DNR receives new suction dredge application in Nome Mining District

State regulators are reviewing a new suction dredge proposal near Nome. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has received a Multi-Agency Application for Permits to Mine in Alaska, known as an APMA, for suction dredging in the Nome Mining District near the town of Nome.

The public notice places the mining-related activity in Township 11 South, Ranges 29 and 30 West, Kateel River Meridian. The applicable U.S. Geological Survey map is the Nome quadrangle.

The notice is a receipt notice, not a decision. The filing begins the state's regulatory review. It does not by itself authorize mining or suction dredging, and the project's operational footprint remains uncertain pending agency review.

A DNR fact sheet confirms that offshore Nome suction dredging is a regulated activity. In the East and West offshore recreation areas, persons performing suction dredging must submit an APMA regardless of dredge size. Work in offshore lease tracts or on mining claims can carry different permit requirements depending on dredge size and ownership authorization. DNR permit stipulations for the Nome public beach mining areas require both an APMA and a miscellaneous land use permit for all sizes of dredges.

The practical significance is local and narrow. The filing affects miners and claim holders operating in the Nome offshore mining district, and it may draw public comment or agency review before any digging begins. The available documents do not show public opposition, agency objections, or a comment-period outcome tied to the application, filed as case/file F20262167.

Separate from this application, DNR's Division of Mining, Land and Water denied an APMA for IPOP LLC's Bonanza Channel Placer/Dredging Project, a cutter head suction dredge proposal in Safety Sound near the Village of Solomon. The division grounded that decision in the state's public trust duty, citing potential navigation obstruction and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers findings of more than minimal and temporary detrimental effects on aquatic resources. It also found IPOP's exploration data insufficient to support its high gold-grade claims.

Kawerak, Inc. opposed that application. "Kawerak strenuously opposes the Application, and asks that DNR deny the same," the consortium wrote.

IPOP maintains the project is economically viable and has pursued appeals. An eligible person affected by the decision may appeal to the DNR commissioner. Alaska News previously covered five Nome-area tribes suing the Army Corps over its Clean Water Act permit for that project.

The Nome filing, case/file F20262167, now waits on the same agency review.