Yes. They will take the Richardson Highway through North Pole.

Until November 2023, the trucks then left the Richardson Highway and followed the Mitchell Expressway to Peger Road, then north on Peger across Airport Road onto the Johansen Expressway, then east on the Johansen where it rejoins the Steese Expressway at the signaled intersection (scheduled for major reconfiguration in 2024).

After November 2023, in response to the lawsuit against DOT, court records indicate the route was changed to allow the trucks take the Richardson Highway to its intersection with the Steese Expressway. This route takes the trucks over the Chena River bridge on the Steese. (Previously, DOT had claimed that this bridge could not handle the weight of these ore trucks and that was why they were routed over to Peger and the Johansen Expressway.)

The route then heads north on the Steese through Fox and up to Fort Knox. Trucks pull into a “break-down” yard about a mile past the Fox Weigh Station to decouple the double ore trailers and pull them up singly to Ft. Knox. This effectively doubles truck traffic between the break-down yard and Fort Knox. There are no signs warning drivers of large trucks entering and leaving the highway. Already one accident has occurred as an ore truck was pulling into the yard.

Each 95′ long double tractor-trailer will weigh 80 tons when loaded.
(Source: 3/21/2023 Kinney Engineering presentation, Slide 4)

From Tetlin northeast up the ALCAN to the Richardson Highway to the Mitchell Expressway overpass in Fairbanks and then on to Ft. Knox, there will be up to 192 double tractor-trailer transits per day. If you were to stand at any given point along this part of the route, an ore hauling truck will pass by you every 7 minutes 30 seconds.

ASAH cannot duplicate this claim based on DOT&PF published traffic numbers. For example, the current average number of heavy trucks on Peger Road is 863/day.

The addition of 192 ore trucks transiting over Peger Road daily is a 23% increase in heavy truck traffic. 

Source: manhchoh.com

Increase In Truck Traffic along the route

There is currently a national shortage of 80,000 truck drivers. Even if the shortage is addressed in the coming years, do we want inexperienced drivers on our roads, which are notoriously dangerous and in poor condition especially during the long, dark winter months? It requires years of experience to drive the long haul double tractor-trailers required by this plan in Alaskan conditions.

Yes, the plan is for the trucking operation to be 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Kinross has stated that they will follow the law and drive according to conditions. DOT&PF regulation (17 AAC 25.014e) requires long-haul double trucks to stop during inclement weather. However, DOT&PF leaves enforcement up to the discretion of the trucking company and driver. So who will decide when it is bad enough to stop? Conditions differ along the 248-mile route. Where will trucks pull over safely? Will pull-offs be regularly cleared along the route? The trucking plan has a strict schedule with quick turnaround that will be affected by hazardous road conditions. A driving stoppage would create a dangerous situation with trucks stacked up along the route.

During snowy conditions, all vehicles create a “snow tornado” especially trucks. Most Alaskans have experienced being temporarily blinded by whirling snow and not being able to see either the road or nearby vehicles. Compounding this existing situation by adding so many large trucks on our roads will increase the dangers to the traveling public.

The posted speed limit on much of the road is 65 MPH. Trucks that weigh 80 tons will take time to get up to cruising speed and will naturally slow down on hills and winding corners. The drivers will adjust their speed to maintain safe conditions. Cars and other vehicles following behind these trucks will find very few opportunities to pass a 95-foot long truck. If a long truck encounters a slow moving vehicle in front of them, they won’t be able to pass them and will be forced to match the speed of the slow vehicle. Basically the speed for traffic on these roads will match the speed of the slowest vehicle on the highway and little can be done to change that.

In the summer, passing lanes do help somewhat to relieve the backup of vehicles behind a slower moving vehicle, but often drivers speed up along this stretch and only a few are benefited. In the winter, passing lanes might actually contribute to the dangers of the road. If the DOT&PF maintenance crews don’t immediately clear the full width of the road, the passing lanes effectively create a wider two-lane road. Since the lane markers are obscured, the traffic tends to crowd the center with a berm of snow in the middle so there’s no room to pass. In the winter, most drivers find passing lanes of little benefit.

YES. Trucks, and particularly long doubles, are involved in more accidents and deaths as documented by the Federal Highway Safety Administration, FWSA. Often the truck driver doesn’t necessarily cause an accident, but rather it’s caused by dangerous road conditions, bad weather, or frustrated drivers who make mistakes. Unfortunately, more trucks cause more traffic congestion resulting in more accidents.

ASAH has not been able to find any examples. Typically, ore hauls on public roads are for very limited distances. This plan to haul the quantities of ore being considered over 248-miles of public highways is unprecedented in the United States.

There are 280 daily school bus stops along the route (as of the 2022-2023 school year). The school buses stop on the highways as there are no shoulders or pull offs for them. By state law, all traffic in both directions along this route will be required to stop for the buses. Kinross says they will talk to parents about the trucks and have suggested to DOT&PF that they post school bus stop warning signs. ASAH does not believe this is an adequate response by Kinross considering the dark, icy winter road conditions during much of the school year.

Emergency services along most of the route are limited and provided by volunteer organizations. A hospital is located in Fairbanks, at one end of the 248-mile route.

Driveway / Richardson access intersections: 53

There has not been an analysis of the ability of our public safety component to effectively follow the law. The enormity of truck frequency cannot be modeled as it has never occurred anywhere else in the United States if not the world. 

One loaded ore truck causes over twice the pavement damage as a 6-axle truck-trailer combination every time it drives over a section of pavement. An unloaded ore truck causes similar pavement damage as a small to medium fully loaded truck. (Source: Kinney Engineering Study)

According to the Kinney Corridor Study analysis, based on the weight and frequency of these ore trucks, the summer maintenance and operations costs will increase by $4.2 million per year. The winter maintenance and operations costs will increase by $3.5 million per year over historical averages. In addition, DOT will need to purchase $3.2 million on one-time equipment and facilities to support the ore haul directly. (Source: Kinney Engineering Study)

So in total, DOT will need to find $7.7 million in labor and materials every year plus $3.2 million in one-time expenditures in order to keep up with the additional wear and tear on our roads. Based on DOT’s own estimate that they have a 30% vacancy rate for equipment operators and heavy-duty mechanics (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, February 4, 2024, p. C1), they may need to contract this extra work out. Contracting out generally adds a 20% increase in costs, in addition to pulling contractors off of their regularly scheduled work.

(Source: Kinross public meetings)

(Source: Kinross public meetings)

$40 million dollars for 8-10 additional lane miles of highway

Source: DOT&PF estimate in public meetings

The Johnson and Gerstle River bridges, built in 1944, have been on DOT&PF’s list for replacement at some point in the future. Because of this ore haul project, DOT&PF has moved these projects up on the list and plans to replace them beginning in 2025. ASAH estimates the cost of replacement in the $250 million range. The state portion will mostly be funded from the DOT&PF Northern Region Statewide Transportation Implementation Plan STIP capital allocation.

Not according to DOT. Fully loaded ore trucks will need to take the exit ramp and use the roundabout and entrance ramp back onto the Steese to avoid going over the bridge. Unloaded ore trucks can use the overpass bridge.

ASAH’s volunteer (with solid professional credentials) has done an ESAL analysis based on the best rolling stock configuration estimates.

The four deliveries per hour will cause the ore haul highways route to deteriorate from 37% to 57% faster than without the haul.

The ore haul effect on the deterioration of the haul route will be more than all other traffic combined for the life of the haul.

The Johnson River, Gerstle, and Tanana bridges are estimated to require $300 – $500M. The State funding match for these will come from the Northern Region STIP allocation which will lessen funds available for other needs.

There is and it’s done by calculating ESAL’s (Equivalent Single Axle Load) built into every road project. An ESAL is the nationally accepted standard of measuring damage done to highway surface transportation modes by loaded truck traffic.

When a new road is designed or is reconstructed, think of the engineers creating an “ESAL Bank”. They design the project to certain design specs and a certain number of ESAL is deposited in this “bank”. Every truck configuration has its own ESAL rating and each time this loaded truck passes over this road a certain number of ESAL are withdrawn When all the ESAL’s are gone the road is beyond its design life and requires replacement or rebuild.

Yes, but one needs to know the configuration of the haul unit which Kinross has yet to reveal even after almost 2 years of “study”. So using ASAH’s best estimate for a 95’ 80 ton tractor-trailer B train configuration, a retired professional highway engineer has provided ASAH a volunteer “best estimate” given everything we know.

His volunteer estimates are: (1) between Tetlin and Delta, the ore haul trains will account for 57% of the road wear and tear and (2) between Delta and EAFB, they will account for 30%.

It should be noted that when the ESAL Bank is empty, and these roads require replacement or repair, the funds come from our state’s Unrestricted General Fund (the STIP) and/or Federal Highway funds. Very little (FY 2021 Spring Revenue forecast – 0.6% total UGF contribution) comes from the mining industry contribution.

Kinross has been approached by ADOT (mid 2020) about special use fees because of the extraordinary increase in wear. They declined but instead suggested, at two different public meetings* that the statewide $0.08 /per gallon gas tax be increased to every citizen to supply additional funding road maintenance. (* August 14, 2021 & January 18, 2021 )

Over twenty-five years, Kinross has paid the State of Alaska $50 million, or $2 million per year on average. Operating earnings (essentially net income which includes $110M of non cash depreciation, depletion etc.) for Ft. Knox was $91.9M in 2021 and $67M in 2020.

If treated as a new mine, Manh Choh will not owe mining license taxes for the first 3.5 years after production begins
(Alaska Statute 43.65.010(a)).

 Taxes are computed with allowances for depletion, deductions and credits.

There may be apportionment issues when mining operations are conducted in two or more places by one person. (AS 43.65.010)

Source: Kinross 2021 Audited Financial Statements

Kinross Gold Corporation and Contango ORE are the operators. The Native Village of Tetlin owns the land and is not required to participate in the 7i distribution requirement.

Source: manhchoh.com

The gold bearing material averages approximately six grams per ton. The Fort Knox deposit was 0.3 grams per ton. Manh Choh mine contains approximately twenty times as much gold per ton as Fort Knox. What was described as an “average deposit” at community meetings is described as a “World Class, Highest Grade open pit mine” to Kinross/Contango ORE investors.

(Source: Mr. Bob Kozak, stock analyst, Cantor Fitzgerald Buy recommendation February 7, 2022)

In addition to gold, Manh Choh mine contains silver at about 16 grams per ton of ore.
(Source: Contango ORE, Inc. News Release, April 29, 2021)

This website refers to the Manh Choh Mine owners as “Kinross,” for simplicity. But there are a number of corporate entities involved.

Kinross Gold Corporation is the Canadian parent corporation that owns KG Mining (Alaska) Inc., which owns a 70% interest in Peak Gold, LLC. Kinross Gold Corporation also owns Fairbanks Gold Mining, Inc., which operates the Fort Knox mine. Kinross Gold Corporation has been the managing representative for Peak Gold, LLC to date. It has mining operations in Russia, Ghana and elsewhere in the world.

Tetlin Native Corporation owns the land and mining rights to the Manh Choh mine. It leases 675,000 acres to Peak Gold, LLC.

Peak Gold, LLC is managed by Kinross Gold Corporation or its subsidiary, KG Mining (Alaska) Inc., which owns a 70% interest.

Contango ORE, Inc. owns a 30% interest in Peak Gold, LLC. The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation owns 7.83% of Contango ORE, Inc. Contango ORE, Inc. leases and hopes to develop other gold mining claims in the areas of Tok and Willow.

In 2021, the “Peak Project” was renamed “Manh Choh,” meaning “Big Lake,” referring to nearby Tetlin Lake.

The corporation to own the ore hauling trucks has yet to be determined.

The corporation to operate the ore hauling trucks has yet to be determined, but Kinross has rejected Alaskan companies and asked outside and Canadian firms to make proposals to haul ore from Tetlin to Fort Knox.

Simple math produces these results. Four trucks leaving the mine per hour and four empties returning means an ore hauler will pass any one point on the 500 mile roundtrip on average every 7.5 minutes.
Kinross has disputed these calculations but without publishing their method of calculation.

The search for a trucking contractor has gone through three iterations. First was state of Alaska wide which was termed “non-responsive” and the search was expanded to the U.S. & Canada. That search failed and went worldwide. That failed and on September 12, 2022, Kinross announced that a contract had been awarded to Black Gold Transport, a subsidiary of Black Gold Express.

The February 11, 2022 letter from the EPA to the Corp of Engineers regarding the Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) compliance will shed light on this issue as answers are pending.

The February 11, 2022 letter from the EPA to the Corp of Engineers regarding the Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) compliance will shed light on this issue as answers are pending.

Unknown, Kinross and agencies will have to establish robust mitigation procedures along the haul route.

In the State of Alaska Spring 2020 Revenue Forecast (the formal document used to build the upcoming state budget -$8.7B in FY2020) the largest contributor to the state budget was the federal government (48.2%) and the smallest was the mining industry (.6%); less than the commercial fishing and the tourism industry.

The lowest General Fund contributor but one of the highest users. Remember, none of the property tax collected in the FNSB goes toward highway maintenance. The FNSB does not have road powers so all M&O funding is derived from UGF (Unrestricted General Fund) contribution which is where the mining industry contributes the least of any industry.