Niblack Project

Project Description:

The Niblack Project is a copper-zinc-gold-silver prospect in an advanced exploration phase of development. The proposed underground exploration project is located off Moira Sound on southeastern Prince of Wales Island, approximately 30 miles southwest of the town of Ketchikan.

The applicant, Niblack Mining Corporation, proposes to develop 6,000 feet of underground tunneling from a single adit entry. The main focus of the underground work is to provide access for exploration drilling to test deep zones of mineralization. The project is expected to last 2 years. It will require development of a marine access and camp barge facility on the adjacent State-owned tide and submerged lands. Other surface disturbances including an access road, portal, and waste rock storage and disposal areas will be confined to private property.

Total surface disturbance requiring post-closure reclamation is approximately 5.5 acres. The proposed underground excavation will generate about 60,900 cubic yards of waste rock, most of which is benign. Approximately 14,300 cubic yards is potentially acid-generating (PAG) material which will be temporarily placed in an engineered, lined 0.85-acre storage facility. At the end of the exploration period, all PAG waste rock will be picked up and transferred back underground and the adit will be sealed.

Permits, Authorizations, and Financial Assurance

2007 Response to Public Comments on Draft Authorizations