Even though the Kinross loads may be legal based on a calculated weight formula, the truck weight would exceed the load rating on 17 of the existing bridges on the route and five of those bridges could be damaged or fail with intense use.

Every weight load over the operating rating takes a little piece of life out of a bridge and when you permit extra heavy loads crossing repeatedly, then you accelerate that decline.

In Alaska, when a 95-foot-long 80-ton ore-train is at fault in an accident, will Kinross take responsibility for the wreck, or pass the buck to their subcontractor Black Gold Transport?

Alaska should withhold any action on these permits until after an EIS and the corridor study have been completed.

The Tetlin mine project was originally planned to have a processing plant at the site, an option that would have been robust economics because of the high-grade deposit, promoters said in 2018.

The claim by Anderson that replacing four bridges on the Tetlin-Fort Knox route “have been part of the conversations surrounding proposed mining development” is deceptive. His department has been acting like a Kinross business partner in the project, not an institution responsible for representing the general public.

Many in the audience wanted assurance that legislators would take a deep dive into how much this truck haul will cost the State of Alaska.

Answer: It is not.

Kinross Gold/Contango ORE have represented the plan to haul 10 million pounds or ore per day between Tetlin and Ft. Knox as critical to the continued existence of the Ft. Knox mine. Audiences have been left with the notion that, without this ore haul the Ft. Knox mine has a real chance of closing and losing hundreds of stable and well-paying jobs.

It doesn’t take much talk like that to get folks’ attention. But is it true?

Council members appreciated ASAH’s presentation, noting the information was well-documented. Photo by Alex Bengel/KTVF

A good turn-out and many public comments were heard.

A review of state regulations has discovered that the route proposed for the Kinross ore haul is not designated for industrial use.

The Johnson, Gerstle and Robertson River bridges were built during World War II and are functionally at the end of their useful lives.