Coal land seller corrects record, opposition has concerns

MAT-SU - With the announcement that 9,927 acres of land in the Chickaloon area could potentially open to coal mining, the state trust selling development rights is clearing up misconceptions and opposition groups are expressing concern.

When the Trust Land Office first announced the sale, many folks started digging into the background of the buyer, Riversdale Alaska.

It doesn't take long trolling through search engines to find news reporting of Riversdale's large coal mine in Mozambique and the company's sale to mining conglomerate Rio Tinto. Next people began discussing Rio Tinto's checkered past.

But those concerns are off base, according to the man who brokered the sale.

"Rio Tinto has no interest in Riversdale Alaska or its parent company," said Greg Jones, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office's executive director.

Jones said he understands the misconception.

"When we first saw their bid a month or so ago we thought it was Rio Tinto," Jones said.

But through talking with the bidder, he said officials found the relationship was more complicated. It's true, he said, that Rio Tinto bought Riversdale.

"The guys that owned the company sold the company, but retained the rights to the name Riversdale," Jones said. "So the three guys that owned it go over and start a new company called Riversdale Resources."

So, to recap: new company, old name, no affiliation with Rio Tinto, Jones said.

"They want to go start another mine, so they're focusing on Alaska," Jones said.

He said his office is involved in a lot of resource work, from timber development projects in Southeast Alaska to gold and mineral mining in the Interior to prospective coal mining in Chuitna to a natural gas well in the Kenai area.

As far as the Valley goes, the Chickaloon sale is the only thing on the resource development horizon.

"I don't have anything cued up right now. We have a small percentage of the mineral rights under (Usibelli Coal Mine's prospective) Wishbone (Hill) mine, but we are definitely a small part of that," Jones said. "We do an annual land sale where we sell of real estate, lots that don't have any resource value. ... We're going to sell off some land in the Valley this summer."

Jamey Duhamel, with the Mat Valley Coalition of landowners, said the development in Chickaloon was not surprising, but alarming nonetheless.

"It's pretty clear to us that outside interests in the name of ‘big coal' have landed in the Valley," she said. "The Matanuska Coal Fields are just up for bid."

She said Riversdale is the third group to express interest in returning mining to the historic coalfields.

"If Usibelli can operate a mine on top of people in a residential area, then they can operate a mine anywhere," Duhamel said. "If we can't stop them from operating a mine within a quarter mile of people, then we can't stop them from operating a mine anywhere."

Anywhere, she said, could include even more populated areas, since coal is prevalent throughout the Valley.

She said this should trouble anyone thinking that Usibelli is a local, Alaska company with a good track record. Duhamel said she worries Usibelli might be forced to change its business practices if it's competing with less conscientious global firms.

"And so I guess we see this as a long-term kind of fight to keep outside coal interests from taking over the community that we love," Duhamel said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.