Alaska policymakers back Trump’s move to restart northern mining project
Alaska policymakers are welcoming President Donald Trump’s re-approval an industrial road linking the state’s highway system to the mineral-rich Ambler Mining District in northwest Alaska.
Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Nick Begich — all Republicans — issued statements supporting the Ambler Access Project, saying it will create jobs, boost mineral security, and strengthen the state’s economy.
Murkowski said the re-approval gets the project “back on track after it was derailed by politics” during the Biden administration, when permission to build the road to the Ambler Mining District was blocked.
“The President’s re-approval will unlock a world-class mining district, deliver quality-of-life benefits for communities in the region, and help grow Alaska’s economy,” she said in a statement this week. “It will also improve our national security by strengthening our mineral security and enabling us to produce more of our most important resources here at home.”
Sullivan said he spoke directly with Trump about the project, and that the former president reaffirmed his support for Ambler as well as other major Alaska infrastructure efforts, including the King Cove Road and Alaska LNG Project.
“I’ve always said the Ambler Access Project has to be done right, with close consultation with Alaska Native and community leaders and with respect for our environment and subsistence way of life,” Sullivan said.
Begich called the Ambler Mining District a “strategic asset” for Alaska and the United States. “By advancing this access, we are creating new opportunities for Alaskans while strengthening America’s supply chain and reducing dependence on foreign adversaries for our critical mineral needs,” he said.
In his formal statement on Monday, Trump said he was granting the appeal from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) to overturn the Biden administration’s 2022 block on the project that called for more environmental studies.
Trump said federal agencies have been directed to “promptly issue” the necessary permits and authorizations.
Trump said the project is in the “national security interests of the United States,” pointing to a 1980 law that set out a route for a road linking the Ambler Mining District to Alaska’s pipeline corridor.
The Ambler Access Project was first approved in 2020, but progress stopped after the Biden administration called for more environmental studies.
With Trump’s new approval, the U.S. Department of War also announced a US $35.6 million investment in Ambler Metals — a joint venture with Trilogy Metals — to help move exploration forward in the area.
The Ambler district is known for deposits of copper, cobalt, gallium, and germanium — minerals that the U.S. government considers essential for both defense and clean energy production.
Questions, comments or story ideas? Contact Eilís at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
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