Yukon in talks with Skagway, Alaska, to ensure access to port for shipping ore

Yukon mines may have to find a different port to ship their ore to markets next year.

The municipality of Skagway, Alaska, won't be renewing its lease for the ore dock with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which sublet it to the White Pass &Yukon Route railway.

The railway has leased the dock and the land around it for 54 years.

"Skagway is moving forward on converting the ore dock and upgrading it to an extremely modern facility so it can accommodate the biggest of the cruise ships that are out there, and also have an industrial component as of March 2023," said Skagway mayor Andrew Cremata.

"There won't be any way to do any mining import or export until those upgrades are completed."

But Ranj Pillai, Yukon's minister of economic development, said the territorial government is in talks with Skagway "trying to ensure that we still have access to a deep water port."

Cremata said the infrastructure at the dock, including the ore loader, is antiquated and needs to be replaced.

He said designs for the new dock don't include elements, such as a rotator, that could be necessary for mining companies to ship their ore.

"What we'd be looking for are investments from users so that we can have meaningful partnerships moving forward," he said.

In discussions

Pillai said that last week, Skagway showed the Yukon government different designs the borough was looking at to upgrade the port.

"And then we had the opportunity to go back to them and provide a series of questions and look at some options that could fit both the needs of the tourism industry as well as the needs of the mining industry," said Pillai.

Kells Boland, who co-chairs a joint transportation and infrastructure committee of the Yukon Chamber of Mines, the Yukon Chamber of Commerce and the Yukon Producers Group, saidit's looking at ways to make sure some ore will be shipped through Skagway.

He said they're looking at two options, material handling through a ship loader and container bulk handling.

"If we can make either of those work, we will at Skagway. Otherwise we'll be looking at other ports. And the only other ports are Haines [Alaska] and Stewart [B.C.]." said Boland.

He added that he understands why Skagway is upgrading its port to accommodate bigger cruise ships, but said it's distressing for the Yukon mining industry.

"Skagway's always been open to Yukon for tidewater access," he said.

Pillai said he's confident they can come up with a good solution that will modernize the infrastructure at the port and lead to more economic opportunity.

"The key is to figure out what's the appropriate infrastructure to have in place," said Pillai.

He said he thinks that they'll be able to figure that out, as well as the role Yukon would play, within the next three months.