OPINION: When will Juneau economic naysayers connect the dots

Published 11:35 am Wednesday, April 1, 2026

A headline in a recent Juneau news story caught my eye: “88% of public comments oppose proposed mine road between Eagle and Herbert glaciers.”

Based on that headline, one would think everyone in Juneau was against roads and mining.

I don’t believe that’s so. And I wonder if those commenters considered how Juneau will ever reverse the decline in our school-age population, pay for flood mitigation expenses, and make our community more affordable.

Without addressing those concerns, Juneau can expect more school closures, higher taxes, and a continuing out-migration of working families.

According to the news story, the vast majority of 200 comments about the proposed road submitted to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources between Feb. 17 and March 13 expressed opposition.

Reading further along, it was disclosed that about 100 of the 176 comments submitted used a form letter with many that mimicked wording provided by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC).

The form-letter tactic, designed to boost anti-commenters, is used by environmental groups to elicit a standard knee-jerk reaction to most economic development projects, especially mines, which might have some environmental impact, regardless of how small, and irrespective of their benefits. These groups consider all mining projects the same, something to be delayed, studied forever, and eventually killed.

What is omitted from SEACC’s laborious and lengthy response in opposition are the actual facts about the project and its associated economic and demographic benefits.

The Herbert Gold Project – recently rebranded as the New Amalga Gold Deposit – is a high-grade gold exploration property owned by Grande Portage Resources Ltd., located about 15 miles north of Juneau in the historic 100-mile-long Juneau Gold Belt, to the south of Coeur Alaska’s Kensington gold mine.

The company’s conceptual mining plan, designed by Kyle Mehalek, P.E., former Chief Mining Engineer at Hecla Mining’s Green’s Creek Mine, envisions the future development of the New Amalga gold mine as a selective underground mining operation which would ship ore off-site to be processed at a third-party facility, enabled by the project’s location near tidewater. The company says this would result in a dramatically reduced environmental footprint due to the avoidance of chemical processing and tailings storage on-site and should expedite permitting applications.

The proposed 1.3-mile access road is a necessary link to allow shipment of ore off-site.

The concern about this project seems misplaced given the positive environmental safety record and significant economic impact of Juneau’s other two mines, the Kensington Gold Mine and Hecla Mining’s Greens Creek Mine, both among Juneau’s largest property taxpayers.

A state study on the nearby proposed Cascade Point ferry terminal notes that New Amalga “has the potential for substantial economic development in the region” and highlights Goldbelt Corporation’s view of the project as a way to demonstrate Alaska Native leadership in infrastructure, shareholder employment, and revenue.

New Amalga could bring Kensington-scale benefits to Juneau if it reaches production: hundreds of high-wage jobs directly, plus a larger indirect boost through services, transport, and Native corporation ventures.

Direct on-site employment would plausibly fall in the 250–400 permanent jobs range, including miners, mechanics, engineers, safety, and camp/logistics staff.

At Kensington-like wage levels, that would translate to $30–55 million per year in payroll, much of it spent in Juneau and northern Southeast Alaska. Adding several million dollars per year in Juneau property tax and other related spending would make it one of the municipality’s major private-sector contributors, alongside existing mines.

If only, say, 80 New Amalga workers relocate to Juneau with families, a reasonable estimate of roughly 120–160 K-12 students would be added to Juneau’s dwindling school population. With projected decreases of almost 900 students over the next decade, this wouldn’t reverse the decline, but combined with other initiatives and developments, it might be enough to help keep our elementary schools closer to viable size and preserve popular electives and activities.

With that as background, why isn’t there more visible support for projects like this? Have the Juneau Chamber of Commerce and the Juneau Economic Development Council weighed in with positive comments? What about our Assembly?

Unless we enjoy losing population and closing schools, maybe it’s time to connect the dots.

Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.