HDI Mining criticizes MINING.com’s image selection for Pebble story

(Lightly edited letter from HDI Mining’s Sean Magee, Executive Vice President Strategic Communications and Public Affairs)

I read your recent coverage of the Pebble Limited Partnership filing suit in federal court against EPA to stop an unprecedented regulatory process by which the federal agency could actually veto a mining project on State of Alaska lands before it is even proposed, and without the involvement of key federal and state regulatory agencies.

EPA’s pre-emptive, unilateral and unprecedented action against Pebble could have far-reaching negative consequences for mining and other natural resources industries in the United States, so this is certainly a story that MINING.com and its readers should follow.

I was dismayed, however, to see the photo your website chose to illustrate its Pebble story.

Image from MINING.com’s EPA sued over process that could block Pebble Mine in Alaska

The image of a grizzly bear in a river full of spawning salmon bears no resemblance to the Pebble Project site and seems drawn directly from ENGO campaign literature intended to mislead Alaskans and others about Pebble’s location and likely effects on salmon habitat.

In reality, little salmon habitat exists at the Pebble site.

Image provided by HDI Mining’s Sean Magee, Executive Vice President Strategic Communications and Public Affairs.

For this and other reasons, we are confident that a well-designed and operated mine at Pebble can co-exist and even enhance the important fisheries resources of southwest Alaska.

We certainly appreciate and encourage mining.com’s ongoing coverage of our project and our issues. I ask only that you present a fair and balanced perspective in all of your coverage, including the images you choose to illustrate your stories.