{"id":201,"date":"2026-05-28T19:06:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=201"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:06:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:06:27","slug":"qa-the-transboundary-mining-boom-in-the-coast-range","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=201","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: The transboundary mining boom in the Coast Range"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Several proposed mines in British Columbia are located along transboundary rivers that wind through Southeast Alaska. Residents on the Alaska side of the border say there\u2019s a lack of tribal consultation and some worry about pollution in salmon-bearing streams vital to the region\u2019s fisheries.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump wants a gas tax holiday. There\u2019s a much bigger problem looming.<\/a><\/p>\n

KTOO\u2019s Alix Soliman spoke with Max Graham, a journalist who covers mining in Alaska for Northern Journal, about the booming industry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Alix Soliman: <\/b>Which proposed transboundary mines seem likely to open in the next several years?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Max Graham: <\/b>So there are a bunch of projects across the border in British Columbia, of all stages. Probably the most likely to open next or soonest is a big gold and silver project called Eskay Creek, which is in the Unuk River watershed. And the owners of that project, they just got their permits kind of squared away, and have an agreement with the First Nation on whose traditional lands the project is located, and that could open up within the next few years. There are a couple other big proposed projects. Two in the Stikine River watershed, that\u2019s a river that flows kind of in the Petersburg-Wrangell area, and those are called Galore Creek and Schaft Creek. They\u2019re not quite as far along. And then there are kind of a handful of earlier-stage, smaller projects that are even farther out and quite a bit more speculative at this point \u2014 so there\u2019s the New Polaris Project on the Taku, like upstream from Juneau, there are a bunch of prospects sort of in the Hyder-Stewart area, sort of further south.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alix Soliman: <\/b>What\u2019s driving the mining boom?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Max Graham: <\/b>With gold prices just being what they are \u2014 they\u2019ve seen this like historic rise over the last few years \u2014 and that\u2019s really attracted a lot of investment and excitement in the industry. Copper and silver prices are also very high right now, but a lot of the interest in this region is still in gold. You know, at the same time, there\u2019s discussion both in Canada and the U.S. about critical minerals and sort of securing the nation\u2019s supply of metals used in energy and national security, like weapons, and so that\u2019s sort of feeding into the enthusiasm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Alix Soliman: <\/b>Last year, you covered the Eskay Creek project, a gold and silver mine revival proposed above the Unuk River that flows near Ketchikan. How have sovereign tribes on either side of the border responded?<\/p>\n

Max Graham: <\/b>That\u2019s on traditional lands of the Tahltan Nation in British Columbia, and that First Nation has an agreement with the province of British Columbia that sort of gives the First Nation a lot of control in the decision-making process. Whereas on the Alaska side of the border, that\u2019s just not the case. I think there\u2019s quite a bit of uniformity on the Alaska side about just asking for, like, the basic, you know, \u201cyou need to consult us on these projects,\u201d whereas on the B.C. side, there\u2019s, I think, more robust debate over like, \u201cdo the benefits that we\u2019re going to get outweigh the risks?\u201d<\/p>\n

Alix Soliman: <\/b>It seems like there\u2019s an unclear path to resolve issues around transboundary pollution. For instance, the Tulsequah Chief Mine has been leaching acid mine drainage into the Taku River Watershed, upstream of the Alaska border. What are pathways for issues like that to be resolved?<\/p>\n

Max Graham: <\/b>There\u2019s a debate, I think, a very active debate on this side of the border about, like, to what degree there even is pollution, or to what degree we should be worried about pollution. You heard the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game pretty much say, like, we haven\u2019t really detected any pollution on the Alaska side of the border from any active or historic mines in Canada. At the same time, you have conservation groups and, you know, fishing groups and tribal leaders sort of very actively concerned that it could happen. And also, huge attention has been given to the Tulsequah Chief \u2014 if you go there, or look at photos, like, there is clear acid mine runoff, just like unfettered, going right into the Tulsequah River. Probably is worth establishing, like, what exactly are the risks. There\u2019s a huge push from Alaskans to be sort of much better incorporated into decision-making and into the process of, like, shaping how mines upstream get developed. I think there\u2019s this more fundamental question of, like, how do we mine responsibly, and what does that look like? <\/p>\n

Read more Alaska lawmakers seek first boost to unemployment benefits since 2009<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KTOO<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KTOO speaks with Northern Journal reporter Max Graham about the growing industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nQ&A: The transboundary mining boom in the Coast Range - Alaska Moving Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=201\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q&A: The transboundary mining boom in the Coast Range - Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"KTOO speaks with Northern Journal reporter Max Graham about the growing industry.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=201\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alaska Moving Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T19:06:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=201#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=201\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e09896005b88414084eb4bd3215ab0a\"},\"headline\":\"Q&A: The transboundary mining boom in the Coast Range\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T19:06:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=201\"},\"wordCount\":821,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=201#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e295e4fa47a26bc110c6f25e2af9e18c.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=201#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=201\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\\\/?p=201\",\"name\":\"Q&A: The transboundary mining boom in the Coast Range - 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