Ambler Access Work Continues Despite Disappointing Ruling

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) had planned more than $30 million worth of field work in 2022, half funded by the state-backed corporation and half by Ambler Metals, a joint venture owned by South32 Limited and Trilogy Metals. The field work would inform a budget for a final investment decision in 2024.

In light of the remand, the partners—as well as NANA Regional Corporation, the Northwest Arctic Borough, and the State of Alaska—are reassessing AIDEA’s proposed plan and budget.

Tony Giardini, president and CEO of Trilogy Metals, counts the court order as a partial victory, since the right-of-way decision was not vacated entirely. “We can focus on the upcoming exploration field season at the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects and AIDEA’s field program for the AAP. We want to acknowledge the strong show of support that the AAP has received from the Native villages in the Upper Kobuk Region and the Northwest Arctic Borough that have passed resolutions in favor of the AAP… We are hopeful that the court’s decision to retain jurisdiction over this matter and its stipulation requiring regular status reports to be filed will result in the additional analysis being completed in a prompt time period.”

AIDEA Executive Director Alan Weitzner has called the deposits of copper and critical minerals in the Ambler district “essential to growing our nation’s tech-focused economy and military preparedness” and says the access road “has the potential to lead to up to five concurrent mine operations over time, which will have broad impacts to Alaska’s existing transportation infrastructure.”