-intensive. At Pebble, ore will be blown out of the ground, loaded into trucks and driven to a crusher, which breaks the ore up into chunks the size of softballs. Those chunks are milled into a powder that is then mixed with chemicals that cause valuable minerals (copper, gold, and molybdenum) to rise to the surface, where they are scraped off. The minerals are mixed with water so they can flow through a pipeline to the coast. Pebble's proposed port is on the western side of Cook Inlet near Williamsport, almost directly across the inlet from Homer. Pumps will have to power the minerals through the pipeline to the port and send the water back to the mine so it can be reused.

Although copper comprises about 90 percent of the mine's valuable mineral content, it's expected to account for 60 percent of Pebble's financial value. Gold will generate about 30 percent of the mine's revenue, and molybdenum 10 percent.

According to Shively, the Pebble Partnership is considering three methods of generating power for the mine:

-- Using gas from Cook Inlet. This option would require the discovery of new gas deposits under the inlet's waters.

-- Building a spur line from the proposed natural gas pipeline. This option is feasible only if an in-state gas line is built. Shively envisions a line that would run either across Cook Inlet from the Kenai Peninsula, or down the west coast of the inlet. The Pebble Partnership would pay for the spur line, Shively said, either directly or through a utility company.