Ambler Metals, a joint venture between Trilogy and South32, has received the final authorization for the Ambler Road Project, facilitating transport of ore and concentrates from its Alaskan copper mine.
On Jan 11, Ambler announced that the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) had signed an agreement with the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to give a right-of-way over federal land for the Ambler Road Project.
This agreement, which is valid for the next 50 years, gives Ambler the right-of-way to develop a road on a 211-mile long private access land in the southern Brooks Range foothills, owned and managed by federal agencies.
The permits, which were to be granted in the H2 2020, were held up after a coalition of environmental and non-government organizations in Alaska filed suit against this development citing that the due process was not carried out by the agencies. The matter is still in court, with Ambler and AIDEA filing for and receiving an “intervenor status.”
The Ambler mining district is one of the richest polymetallic resources in Alaska with deposits that have been found to host high-grade copper and cobalt, along with zinc, lead, gold, and silver. A large portion of the copper finds fall under Ambler Metals’ area of operations in the region.