South32 Gets Alaska Copper Permit Lift, Hermosa Still in Focus
South32 Ltd’s U.S. copper-zinc joint venture has cleared a step, getting into a federal permitting program. The Australian miner now has a more defined route for this North American critical-minerals prospect, as it keeps looking at costs for the bigger Hermosa project. Arctic Project in Alaska, owned by Ambler Metals LLC, the 50/50 JV between South32 and Trilogy Metals, is now listed as a FAST-41 “Covered Project,” Trilogy said. FAST-41 creates deadlines for coordinated reviews of large mining and infrastructure projects in the U.S., but it does not actually approve them.