Ambler Metals LLC proposes to develop the Project, an open-pit hard rock mining operation, at the Arctic Deposit in the Ambler Mining District of northwestern Alaska. The Project is designed to process approximately 11,000 short tons per day (t/d; 10,000 tonnes per day [tonnes/d]) of ore and produce copper, zinc, and lead concentrates, with commercial quantities of gold and silver also expected to be recovered. Major Project facilities would include the open-pit mine, ore processing facilities, tailings and waste rock management facilities, water management infrastructure, access roads, airstrip improvements, and associated support facilities. Construction is expected to require approximately 3 years followed by an anticipated operating life of approximately 13 years.  

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The Project would have a total disturbance footprint of approximately 1,727.2 acres (699 hectares [ha]) including the mine site and new construction or improvement of two access roads. Fill placement would result in permanent impacts to approximately 120.7 acres (48.9 ha) of wetlands and other waters including approximately 110.6 acres (44.8 ha) of wetlands and 10.1 acres (4.1 ha) in other waters (i.e., ponds and streams).

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Ore would be recovered using a conventional truck-shovel mining operation. The final pit would contain approximately 51 million short tons (46.7 million tonnes) of ore and approximately 375 million short tons (340 million tonnes). Ore would be processed on site to produce copper, zinc, and lead concentrates for shipment to off-site markets. 

Tailings would be stored within an engineered tailings management facility at the headwaters of Subarctic Creek and would be supported by an engineered dam, an adjacent waste rock facility, and the natural topography of the surrounding steep valley walls. The tailing management facility would have sufficient storage to accommodate tailings, mine production water, and flood volume 1.5 times the probable 100-year maximum flood event. A water treatment plant would treat contact water (i.e., water coming into contact with mine waste rock, tailings, facilities, or collected in the open mine pit) to State of Alaska standards before discharge to Subarctic Creek. Diversion channels and other water management features would be constructed along the edges of the mine site to reduce the volume of contact water.

The Project would include two primary gravel access roads. The South Route would connect the existing Dahl Creek Airstrip to the Ambler Access Project (AAP), while the North Route would connect the AAP to the Arctic Mine site. Development of these access roads would include upgrades to existing roads and trails between the Dahl Creek Airstrip and Bornite Camp and construction of new road segments between Bornite Camp and the AAP and between the AAP and the Arctic Mine site. 

Mined ore would be processed into concentrate and stored in intermodal bulk shipping containers before transportation by truck from the mine site to Fairbanks via the project access roads, the recently permitted AAP, and the existing public road system. In Fairbanks, concentrate would be transferred to rail for transport to Anchorage, where it would be loaded onto marine vessels for shipment to smelters or refineries outside of Alaska.

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Lead Agency and Cooperating Entities 

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Lead Federal Agency: 

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Cooperating Entities: 

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

• National Marine Fisheries Service

• State Historic Preservation Office

• Alaska Department of Natural Resources

• Alaska Department of Fish and Game

• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

• Native Village of Ambler and City of Ambler

• Native Village of Buckland and City of Buckland