The Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue would like to extend its zinc operations until 2031 by building a new open pit right next to the current one.

A draft federal report on the Northwest Alaska zinc and lead mine's proposed expansion is prompting a series of public hearings around Alaska this week, including one at Anchorage's Loussac Library at 6 p.m. Thursday.

I wrote about Red Dog's plan in this 2007 article. The mine employs more than 400 people and it will run out of ore at its current pit in 2012.

Since that article was published, some opponents of the mine in Kivalina settled their pollution case against Teck, the mine's operator, and agreed to support the mine expansion. In return, Teck agreed to pursue development of a lengthy pipeline to empty the mine's treated wastewater in the ocean instead of its current discharge point: a tributary of the Wulik River which supplies drinking water to Kivalina.

Red Dog's expansion plan requires a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and new water discharge permit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in charge of the study and the permit and is hosting this week's hearings. To see the schedule of hearings and read the draft SEIS and draft permit, go to http://www.reddogseis.com/

The SEIS study includes an interesting review of post-Red Dog social conditions in the Northwest Arctic. That analysis, produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute for Social and Economic Research, can be read here.