Andrew Watson reports that there are big deposits and then there are supermassive deposits. A big deposit will have a good 20-40 year resource life at with mining current techniques. A supermassive one, has the resources that last for centuries.
The Pebble deposit, a Cu-Au-Mo-Ag Porphyry located in southwest Alaska, is one such discovery, with a global resource of just under 11 billion tonnes (measured, indicated and inferred) with a contained metal resource of 70,000,000,000 pounds copper, 107,000,000 ounces gold, 5,580,000,000 pounds molybdenum, and 510,000,000 ounces silver. However, there is such a thing as too big, where the impact to the surrounding environment is so profound that resistance by locals is fierce enough to overcome even the most bullish economic case. A famous geologist once quipped. I would rather have 19 one billion tonne deposits, than one 19 billion tonne deposit.
The Pebble deposit is owned by the Pebble Limited Partnership which is 100% owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals. It is located in 160 miles Northeast of Bristol Bay and 60 miles northwest of Cook Inlet. The terrain around the deposit is rolling hills, and valleys with thick glacial gravels in the valleys. The deposit was discovered by Cominco (now Teck Corp) in 1989, and was sold to Northern Dynasty in 2001. Teck maintains net profit royalties. For many years, Rio Tinto maintained a 19.1% interest in Northern Dynasty and Anglo was a 50-50 joint-venture partner in the Pebble Limited Partnership.
With a project of this size, the transformation of the local economy and environment will be profound and includes but is not limited to the need for massive infrastructure (roads, power), influx of people, potential greenhouse gases(?), and disruption to traditional subsistence many locals are resolutely opposed to the project ... perhaps because they didn't have a big enough piece of the pie, as usual.
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