BHP posts second straight year of record iron ore production, beats estimates
The world's largest listed miner said iron ore output from Western Australia on a 100% basis was 76.8 million tonnes in the three months to June 30.
A coal mine project in Alaska that could have negative impacts on salmon spawning will be allowed to push ahead.
Alaska Dispatch reports that the state government has denied a petition to declare land within a drainage system in the Upper Cook Inlet unsuitable for coal mining:
The petition sought to block in particular a strip mine project planned on Alaska Mental Health Lands Trust land by Delaware-based PacRim Coal LP, whose plan calls for the destruction of 11 miles of a tributary which Alaska Fish and Game has deemed significant habitat for spawning Cook Inlet salmon.
The project is still in the preliminary planning stages, with a draft environmental impact statement yet to be released. That will be followed by a round of public meetings. The company has said it can restore the stream after its operations are finished in that area, an estimated 25 years, reported Alaska Dispatch.
Another potential Alaska mine, the massive Pebble gold-copper prospect, suffered a setback earlier this month when referendum results showed a majority of voters (280-246 according to unofficial results) in favour of a ban on large-scale resource extraction activities that would destroy or degrade salmon habitat, reported The Huffington Post.
Pebble’s proponent, Canadian junior Northern Dynasty (TSE:NDM), is trying to mine the eye-popping recoverable resource of 67 million ounces of gold and 55 billion pounds copper with some molybdenum thrown in for good measure, which at today’s prices is worth over $300 billion in total.
