Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has injected new life into the long-stalled and controversial copper-gold-silver project near Bristol Bay, southwest Alaska.
Global silver production dropped last year for the first time since 2002 driven by lower by-product output from the lead/zinc and gold sectors, as well as a sharp decline of scrap supply to the market.
The country has taken a page out of the diamond industry’s books by calling for international regulations aimed at cutting the amount of illegally-mined gold entering mainstream markets.
Market rumours point at South32 as the most likely buyer, since the miner decided last month to ditch its $200 million acquisition of Peabody Energy’s coal mine in New South Wales.
The tragic accident was the result of "incompetence, mismanagement, bureaucratic bungling, deceit, ruthlessness... and cynical indifference," an official report said.