Following DNR’s application denial, IPOP can appeal or reapply
Following the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ denial of IPOP LLC’s application for permits to mine for gold in Bonanza Channel, the Nevada-based company has few options to move forward with the project: IPOP could appeal the decision with the DNR Commissioner’s Office, who can decide to uphold or rescind the decision. They could seek superior court actions to bypass the appeal. Or they could reapply and reenter the permit process which would include a DNR internal review for completeness, agency notice and a 14-day public comment period. However, IPOP cannot amend the current application.
The application for permits to mine in Alaska, APMA for short, was initially submitted in spring of 2018 and amended several times, submitted again in November 2023 and remained incomplete until January 2025, according to the decision document from the DNR.
DNR announced the APMA denial on March 11.
IPOP proposed to use a special cutterhead suction to dredge for gold on 32 state mining claims within Bonanza Channel, located 28 miles east of Nome.
It’s uncommon for an APMA to be denied, according to DNR Natural Resource Specialist Charlene Bringhurst. Often, the applying company works with the department on the issues in their application or the proposed mining plan. It’s more typical for the company to withdraw their APMA or for the application to be suspended due to the applicant not being responsive.
IPOP has not yet announced next steps.
The Nugget reached out listed representative Beau Epstein multiple times for comment, as well as the company’s attorney, James Buchal based out of Oregon. Neither have responded as of press time.
The rejection
Bonanza Channel is a state navigable waterway and the DNR’s decision document stated constriction of the channel would infringe “upon the public’s navigation rights.”
The first year of the project would have been the most obstructive to the channel, with the company’s plan proposing in the first year to construct an access channel and deploy a silt curtain through the traffic area in the channel. DNR also identified years four and five of the project, when the silt curtain would be deployed, as another major time of obstruction.
The DNR determines workarounds to obstructions case-by-case, depending on the proposed activity, Bringhurst wrote to the Nugget. At minimum, if an activity blocks public access to navigable water, the division may require alternative access.
Another factor in the DNR’s decision was the method and accuracy of the exploration conducted by IPOP in 2019, where they allegedly found an average calculated gold grade of 49 grams per square meter. That estimated average gold grade would make it 37 times higher than the best single defined gold deposit in the Nome offshore area. In the decision document the DNR stated the claim was so high, if verified it would “potentially make it one of the richest, if not the richest, placer gold ground on the planet.”
DNR recommended that IPOP conduct additional exploration to further define the gold resources in the project area. The state regulators encouraged using industry standards when conducting the exploration, which, according to Bringhurst, are documentation of sampling methods, quality assurance/quality control procedures, and horizontal and vertical distribution of gold grade within the deposit.
IPOP currently does not have an active authorization from the DNR to conduct exploration, but under the Division of Mining Land, and Water’s generally allowed uses, IPOP could conduct limited activities on their claims. This includes use of a suction dredge with a nozzle six inches or less, powered by an engine of 18 horsepower or less and pumping no more than 30,000 gallons of water per day.
IPOP does have other active authorizations from state and federal agencies. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers overturned its 2022 denial of IPOP’s wetlands permit application granted the permit in March of 2024. In October 2024, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation granted a very narrowly focused permit for IPOP to discharge water from the rear end of the silt curtain into Bonanza channel from December 2024 to November 2029. Kawerak has appealed this decision citing concerns about “the presence, noise, and visual disturbance of IPOP’s project would negatively impact subsistence resources.”
Kawerak’s President Melanie Bahnke wrote in an email to the Nugget that the DNR’s rejection of the APMA permit was “good news.”
Deilah Johnson, the tribal coordinator at the Village of Solomon, told the Nugget the DNR’s decision was a “shock” at first. Once reality set in and she read through the decision document, she was pleased to see the Alaska Constitution cited in the DNR’s conclusion.
“That, to me, was the first time that I have heard the state of Alaska really actually stand for the Alaska residents and the Alaska constitution for this issue,” Johnson said.