Offsite Processing Facilities
Potential mill site locations
Heatherdale's investigations to date suggest there will be both economic and logistical advantages to barging mineralized material from Niblack to an offsite location for mill processing, rather than processing it at the mine site. Important criteria for selection of a suitable offsite milling location include:
- Existing power infrastructure, near tidewater with deep draft port;
- Accessibility to local workforce; and
- Location in SE Alaska.
Heatherdale was approached by several private and public entities with available sites for consideration.
Heatherdale has gone through a detailed evaluation of the potential sites and narrowed the list down to a few very good candidates. The sites under consideration include:
- Gravina Island Industrial Complex, which was brought to the company by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough;
- ATL site on Alaska State Mental Health Trust lands; and
- Tolstoi site on Sealaska Native Corporation lands.
The Gravina Island Industrial Complex is currently the leading option and presents clear advantages for off-site processing and the safe, permanent storage of associated tailings. In October 2012, Heatherdale and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough reached a Memorandum of Understanding to define the process by which both parties would investigate the suitability of the Gravina Island site for this land use.
