Pebble Mine
RSSPebble Mine is a proposed open-pit copper, gold and molybdenum mine project in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. Operated as the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) near Iliamna in the Lake and Peninsula Borough, it faces a Clean Water Act veto contested by Bristol Bay tribes and the State of Alaska.
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Frame from "Nome Common Council Regular Meeting- Oct. 26, 2026" · Photo source
Nome mayor calls Kawerak's seabed mining draft inflammatory; city staff will write another
The Nome Common Council took no vote Monday on a resolution drafted by Kawerak calling for a moratorium on seabed mining in Alaska's federal waters. Mayor Kenneth Hughes called its language inflammatory, and city staff said they would work on a resolution of the city's own and bring it back.
Kawerak, the Bering Strait region's tribal consortium, sent the draft to the city, and it was in Monday's meeting packet as a communication. Kawerak's board backed a moratorium Oct. 1. Federal officials are considering seabed mineral lease sales across about 113 million acres off Alaska, including federal waters in Norton Sound, beyond the 3-mile line where state waters end.
Anna Rose MacArthur, Kawerak's marine advocate, told the council that seabed mining in federal waters would be "very different" from mining in state waters. Federal waters are deeper, and deeper seabed takes longer to recover, she said, while nearshore waters are disturbed naturally by storms, waves and ice. She said the federal area overlays the Norton Sound red king crab nursery and is designated essential fish habitat for all five Pacific salmon species.
"Seabed mining commercially in federal areas has never been done anywhere globally in the entire world," MacArthur said. She said leases would run at least 20 years and that Alaska would get no share of the royalties.
The public comment period closed April 1, she said. The next federal step, identifying the areas to be considered for leasing, could come "quite soon," she said, and in the two Pacific territories that went through the process first, the area nearly doubled at that stage. She said an environmental assessment and a proposed leasing notice would follow, with Alaska's governor getting 60 days to comment, and that a lease sale is proposed for 2027. The Alaska Federation of Natives convention passed a moratorium resolution Saturday, she said.
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Latest
September 2026
BBNC seeks permanent Bristol Bay protections as Alaska challenges EPA's Pebble restrictions
BBNC wants Congress to protect Bristol Bay permanently as Alaska challenges the EPA's narrower Pebble restrictions in a consolidated federal case.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
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The fate of the EPA veto blocking Pebble Mine is now in a federal judge's hands
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Pebble Mine's challenge to EPA reaches an Anchorage court Thursday.
Pebble vs. EPA hits Anchorage federal court Thursday. The salmon, the State of Alaska, and a major mineral deposit all want a say.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
April 2026
Bristol Bay tribes fight to defend EPA veto of Pebble Mine in court
Bristol Bay tribes asked a federal court to defend the EPA's veto of the Pebble Mine, which would threaten the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery worth $2 billion annually.
by Alaska News6mo ago2 min readAbout Pebble Mine
Pebble Mine is a proposed open-pit copper, gold and molybdenum mine near Iliamna in the Lake and Peninsula Borough, in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. The project is run by the Pebble Limited Partnership, and its parent company is Northern Dynasty Minerals.
The central dispute over the mine concerns the Environmental Protection Agency's veto under the Clean Water Act, which restricts development to protect Bristol Bay's sockeye salmon fishery. Pebble and the State of Alaska have challenged the veto in federal court, while Bristol Bay tribes and the Bristol Bay Native Corporation defend it and seek lasting protections for the watershed.
The fight places a major mineral deposit against the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, with Alaska Native parties on both sides.