The Pebble Partnership is searching for another key investor to help fund its proposed Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska after international mining giant Rio Tinto gifted to two Alaska charities its 19.1% stake in the firm. A project spokesman says development of the mine, valued at $7 billion to $8 billion, will continue.
Environmentalists oppose the mine, which would potentially include a large earthen dam and a containment pond to store up "tailings" waste from the gold, copper and molybdenum extracted. The project would sit atop the headwaters of two key rivers in Alaska that feed into Bristol Bay, home to one of the world's largest sockeye-salmon fisheries.