Jonesville

Settling pond at the old Jonesville Mine (Source: Ground Truth Trekking)

In 2008, Ranger Alaska, a subsidiary of the Australian-based company Black Range Minerals, purchased the rights to the historic Evans Jones Coal Mine in Sutton, AK, as well as two adjacent leases comprising 1,450 acres.  The most current resource estimatefor this area is for 131 million tons of coal, including measured, indicated, and inferred resources.  The coal at this site is primarily medium-grade bituminous coal and would most likely be exported to Asia.In 2010 and 2011, Ranger Alaska applied for extensions of the mining permit at this site.  Some of the biggest local concerns about the re-opening of the mine have to o with traffic and pollution associated with the transportation of the coal.  Other issues have been raised such as possible groundwater contamination from ongoing coal fires in the tailings waste left by previous operations.

In October 2012, Ranger Alaska applied for exploration permits for the site.  Public comments are ongoing through the end of November.  The deadline to submit written comment closes at 5:00PM on Thursday, November 29, 2012.Copies of the Permit Application, Preliminary Findings of Fact and other supporting documents are available for review at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land and Water, 550 West 7th Ave., Suite 920, Anchorage, AK 99501-3577 or online. Comments should be sent to Liping Jing at the Anchorage address listed above, by fax to (907) 269-8930, or by e-mail to: coalprogram@alaska.gov, with the subject “Jonesville Coal Project.”

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Resources

• Envision Mat-Su (formerly Friends of Mat-Su)
• Mat Valley Coalition
• Castle Mountain Coalition
• Public Notice of the Extension of the Jonesville Exploration Permit Application
• DNR Coal Regulatory Program’s Jonesville page- contains the exploration permit application and other information.
• Ground Truth Trekking’s Jonesville Coal Mine page
• Black Range Minerals

Matanuska Coal Leases (Source: DNR permit for Alaska Mental Health Trust Coal Leases)

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(Content derived from Ground Truth Trekking)

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