US Restores Ambler Road Permits; DoD Invests

Federal agencies and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority executed or reissued 50-year right-of-way permits for the 211-mile (340 km) Ambler Access Road following a presidential directive, allowing AIDEA to resume engineering, planning and budgeting. The road would link the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects to the Dalton Highway and is intended to unlock the Ambler mining district’s rich copper-dominant polymetallic deposits to bolster U.S. supplies of copper and other critical minerals. The Defense Department has invested about $35.6 million to acquire roughly a 10% stake in Trilogy Metals, underscoring federal support for developing domestic critical mineral resources. Trilogy and partner South32 say the permits are key to developing the district, and Trilogy shares jumped on the news. Environmental groups and Indigenous communities oppose the project, warning it would bisect the Western Arctic caribou herd’s migration, harm subsistence lifestyles and cross Gates of the Arctic National Park.