The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has officially begun the environmental review of the proposed Arctic Mine Development Project, a large open-pit mine proposed in the Ambler Mining District of Northwest Alaska.

The Army Corps is currently accepting scoping comments through November 2, 2026. Scoping happens before the Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, is written, and public comments submitted now can help determine which environmental, subsistence, cultural, economic, and community impacts receive detailed analysis.

For communities across the region, and for anyone concerned about the future of the Brooks Range, clean water, fish and wildlife, and subsistence, this is an opportunity to make sure the federal government asks the right questions before making a permit decision.

What is being proposed?

Ambler Metals LLC is proposing a large-scale, open-pit hard-rock mine northeast of the communities of Kobuk and Shungnak.

According to the Army Corps, the mine would process approximately 11,000 tons of ore every day, primarily producing copper, zinc, and lead concentrates, with gold and silver also expected to be recovered. Construction is expected to take roughly three years, followed by approximately 13 years of mine operations.

The proposed development would disturb approximately 1,727 acres and permanently affect approximately 120.7 acres of wetlands and other waters, including more than 110 acres of wetlands.

The mine plan also includes a large tailings management facility at the headwaters of Subarctic Creek, supported by an engineered dam. Contact water from mine waste, tailings, facilities, and the open pit would require collection and treatment before being discharged into Subarctic Creek.

The project includes roads, water infrastructure, waste-rock storage, tailings, transportation systems, and long-term water treatment and monitoring that would continue after active mining ends.

The Arctic Mine and the Ambler Road are directly connected

One of the most significant aspects of this proposal is its dependence on the Ambler Access Project, commonly called the Ambler Road.

The mine would include two primary access routes connecting the mine, the Ambler Road, Bornite Camp, and the Dahl Creek Airstrip. Once the ore is processed into concentrates, trucks would transport those concentrates from the mine along project roads and the Ambler Road to the existing highway system and onward to Fairbanks. From there, the material would travel by rail to Anchorage and then by ship to smelters or refineries outside Alaska.

The Arctic Mine should not be evaluated as though it exists independently from the transportation corridor necessary to operate it. Scoping is an opportunity for the public to ask the Army Corps to examine the connected, secondary, and cumulative impacts associated with mine development and the infrastructure needed to support it.

The Corps itself states that cumulative impacts, alternatives, secondary impacts, and effects on communities including Kobuk, Shungnak, and Ambler will be considered during the review.

The Army Corps has already identified potentially significant impacts

Importantly, the decision to prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement was not automatic. The Army Corps determined that an EIS is necessary because the project has the potential for significant impacts to: aquatic resources, water quality, fish and wildlife, subsistence uses, and regional socioeconomic conditions.

For communities whose food systems, cultures, economies, and daily lives are connected to the land and water, impacts cannot be measured only by the number of acres physically occupied by a mine.

The environmental review should examine how changes to waterways, fish and wildlife habitat, transportation, access, industrial activity, and development patterns could interact across the region over time.

This mine could also require long-term water treatment

Another question deserving careful examination is what happens after mining stops. The proposal anticipates approximately 13 years of mine operation, but the Army Corps’ notice states that long-term monitoring, water management, and water treatment would continue after active mining and reclamation have ended

That raises important questions the EIS should address clearly:

• Who would be responsible for treatment decades into the future?
• How long could treatment be necessary?
• What happens if treatment systems fail?
• How would closure perform under changing hydrologic and climate conditions?
• What financial assurances would be available to ensure Alaska communities and the public are not left responsible for long-term costs?

Subsistence and Tribal consultation must be taken seriously

The Army Corps specifically identifies subsistence as an issue requiring analysis and has invited numerous Tribal governments and communities throughout the Northwest Arctic Borough to participate in the environmental review.

The review must also incorporate government-to-government Tribal consultation, Section 106 consultation concerning historic and cultural resources, Endangered Species Act consultation, and Essential Fish Habitat review.

The knowledge and concerns of the people who live closest to the proposed development should be meaningfully incorporated throughout the process, not simply documented after major project assumptions have already been established.

Why Commenting During the Scoping Period is Important

The Army Corps is asking the public what the EIS needs to study.

According to the notice, scoping comments will help identify:

• reasonable alternatives;
• significant environmental issues;
• data gaps and additional studies that may be needed;
• avoidance and minimization measures;
• consultation requirements; and
• other issues relevant to the federal permit decision.

The Corps specifically encourages commenters to be detailed and to explain why particular environmental, cultural, social, economic, or subsistence impacts deserve analysis.

That means you do not need to be an environmental attorney or scientist to participate.

People who hunt, fish, travel, live, work, conduct research, or have cultural and family connections to this region have information that can help shape the review.

What should the EIS examine?

The Northern Center encourages people to ask the Army Corps to fully examine questions including:

• Water: What would mine waste, tailings, water withdrawals, treated discharges, spills, failures, and long-term water treatment mean for Subarctic Creek and connected watersheds?
• Fish and wildlife: How could the mine and associated transportation affect fish habitat, caribou and other wildlife, migration, disturbance, and access to important habitat?
• Subsistence: How could the mine, roads, traffic, noise, development, and changes in fish and wildlife affect subsistence harvesting and customary and traditional uses?
• Cumulative impacts: What happens when the Arctic Mine is considered together with the Ambler Road and reasonably foreseeable additional development within the Ambler Mining District?
• Mine closure: How long could water treatment and monitoring be required, who would pay for it, and what happens if treatment or containment systems fail?
• Alternatives: Are there alternatives that would avoid or substantially reduce impacts to wetlands, waterways, subsistence resources, communities, and culturally important areas?
• Communities: What would industrial traffic, employment changes, public-service demands, social impacts, economic changes, and other development pressures mean for Kobuk, Shungnak, Ambler, and neighboring communities?

Take Action: Submit a Scoping Comment by November 2

Comments are due November 2, 2026.

Written comments can be submitted through the Arctic Mine EIS website, by email, or by mail:

Online: ArcticMineEIS.com
Email: ArcticMineEIS_scoping@arcadis.com

Mail:
Arctic Mine Development Project EIS Comments
USACE – Alaska District, Regulatory Division
1046 Marks Road
Fort Wainwright, AK 99703

The Army Corps asks commenters to include “Arctic Mine Development Project” in the subject line or correspondence.

Attend a public scoping meeting

The Notice of Intent also identifies five anticipated opportunities to participate:

Shungnak: October 6, 3:30–5:30 p.m.
Ambler: October 7, 3:30–5:30 p.m.
Kobuk: October 8, 3:30–5:30 p.m.
Fairbanks: October 13, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., JP Jones Center 2400 Rickert Street, Fairbanks, AK 99701
Virtual: October 19, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Your voice belongs in this process

This is the beginning of what could be one of the most consequential mine reviews in Northwest Alaska in years.

The Army Corps has already acknowledged that the proposal could significantly affect water, fish and wildlife, subsistence, and regional communities. Now the public has an opportunity to help determine how thoroughly those impacts are examined.

Submit a comment by November 2 and tell the Army Corps what the Arctic Mine EIS needs to study.

The more specific the comments are about places, waterways, wildlife, subsistence uses, community concerns, unanswered questions, and information the government should examine, the more useful they can be in shaping the environmental review.