Palmer Project
The proposed Palmer mine is at the headwaters of the Chilkat River complex, which hosts five species of wild pacific salmon. The volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit is located 17 miles upstream of the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan, 35 miles northwest of the town of Haines, Alaska, and just upstream of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, which is the world’s only eagle preserve and the largest known gathering of bald eagles on the planet.
Until recently, the project was operated by junior Canadian mineral exploration company Constantine Metal Resources under a Joint Venture partnership between Constantine (45%) and Japanese smelting company Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd. (55%).
In October 2022, Constantine Metal Resources shareholders approved the company’s acquisition by another junior mineral exploration company, Vancouver-based American Pacific Mining. American Pacific will own 45% of the Palmer Project, with Japan-based Dowa Metals and Mining owning the majority of the project.
The project is in the exploratory stages and no proven mineral reserves have been identified. You can read an independent analysis of the Palmer Project’s Preliminary Economic Assessment here.
Construction of an underground tunnel is set to begin in 2023. The mine site, tunnel, proposed LAD wastewater treatment facility, rock dumps, stored explosives, and access roads are at risk from earthquakes, avalanches, landslides, flooding, and other extreme weather events.
Accidents could result in the contamination of downstream waters and endanger subsistence resources and water supplies for downstream communities.
A map of the proposed wastewater management system, with emphasis on the land application disposal system (LAD) (From the 2022 Waste Management Plan Revised Application)
Constantine’s June 27, 2019 Avalanche Mitigation Memo
The Division of Water approved Constantine’s new plan last summer without the required public hearing. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) vacated that approval in September after Chilkat Indian Village (CIV) raised concerns about a lack of public notice and potential environmental impacts.
The division reapproved Constantine’s plan in October, and CIV, LCC, Takshunak Watershed Council, and our regional partners (represented by Earthjustice) are appealing that decision, requesting a hearing. We should find out whether a hearing will be granted by the end of the year.
Learn more about Earthjustice’s case history defending the Chilkat River Watershed here
Large-scale high sulfide mines pose significant risks to water quality and fisheries habitat. Some mines will continue to contaminate downstream waters for thousands of years. LCC believes that Alaskans have a right to clean water and works to educate the community about the risks of sulfide mining in our local watersheds. We support policies that safeguard clean water and salmon habitat for generations to come.
News & Updates
Chilkat Valley News articles:
Constantine president lays out timeline for Palmer Project work | November 29, 2023
Constantine appeals DEC decision on Palmer Project wastewater permit | November 9, 2023
Ground-truthing: Palmer Project work comes under fire | June 22, 2023
Mixed decision in Palmer Project appeal | August 24, 2023
State grants amended permit to Palmer Project despite concerns | August 10, 2023
Chilkat Indian Village says Alaska mine poses risk to watershed
INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY - NOV 16, 2022
Klukwan, conservation groups appeal mining wastewater decision | November 10, 2022
Investors approve acquisition of Constantine | October 22, 2022
State re-approves Palmer Project wastewater plan | October 13, 2022
Slide buries highway, strands residents | October 6, 2022
State vacates approval of Palmer Project wastewater plan | September 15, 2022
Constantine acquired by another junior exploration company | August 18, 2022
Constantine files updated wastewater management plan | April 21, 2022
State approves revised wastewater management plan for Palmer Project | July 28, 2022
Constantine files amended technical report | March 17, 2022
Consultant questions Constantine’s preliminary assessment in presentation | November 24, 2021
Reports
Click here for the full collection of reports regarding mining in the Chilkat Valley.
The Social Costs of Mining in Rural Communities
August 2019 — An analysis of the the overall socioeconomic impacts of the proposed Palmer mine on the quality of life in the greater Haines area
“Casual observation of local communities that are heavily dependent on mineral extraction does not provide obvious evidence of superior economic well-being or vitality. Mining or oil & gas towns are often rundown, suffer out-migration, have high poverty and unemployment rates, poorer health, and lower educational attainment.”
Analysis of Constantine’s PEA
March 2020 — James R. Kuipers P.E., chief consulting engineer at Kuipers & Associates with over 35 years of experience in the mining industry, conducted an independent analysis of Constantine’s July 2019 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
Brief summary of Kuiper’s analysis:
The PEA is based on unproven mineral resources that are “speculative” and “do not have demonstrated economic viability.”
Constantine’s plan to sell barite, a waste product at similar mines, is “highly speculative.”
Constantine’s cost estimates assume no acid mine drainage that would require treatment, but “there is reason to believe this assumption will not be correct.”
There is “a high likelihood of exceeding the estimated capital and operating costs, potentially by significant amounts (i.e. up to 50%).”
“The Palmer Project, due to its high dependency on zinc prices, might prove to be uneconomic.”
The report identifies numerous site-specific risks, including avalanche, portal construction, AG deposit metallurgy, site surface geotechnical conditions, water management, seismicity, geochemistry, dust management, and post-closure site-specific risks. Each of these risks carries potential associated additional costs.
Alaska Mining Pollution
March 2020 — A track record of impacts from failure to capture and treat mine pollution at Alaska’s five major metal mines
Alaska Mining Spills
April 2022 — a comparison of the predicted impacts described in permitting documents and spill records from five major operational hardrock mines in Alaska
““Despite impact assessments that are intended to evaluate risk and inform mitigation, mines continue to harm salmonid-bearing watersheds via pathways such as toxic contaminants, stream channel burial and flow regime alteration,” the authors wrote. “The body of knowledge presented here supports the notion that the risks and impacts of mining have been underestimated across the watersheds of northwestern North America.””
WHO IS CONSTANTINE AND WHERE IS THE PALMER PROJECT?
Constantine Metal Resources is a junior Canadian mineral exploration company leasing a mineral prospect on the U.S. side of the Canadian border in the Chilkat Valley. The prospect is on unceded Alaska Native Chilkat Territory, about 12 miles upstream of the traditional Chilkat Tlingit village of Klukwan, and about 35 miles upstream of the town of Haines. The Palmer Project is located on a complex matrix of federal BLM, Alaska State Forest and privately leased Mental Health Trust lands. In the image below, the black arrow points to the location of the Palmer Project. The proposed project is just upstream of the protected area known as the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. To the west is a designated World Heritage Site, a complex of national parks and preserves known collectively as Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek, the largest internationally protected area in the world. The Palmer Project directly endangers the rich and biologically productive ecosystems downstream of the project in the Chilkat Valley. The Chilkat watershed is shown on the map outlined in blue.
NOTE: "The project area consists of 340 federal unpatented lode mining claims, which cover an area of approximately 6,765 acres and 63 state mineral claims that cover an area of approximately 9,200 acres. CNI [Constantine North Inc.] also holds an upland mining lease from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority for approximately 92,000 acres of land surrounding their federal and state claims." DNR
WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT INDUSTRIAL HARDROCK MINING AT THIS SITE?
Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits like those at Constantine's Palmer Project harbor metal sulfides, which generate sulfuric acid when exposed to air and water. The sulfuric acid leaches toxic metals like copper, lead and zinc, releasing them into groundwater, surface water and soil. This is called Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), and like nuclear waste, it is very long-lasting, and very difficult and expensive - and sometimes not possible - to clean up. At a mine site like Palmer, the extreme environment adds layers of danger to an inherently risky operation. Constantine plans to blast a mile-long exploration tunnel beneath a glacier and through two seismic faults, releasing potentially enormous amounts of water which will likely contact acid generating rock, producing AMD.
Contaminated wastewater would flow into ground and surface waters, impacting salmon and other aquatic life. The proposed tunnel and waste storage sites would be at the base of multiple avalanche chutes in an area that receives up to 35-40 feet of snow annually and regular precipitation. Avalanches, sub-freezing temperatures and excessive precipitation would likely overload the waste storage facilities and release harmful contaminants into downstream waters. Downstream waters contain fragile ecosystems that support all five species of wild Pacific salmon, the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, and other vital living systems.
BUT CONSTANTINE SAYS THEY ARE CONDUCTING “RESPONSIBLE MINERAL EXPLORATION.” DON’T THEY HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO DO IT RIGHT?
Unfortunately, no. Modern mines are typically even more polluting than older mines. Mining laws and state and federal agencies tend to be very lenient and permissive with mining companies, and mining companies have little incentive to stick around to clean up their mess after their profits have been made. In fact, the U.S. General Accounting Office singles out hardrock mining companies as posing special liability and expense to taxpayers under the federal Superfund program.
Metals mining is the nation’s #1 polluter, according to the EPA, and Alaska’s own Red Dog zinc mine is the #1 polluter among mines. Eighty-nine percent of hardrock mines that end up having acid drainage underestimate or ignore the likelihood that it will happen, according to a 2006 review of environmental impact statements.
“Certain types of sulfide mines, like volcanic massive sulfide mines, are inherently acid generating," says James Kuipers, a mining engineer who led the study. When a mine shuts down, its waste stays behind, and ‘cleanup’ typically consists of temporary and ineffectual measures to reduce the acidity of wastewater. Acidic wastewater and toxic heavy metals flow downstream from tens of thousands of active and abandoned mine sites nationwide. EPA reports that forty percent of western U.S. watersheds are contaminated by mine waste, with an estimated, unfunded cleanup bill upwards of $50 billion. More than 50 million gallons of mine-contaminated water per day flow into impaired streams and rivers.
HOW CAN MINE WASTE IMPACT DOWNSTREAM WATERS, THE LOCAL ECONOMY, AND ULTIMATELY, HUMAN HEALTH?
Decades of research show that copper, lead, selenium and other mine contaminants can kill or deform salmon and other wildlife, and interfere with salmon's ability to migrate, fight disease and avoid predators. Without a robust salmon fishery, the local economy would suffer. Tourism, too, is reliant on salmon, and on the relationships between salmon, bears, eagles and other wildlife that visitors come here to witness.
Heavy metals from hardrock mining can impact human health, too. Heavy metals accumulate in the water we drink and the fish we eat, concentrating as they move up the food chain and into our bodies. Heavy metals can cause a range of detrimental health effects, including cancer, birth defects, reproductive dysfunctions, and neurological and behavioral problems.