Alaska aims to move priority mining and oil-and-gas proposals faster through permitting after signing a new agreement with federal regulators.

The FAST-41 cooperation with Alaska, the first state to do so, could shave a quarter of environmental permitting time, down to 2.7 years from 3.6 years as the process coordinates schedules and seeks early conflict resolution, greater predictability and transparency to federal reviews of major projects.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States Permitting Improvement Steering Council gives the state “a seat at the table,” Governor Mike Dunleavy said during a Wednesday news conference in Anchorage.. “This MoU is the beginning of something the whole country could use,” Dunleavy said. “Ask us in a few months where it’s at. It’s not just for show.”

Graphite One’s (TSXV: GPH) open pit, Teck Resources’ (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) Red Dog zinc mine expansion, and Hecla Mining’s (NYSE: HL) Greens Creek silver–gold–zinc mine near Juneau are projects that are due to benefit from the new arrangement, according to Emily Domenech, executive director of the Permitting Council.

“We’re signing a first-of-its-kind MOU so we can partner from the ground up on federal projects,” she said during the briefing. “We want to triple the number of Alaska projects on our dashboard by identifying them early – with an emphasis on mining.”

‘Maintains standards’

FAST‑41 doesn’t change substantive environmental standards, officials said.

The MoU connects Alaska’s Office of Project Management and Permitting with the Permitting Council. It shares public timelines for federal environmental reviews. It is also to hold agencies accountable for any schedule changes.

The Council can also post so‑called “transparency projects” that aren’t formally covered by FAST‑41 but still receive public, trackable schedules.

For miners, that means clearer timelines and earlier federal–state coordination on scoping, consultation and key authorizations.

In the queue

Federal authorizations for the Teck’s Aqqaluk Pit expansion are done. So, Red Dog-related work will move ahead first among the mining projects on the Dashboard.

Graphite One’s  project north of Nome, with an on‑site concentrator, could be through the process by late next year, according to the  the FAST‑process coordinating federal environmental review and permitting. A construction decision is to follow.

Alaska LNG, the state‑backed gas export project, has an updated FAST‑41 timetable posted this year following the project’s re‑initiation of federal reviews. Also on the short list or dashboard is the NANA Regional Broadband Network project to build a 1,167-km fibre route serving Alaska Native villages in the (where is that?) region. While not a mine, its inclusion shows how the state–federal process applies across sectors.

What’s next

The state and council teams are to identify more Alaska projects for FAST‑41 coverage. They will also post coordinated timetables on the dashboard. For the mining sector, that likely means more attention on critical‑minerals files where early federal–state alignment can reduce re‑work and slippage later in the process.

“You know how you bind a giant – one little thread at a time,” Alaska House Representative Nick Begich said on the call. “When the federal government comes to the table asking, ‘How do we get to yes?’ – that’s huge for Alaska.”