Pebble Mine Meets Mount Swish Mint Freezy

A very important message but not so sure about the voice talker.

Pebble opponents score court victory

A Superior Court judge has cleared the way for a legal fight over state-issued permits for the Pebble Mine.

Judge Eric A. Aarseth said in his decision Monday that there was enough evidence to allow the constitutional issues concerning the permits to be heard at a Dec. 6 trial.

LINK (Via:Bloomberg)

Reality Bites

While on a shoot for her new Discovery Channel reality show, Sarah Palin had her picture taken with Jon Corbett who is the chef at The Windmill Grille in Dillingham. As you can see in the photo, Jon took the opportunity to express his feelings about the Pebble Mine project. Jon then proceeded to post the Palin pic on his Facebook page and now has been put on notice by a “member of Todd Palin’s family” and a “family friend” that he should remove the picture of him with the former half term Governor of Alaska.

Jon's response?

"I will not remove the picture. This picture was taken as it is shown…I was being opportunistic in getting my political belief out to the world. I enjoyed sitting down with Mrs. Palin and talking about Fish and Alaska. I hope the best for her and her Family as they travel around Alaska filming a portrait of our great state to share with the rest of the World through TLC/Discovery Channel. I think I can speak for a lot of people around Bristol Bay in saying that we hope the episode on Salmon and the fishing business is positive and will do something to promote the image and protection of this great sustainable resource."

LINK  (Via: Palingates) 

Proposed study draws heat from Pebble supporters

The supporters of the Pebble Mine are upset about a line item in the Alaska state budget appropriating 750K for an independent third-party study of the proposed mine.

The Resource Development Council and the Alaska Miners Association have both written letters to Gov. Sean Parnell asking him to exercise his line item veto authority to nix the study, which they say is clearly aimed at the Pebble mine, sets a bad precedent for future development and undermines the existing permit process.

Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak, said the item was inserted into the capital budget because he feels the unprecedented size and scope of the proposed Pebble mine may be beyond the expertise of state regulators. The measure is also backed by Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.

LINK  (Via:The Alaska Journal of Commerce)

Sourcing Pebble gold could be difficult

Yet another jeweler has pledged not to use gold from Pebble.

Trying to keep that pledge is problematic according to a professor at the Colorado School of Mines and the Director of the No Dirty Gold campaign.

Tracing the origin of gold is no easy task, said Pat Taylor, a professor of chemical metallurgy and metallurgical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Typically, when a mine recovers gold it is sent to a refinery. The refined gold is sold as bars, coin or other products.

"To keep track of gold is hard to do," Taylor said. "Typically when a gold mine recovers gold they send it to a refinery and it's largely mixed in one big pot. So how you would identify gold from one mine from any other mine is going to be very difficult."

Scott Cardiff, the No Dirty Gold campaign director, admits that there currently are no mechanisms for jewelers to trace the source of their gold other than to establish an agreement with their suppliers to not use metals from a particular source.

LINK (Via: R&D)

On Earth Day, April 22, 2010 the British mining giant Anglo American is holding its annual shareholder meeting in London

Robert Kennedy Jr., Joel Reynolds and Jean-Michel Cousteau write about Anglo American and Northern Dynasty's plan to poison America's paradise in Bristol Bay with the Pebble Mine.

LINK (Via: The Huffington Post)