Hilcorp says the North Slope is running short of gravel and wants a new mine

Gravel is what the North Slope is built on. Roads, drilling pads and airstrips all sit on it, and Hilcorp Alaska told federal regulators that existing sources are being depleted across the Slope, making a new one necessary for continued oil and gas development.

The company has applied to open one seven miles northwest of Deadhorse. The site, called Put 29, would cover about 64 acres of extraction plus 27 more for stripped material and thermal berms, and holds an estimated 5 million cubic yards of usable gravel. A gravel road about 1,000 feet long would connect it to an existing road, built with material from another mine already in operation.

Hilcorp plans to build the road this October and the mine site in early 2027.

The project would affect roughly 95 acres of tundra wetlands, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. That number carries less weight on the North Slope than it would elsewhere, because most of the Arctic Coastal Plain is classified as wetland and almost anything built there affects some. Hilcorp says about 30 of those acres are temporary, with the road and berms removed when the mine closes, and has told regulators that work to offset wetland losses is not appropriate given how short the growing season is that far north.

The wetlands question is not what is open now. The Corps comment period closed in August and a state water quality review closed Sept. 4. What remains open is the state's review of the operating plan, which requires the company to lay out how it will rehabilitate the site and limit harm to fish and wildlife habitat, historic and archaeological sites and public use areas.

Written comments go to [email protected] by 4:30 pm Sept. 28. Anyone who comments receives the final decision and can appeal it.