Alaska Natives Visit Nevada Gold Mines

Bristol Bay delegation shocked by damage to land and water, harm to Native communities

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then laying eyes on the real thing may be tantamount to a tome. Gazing out across prime examples of the havoc modern mining operations can inflict on the earth with their own eyes certainly spoke volumes to a delegation of Alaskans from the Bristol Bay area who visited Nevada recently. They were hosted by representatives of the Yerington Paiute and Western Shoshone tribes.

The group, 11 strong, toured the closed Anaconda copper mine, which one of the delegation described as “a wasteland” of abandoned buildings, rusting equipment, and “putrid pools of unknown liquids.” Next, they visited an active gold mine, a colossal hole in the ground alongside mountains of tailings, a hint of what might be expected if the Pebble Mine is permitted and built.

Their adventure concluded with an eco-tour flight over the mining sites that left then saddened, and wholly committed to opposing Pebble Mine.

To learn more about what the Alaska Natives saw and heard on their Nevada trip, check out their blog posts.

To learn more about the impacts of Nevada gold mines, read the Nevada Mine Fact Sheet.