How Trails May be Affected by Antimony Mining Work on Ester Dome

Most people have probably heard that a mining company – U.S. Antimony – has started doing mining work on Ester Dome. (If you haven’t, see my notes at the end.) I recently sat down with Rebecca Gower, a company geologist, to find out how the work might affect trails.

Equinox Marathon Trail and Happy Ridge Trail

In short, in this first phase of the project, two popular trails might be affected: the Equinox Marathon Trail (EMT), an official trail on the Fairbanks Recreational Trails Plan, and the Happy Ridge Trail (HRT), a popular but unofficial trail that runs down the ridge to the south of Happy Creek in between the Ester Dome Singletrack Trails and Saint Patrick Road.

The part of the EMT that might be affected is about Mile 19 on the marathon course, which is a little more than a mile to the west of where the marathon comes out onto lower Henderson Road. Only the upper part of the HRT will be affected.

A portion of the Nugget Creek Trail may also be affected but not this year. See the below map, which shows the trails and the mining claims that U.S. Antimony has a permit to work (outlined in red). (Pink outlines show claims the company has leases for or agreements with other lease holders, but it does not have permits to do work in those areas yet.)

Winter is not conducive to the type of work the company is doing, Gower said, so it plans to suspend work over the winter and start again next year.

In the interview, Gower said the company is aware that the area is popular with trail users and will try to avoid closing trails, especially the EMT and HRT. (They shut down their operations for the weekend of the Equinox Marathon and the Fairbanks Cycle Club’s clean up ride the next day to avoid conflicts with those events.)

However, the company may close portions of the trails if they are digging close to the trail or are having to cross them with equipment. Gower said that the closures are strictly for safety reasons and that they would put signs up alerting trail users. Trails will be reopened when they are again deemed safe.

(On Tuesday, Gower said the company would be moving equipment above the EMT around Mile 19, but it won’t be using the trail. It will be moving equipment down the HRT trail on Thursday morning. She said it would take a couple of hours, and they would put up signs when the equipment is on the trail.)

The crew will be digging trenches in previously mined land. The trenches can be no longer than 700 feet and nothing wider than 20 feet wide. Trenches do not have to be that wide or long and most will likely be smaller, Gower said. The trenches must be filled in within two weeks of when the company is done working them.

Gower said this first part of the operation is basically prospecting. They are trying to find out what is there and if it can be profitably mined. The operation will be relatively small. It will include a bulldozer, an excavator, a dump truck, and a well drilling rig (though that will come later), as well as some smaller equipment such as pickup trucks, a skid steer, and side-by-side ATVs. Crews will be no more than 10 people.

Lesser Known Trails

There are several other trails in the current area of operations, but they are lesser known and used. Almost all are old mining roads (as are the HRT and the EMT in that area). The company may close portions of the trails if they are digging close to the trail or are having to cross them. Gower said they would put signs up alerting trail users.

The company’s permit also allows it to work in an area that includes a portion of the Nugget Creek Trail near the top of Ester Dome, but that won’t happen this year.

We will not be conducting any work in the Nugget Creek Trail area this year. Looking ahead, the long-term plan remains consistent with what we discussed on Friday—trenching, potential bulk sampling within those trenches, and full reclamation within one to two weeks of completion. Although we are permitted for shallow drillholes, that activity has not been scheduled, so there is no concern for this year.

U.S. Antimony’s permit allows the work to go on for five years, but the company will be working an area, then moving on. The crews are required to reclaim the area they are working, including filling in the trenches and covering them with top soil. Once they are done, the area can be used as it had been before. Gower points out that their work will result in some trails being brush and cleared for possible use by trail users, if those areas are currently open to trail users.

The company is working with the public relations firm to get more information out to the community soon.

Trails in the Wider Area

There are other trails that may be impacted as the company expands its exploration in the area. The company has leases or agreements with other lease holders, but it does not have permits to do work in those areas yet. (See pink outlines on the attached map or HERE.) Included in that are other parts of the Equinox Marathon Trail (parts of the Out-and-Back and part of the climb up Ester Dome) and the Ester Dome Singletrack Trail System. Whether and how much the company explores in those areas depends on what the geology indicates and if the company can obtain permits.

Gower said the company is aware of the popularity of those trails. She is also aware of the improvement work that just went into the singletrack trail system. She said the geology indicates the area under the singletrack trail system is not very promising, but she couldn’t guarantee they would not do work in that area.

The Fairbanks Cycle Club, working with Goldstream Sports, has done the most recent work in the area. I am president of the FCC, so I am well aware of the situation. If the company’s work affects those trails, we will do our best to make sure the impact on the trails is a minimal as possible. However, any speculation on what that impact might be is far too premature, since the trails might not be impacted at all.

In any case, the company would have to apply for permits to work in those areas and that would require a public comment process.

Note: There is also antimony mining work being done off Old Murphy Dome Road, including on the Treasure Creek Trail. However, that work is being done by a different company, Felix Gold.

My Take

While I understand people who live near the area have concerns regarding noise, traffic, and ground water disturbance, my focus in this blog is on trails. I am glad the company understands the importance of trails to the community, and I hope disturbances will be minimal. Whatever happens, I can’t ignore that most of the trails that people use and enjoy on Ester Dome were created by miners.

I realize the area has changed from the past, but legally it is still open to mining. I can’t fault a mining company for coming in and doing its mission. Minerals can’t be found just anywhere. Companies must go where they occur. I also understand that antimony is a critical mineral for the United States and that we need domestic supplies. So, I am willing to work with U.S. Antimony as long as it is doing its work within the law.

I believe it is up to citizens to make sure the company follows the law and to work with it wherever possible to mitigate its activities on our community. It is also up to citizens to make sure the state does its due diligence to make sure the company is doing its work within the law. So, stay engaged. I will do my best to let people know when there is an opportunity to comment or otherwise act.

Broader Look

If you haven’t yet heard about the prospecting, here’s some more info.

On September 11, KUAC had a story on the operation, which ran in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner a few days later. You can see the KUAC story HERE.

Highlights from the KUAC story:

• U.S. Antimony is a Dallas-based company
• The company had a VIP tour recently. Rep. Ashley Carrick, who lives in the vicinity of the mine, was there and said she is highly concerned about the operation.
  • “Especially after having seen the long-term, future plans and size of this project, I’m even more concerned about it than I was previously,” she said.
  • (Carrick’s September 12 constituent newsletter has an extensive piece about her concerns. You can read that HERE.)
• Rep. Will Stapp was also at the tour and said he is “optimistic.” “I think economic growth is generally a good thing, and I think responsible resource development is also a good thing, and we just want to make sure that the operations out there are as safe and as least disruptive for the residents as possible.”

In August, the News-Miner also had a story about U.S. Antimony cleaning up junk cars and other debris in advance of their mining work. You can see that story HERE.

About Antimony

According to Google’s AI search summary, antimony is used for a variety of things. Most commonly it is used in flame retardants, lead-acid batteries, machine bearings, and military applications. Forbes magazine calls it the “Most Important Mineral You Never Heard Of,” important largely because of the military applications. The United States no longer has a domestic supply of the mineral. China is the largest producer of antimony, but since December it has banned export of it to the U.S. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have made efforts to increase domestic production of the mineral.