Western Susitna mining
RSSWestern Susitna mining in Alaska is a proposed mineral district west of the Susitna River, eyed for copper, gold, and rare earths. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) is advancing the West Susitna Access road to reach it, debated over funding and environmental review.
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Cale Green (Alaska News) · CC BY 4.0
Anchorage Assembly weighs just under $300,000 to help price a trash-burning power plant
The Anchorage Assembly will decide Wednesday whether to pay a construction firm just under $300,000 to help figure out what the city's proposed trash-burning power plant would cost to build.
It comes two weeks after the Assembly unanimously approved up to $700,000 for engineering firm HDR to start designing the plant.
The two jobs are different. HDR's contract is for early design. Haskell Davis JV, the firm up for this contract, would review that design as it develops, gather current prices and flag factors that could affect cost and schedule, according to the city's recommendation.
The city says the work is meant to produce a reliable construction cost estimate and finish its plan for paying for the plant.
The step-by-step votes are by design. In April 2025, the Assembly passed a resolution backing the project. It called for $8 million for early work, including site selection, permitting and design: $5 million from Solid Waste Services and $3 million from the water utility. The Assembly gets a go-or-no-go vote at each step.
Another $4.5 million was approved this April, bringing the early-work budget to $12.5 million, Solid Waste Services Director Kelli Toth wrote in an Oct. 21 email. As of that day, about $9.5 million had been committed and $6.3 million spent, leaving about $3 million not yet committed.
The estimates so far range from $550 million to $750 million. A 2025 update to a feasibility study, by Geosyntec Consultants, put the plant at $550 million. A May update to the city's solid waste plan, by Tetra Tech, put it at $750 million. The city calls both conceptual.
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About Western Susitna mining
Western Susitna mining in Alaska takes in a proposed mineral district west of the Susitna River in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, also called the Western Susitna Mineral Belt. Copper, gold and rare earths are among the minerals sought there, and the land is largely state land with no road access.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) is advancing the West Susitna Access road to open the district, along with a bridge over the Susitna. The road needs state water quality review and Army Corps permitting, and AIDEA has committed money to drilling along its route.
Funding is a recurring fight: the road's place in the state transportation plan and capital budget draws objections over cost and opposition. Related industrial siting at Port MacKenzie and Point MacKenzie, including an antimony refinery, connects the district to Mat-Su Borough land decisions.