The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is preparing to approve a 25-year lease for a barge and boat landing to be used by the Quartz Hill Molybdenum Mine in Misty Fiords National Monument.
Quartz Hill was the largest Molybdenum deposit in the world when it was announced in 1974. While the deposit is surrounded by the Misty Fiords monument, the deposit and a corridor to tidewater were specifically exempted from the monument when it was created in 1980.
The mine has never reached full production, owing to the cost of development.
The proposed state lease allows Bonna Inc., owners of the deposit, to continue to use state tidelands in Wilson Arm for a barge and boat landing. The landing is separated from the mine site by an 8.4-mile road, and Bonna will pay the state $1,000 per year during the course of the lease.
Public comments are being accepted on the proposal. All comments must be submitted to theodore.deats@alaska.gov by Dec. 31.
