Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse of Contango ORE finds it funny

Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, who makes about $2 million a year from Contango ORE for developing the Manh Choh and other Alaska mining ventures, says that a future project near Willow may one day lead to ore hauling on the Parks Highway from Hatcher Pass to Fort Knox.

“To the extent that Van Nieuwenhuyse is looking ahead, he can rule out using a gold mill that was built in Willow to crack gold out of ore but never used for that purpose. If anything, ore might be trucked north of Fairbanks for milling. That’s what Contango ORE is doing at Manh Choh: trucking ore about 250 miles from the Tok area to the established infrastructure at Fort Knox mine,” Alaska Business Monthly writes about the so-called Lucky Shot project.

“If the Lucky Shot vein pencils out for gold mining, Contango ORE would have to share Hatcher Pass with everyone else. Van Nieuwenhuyse endorses a mutually beneficial approach,” the magazine claims.

“We recognize that’s an area that a lot of people visit; it’s a beautiful area, so it’s very understandable why,” he is quoted as saying. “I think the key thing is always safety, so if there is more traffic on the road, then we would advocate for improving the road.”

He isn’t advocating that Contango ORE or its millionaire leaders pay to improve the road.

“I find it funny that roads that were built by miners and become useful for other purposes, then turn around and say, ‘Well, you can’t mine on ‘em,” Van Nieuwenhuyse tells Alaska Business Monthly.

What I find funny are mining promoters who use public resources, make a lot of money, and never hesitate to put their sense of entitlement on full display.