Figure 2.5 

 Geographic Distribution of Metallic Minerals With Respect to Federally-Owned Lands 



Federal Lands 



[ I Forest Service Lands 



^^H Bureau of Land Manapement Lands 



^^1 Other Federal Lands 



Metallic Minerals 



^ 



underway, and the oil pipeline completed between 

 Prudhoe Bay and Valdez supplies an estimated 10 

 percent of the domestic consumption of the United 

 States. The associated gas pipeline is still in the plan- 

 ning stage but, once completed, these fields are 

 expected to supply from 4 to 7 percent of U.S. natural 

 gas consumption by 1990. Additional petroleum 

 fields with commercial potential are believed to exist 

 in other parts of Alaska including the Outer Conti- 

 nental Shelf, but information is lacking as to the size 

 of this resource. 



As with most resources in undeveloped regions, 

 there is a strong distinction between physical exist- 

 ence and a viable market. Mineral development is 

 hampered by the uncertainty regarding the quantita- 

 tive and qualitative aspects of mineral deposits, the 

 inaccessibility of most areas, and the high cost of 

 extraction. Minerals including coal, iron, copper and 

 zinc are known to exist in large quantities, but it is 



uncertain if they can be competitively developed at 

 this time. Plans are underway to develop the second 

 largest molybdenum deposit known to exist in the 

 world at Quartz Hill in southeast Alaska. 



In summation, it seems clear that the Nation is 

 faced with the prospect of a substantial expansion of 

 mining activity. Mining will have impacts on forest 

 and range lands, and uses of forest and range lands 

 will also affect mining activity. 



Impacts of mining on forest and range lands — The 

 character of a mineral and its occurrence (liquid, gas, 

 vein, bedded deposit, disseminated body), and the 

 depth at which it occurs determine the method of 

 extraction. Oil and gas are usually produced from 

 wells, although development of methods to get oil 

 from oil shale and gas from coal may lead to mining 

 to obtain these minerals. Coal and other bedded de- 

 posits are removed by strip mining where they occur 

 close to the surface and by underground mining else- 



52 



