CEO John Shively, speaking to the Alaska Support Industry Alliance in Fairbanks on Wednesday, said the estimated energy needs of a Pebble mine could reach 350 megawatts. The entire capacity for Golden Valley Electric Association, which is based in Fairbanks but stretches to Cantwell and Delta Junction, is 296 megawatts.
Shively said recent estimates have raised the energy capacity needed at the proposed copper and gold mine near Lake Iliamna. Last fall, the maximum electric requirements of a Pebble power plant was thought to be about 300 megawatts.
Such big energy needs require big plans, he said. If Alaska were to build the Susitna dam or an in-state natural gas pipeline, he said high-volume customers like Pebble and the proposed Donlin Creek mine near the middle Kuskokwim River could make those efforts pencil out.
Shively said he’s talked to planners behind two separate gas line plans to discuss the role Pebble could play as an energy consumer. He hasn’t contacted anyone pushing the Susitna dam yet but said it also could play a role as a potential electricity supplier.
For now, however, he said Pebble is planning on a different power source — a huge generation plant fueled with imported natural gas. Shively said it’s the only possibility that Pebble planners are confident will be available in the future.
“At this point, we’ve got to go with what we can get,” he said.
But complex infrastructure needs are only one of the obstacles facing Pebble. The project has attracted worldwide controversy because of its proximity to two salmon-rich Bristol Bay rivers. Critics said a huge mining operation — and the sulfur-laced tailings it would produce — poses too great a risk to the renewable fishery that fuels the region.
Shively said he figures Pebble will begin applying for permits in 2012 to open the mine, with an optimistic timeline of three years before the process is complete. He emphasized no specific plan for a mine at the deposit site has been finalized.
The latest estimates indicate the total deposit contains 72 billion pounds of copper, 94 million ounces of gold and 4.8 billion pounds of molybdenum.
“If it weren’t for the fact that we have such a volume of ore, we wouldn’t even look at it,” Shively said.
Shively had harsh words for the environmental groups opposed to Pebble, calling efforts to stop mining before the permitting process has begun “absolute foolishness.”
“It’s not about science,” he said. “It’s about stopping us.”
Contact staff writer Jeff Richardson at 459-7518.
BTW, if Pebble were ever to use power from a Susitna Dam, they would be buying it.
72 billion pounds of copper, most will go to make artillery shells to annihilate all who complain about the stupid stuff the idiots are doing with the 94 million ounces of gold
....mental health crisis
We will have both fish and minerals and natural energy. The fishermen need the minerals to catch their fish.
Alaska needs all three.
South-central energy development plans have been in a state of flux since the HCCP project was injected in the mix and remains uncompleted…having spent somewhere north of $450,000,000.00 on this white elephant and countless man hours of wasted time debating its building, and its future, we still continue to dig the hole deeper at HCCP…and I still believe the best solution would be to give the plant to Korea or the Chinese tied to a coal sales contract and move on…with development and construction ,of at least phase one at Susitna and move Chakachumna Hydro project along as well…
I would hope Alaska can continue to reach for greatness in developing our vast non-renewable resources and sell them to an energy hungry world and development our vast renewable resources for instate uses in such a way as to improve the standard of living for every Alaskan…The future is indeed bright for all who choose to get on the same end of the wagon, as we climb the hill.
It does not matter how much mineral potential is the Pebble mine area. This is a project that should be left in the hands of future engineers who will be able to find a way to make mining and the protection of our salmon coincide. That is not possible today.
And to the point, Shively says the Pebble mine helps to make Susitna and a gas line pencil out. That may be true to some extent but Alaska is growing and demand for more power all across the state will grow as more affordable energy is available to our villages. HVDC, I believe, will make it possible to expand the current Railbelt Energy Grid to make low cost energy available to many more communities that are current served now.
So the Pebble mine has to go to sleep for a few more centuries so that we can grow mining engineers and other technicians who will be able mine AND protect our salmon.
In addition, we need to get our water quality standards back up to where they were prior to the Murkowski administration. Mixing zones were not allowed as liberally in the past as they are now.
And finally, we have to find out if mining is paying its fair share for taking out our non-renewable resources. Mining taxes have not been changed for many years and perhaps it is time for an adjustment to make sure Alaska gets what it should from the mining industry.
Joe Miller,I smell a legal battle brewing.You still got fire in your gut?
Your livelihood should be mindful.