Pebble and Donlin Gold: A comparison of permitting timelines.
In 2012 Wild Salmon Center and Trout Unlimited produced a report examining the proposed Pebble Mine and its potential impacts on the wild salmon fishery of Bristol Bay, Alaska. This report describes significant ecological, economic, and cultural concerns raised by proposed development of the Pebble copper, gold, and molybdenum deposit in the headwaters of the Bristol Bay basin, which is home.

The Pebble mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay got a new lease on life under the Trump administration. A decision on whether to permit the mine is expected later this year.

The Pebble Mine is the name of an open pit mine that seeks to take advantage of a massive, 11 billion-ton mineral deposit of gold, copper, and molybdenum in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska. The Pebble deposit is just north of Katmai National Park and Preserve, sitting in the headwaters of two rivers, Kvichak and Nushagak, that feed Bristol Bay. If built, the Pebble Mine would be one.

For example, the Alaska-Juneau gold mine project in Southeast was never permitted because there were so many aspects of that project that didn’t prove to be viable.” The permitting process is open-ended and “iterative,” so a developer can continue to submit changes to get to a plan that meets all regulatory requirements. It is likely that Pebble developers will go forward with multiple.

On Nov. 9, 2016, Pebble LP started crafting a new plan for mining one of the world's largest gold and copper deposits, buried beneath untouched southwestern Alaska tundra.

The Pebble Mine would produce 70 million tons of gold, molybdenum and copper ore a year and create a pit 1,970 feet (600 meters) deep. A new road, pipeline and power plant would be built.

By HAYDEN LUDWIG CAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER. There’s no shortage of wealthy environmentalist groups angling to keep Alaska from making use of its natural resources, usually by exploiting fears of pollution from the proposed Pebble mine, a critical copper and gold mine that promises to restore America’s independence from foreign strategic minerals.