Southeast rare elements search
Australia-based Northern Cobalt Ltd. will explore for rare elements in an area 35 miles southeast of Juneau, in Southeast Alaska. The company applied for permits with the U.S. Forest Service. The prospect, a potential vanadium bearing magnetite, is within the Tongass National Forest. Northern Cobalt plans three test holes in August, the deepest drilled to 1,400 feet. One attraction for the company is proximity to electric power from the Snettisham hydroelectric project, which is nearby.

EPA: New warning on Pebble
In a surprising development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned that the proposed Pebble copper/gold mine could have adverse effects on regional fisheries and called for more study. In a letter submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EPA’s Region 10 said that degrading habitat could lead to a loss of genetic diversity that is important to the health of fisheries including salmon. EPA’s letter is in contrast to the Army Corps’ finding in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that the Pebble project would have no significant adverse effect. This is surprising for an EPA under the pro-development Trump administration. Under the Obama administration, the EPA was very aggressive on Pebble.