BRADNERS' ALASKA LEGISLATIVE DIGEST

Record haul of herring at Togiak Seiners pulled in a record 23,060 harvest of herring at Togiak this spring. With a herring roe price of $75 a ton, that meant a payday of $1.73 million for 19 vessels participating. Summer fisheries are underway The big Bristol Bay sockeye season will be underway soon as Alaska’s seasonal fisheries approach their peak. So far the Copper River and Prince William Sound fisheries have been doing well, while fishing has been a bit…

Read More Read More

Key step for Palmer project Constantine Metal Resources has released a preliminary economic assessment, or PEA , for its proposed $418 million Palmer copper-zinc-precious metals project near Haines, in southeast Alaska. This is a key regulatory step for the project. Dowa Holdings, a Japanese metals company, is a partner in the project. An underground mine is proposed that would produce 3,500 metric tonnes of ore per day and 12.5 million metric tonnes per year. A tonne is about 2,200 lbs….

Read More Read More

88 Energy will try once again Australian independent 88 Energy isn’t giving up on the North Slope, despite setbacks on two exploration wells in recent years. The company plans another test southwest of its unsuccessful Winx test drilled last winter, this initiative is aimed at potential deposits in Torok and Schrader Bluff sand formations. Production near Dalton Hwy U.K.-based Pantheon Resources will develop its Alkaid oil project in a phased project with first production beginning in 2021. The company said…

Read More Read More

Statewide employment nudged up again in May for the fifth month. The increases are small but steady, and are led by high-wage industries like petroleum (up 5.3 percent in May) and construction (up 6.9 percent). Significantly, professional and business service employment, which includes engineering, began rising in April (0.8 percent) and continued in May (up 1.1 percent) after months of decline. Other sectors like health care, retail, leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation and utilities showed continued small gains. Dunleavy’s…

Read More Read More

Alaska-Canada rail link? Is this another boondoggle? Who knows? The state-owned Alaska Railroad Corp. signed an agreement with a Canada-based developer, Alaska-to-Alberta Railroad Development Corp., or A2A Rail, to give it rights to use track owned by the state railroad if its plan for an $18 million Canada-Alaska rail link materializes. The idea, which would involve shipping stranded Alberta tar sands bitumen to Pacific markets, has support from Gov. Mike Dunleavy and some state legislators. Dunleavy wrote to President Donald…

Read More Read More

In-river power system test The tribal Village of Igiugig and Ocean Renewable Power Co., or ORPC, are installing a test in-river generation turbine this summer in the Kvichak River that would be capable of generating 35 kilowatts of power from currents in the river. The company estimates the turbine should be able to generate power for 70 cents a kilowatt. That compares with the community’s current cost of 90 cents/kilowatt through diesel generation. Fuel for that must be flown into…

Read More Read More

Pacific Pile & Marine submitted an apparent low bid of $42.16 million, about one-third of an engineer’s estimate of $61.4 million, for new piling and trestle work for the petroleum and cement terminal replacement project at the aging Port of Alaska. The bid means the port officials have sufficient money in hand to do the project, and will issue a Notice to Proceed if Anchorage’s municipal assembly gives approval July 9. Orders for steel and equipment will follow and construction…

Read More Read More

Private firm to invest in new Ketchikan cruise ship berths A private company proposes to build a $50 million new cruise ship dock in Ketchikan, at the former Ketchikan Pulp mill site at Ward Cove in the Southeast community. The developer, Power Systems & Supplies of Alaska, owned by the Spokely family of Ketchikan, is in partnership with Godspeed, Inc., owned by the Binkley family of Fairbanks, to form Ward Cove Dock Group to do the project. Completion is planned…

Read More Read More

Gov. Dunleavy cuts 41% of state funds Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $134 million of $330 million of state funds for the University of Alaska, announced Friday, would basically gut the state university system if there is no override by the Legislature, UA president Jim Johnsen said. An override requires 45 of 60 members of the Legislature and will be difficult to achieve, If the veto stands, the university’s Board of Regents will invoke emergency powers to sharply cut staff…

Read More Read More