The department is responsible for state mineral-resource and mining matters, must coordinate and consult with other state agencies on affected actions, and must keep certain assay information confidential for two years before public inspection.
Chapter 05. Administration and Services. Article 1. Department of Natural Resources. Sec. 27.05.010. Department responsible for mineral resources. (a) The department has charge of all matters affecting exploration, development, and mining of the mineral resources of the state, the collection and dissemination of all official information relative to the mineral resources, and mines and mining projects of the state, and the administration of the laws with respect to all kinds of mining. (b) The department is the lead agency for all matters relating to the exploration, development, and management of mining, and, in its capacity as lead agency, shall coordinate all regulatory matters concerning mineral resource exploration, development, mining, and associated activities. Before a state agency takes action that may directly or indirectly affect the exploration, development, or management of mineral resources, the agency shall consult with and draw upon the mining expertise of the department. Sec. 27.05.020. Conflict of interest prohibited. In conducting the inquiries and investigations authorized by AS 27.05.010 27.05.070, no officer or employee of the department may have a personal or private interest in a mine or the products of a mine under investigation or accept employment from a private party for services in the examination of private mineral property. Nothing in this section prevents employment by the department, in a consulting capacity or in the investigation of special subjects, of an engineer or other expert whose principal professional practice is not employment by the department. Sec. 27.05.030. Cooperation with federal departments. The department shall cooperate with the heads of executive departments of the United States in making investigations and in disseminating information to stimulate mining, quarrying, and metallurgical industries in the state, and in providing for the inspection of mines and protection of lives of miners. Sec. 27.05.040. Negotiations with federal departments and other agencies. The department may negotiate with the federal departments and other agencies for arrangements that it considers expedient for cooperation with those departments and agencies in formulating and carrying out policies and projects designed to encourage and assist in the development of the mineral resources of the state. Sec. 27.05.050. Survey of resources and mining operations and dissemination of information. The department shall conduct a continuing survey of the mineral resources and mining operations of the state and shall disseminate information regarding them to assist prospectors and miners, safeguard the lives and health of miners, protect investors in the mining industry, and foster and promote the best interests of the mining, mineral, and related industries of the state. Sec. 27.05.060. Annual report. The department shall make an annual report to the governor on all essential matters with regard to mining in the state. The department shall notify the legislature that the report is available. Sec. 27.05.070. Assistance to miners and prospectors. The department shall, so far as practicable, throughout the state assist miners and prospectors by (1) giving information as to mineral deposits gained from the minerals survey of the state; (2) securing and examining samples and applying tests upon the ground, or in the office or laboratory, and advising as to the nature of a mineral and as to the best methods of analysis, sampling, assay, and test; (3) reporting to the governor the location of roads, trails, and bridges as in its opinion are reasonably necessary for the development of mineral resources; (4) giving advice, information, and directions as may be of assistance to the miners and prospectors of the state. Article 2. Assays. Sec. 27.05.080. Public assay offices. The department shall, for the purpose of aiding bona fide miners and prospectors and stimulating mineral discoveries, establish a public assay office. The department may adopt regulations and establish procedures considered necessary and expedient to carry out this section and AS 27.05.090 . Sec. 27.05.090. Appointment of assayers; information and procedure. The department shall appoint for each public assay office a competent person to make assays and analyses of Alaskan ores and minerals. No charge shall be imposed for an assay or analysis. When an assay and analysis are made, the person requesting them shall state upon forms furnished by the department: (1) the person's permanent residence address; (2) a description, as precise as possible, of the location where the sample was taken; and (3) other information that the department by regulation may require that may be beneficial to evaluation of the state's mineral resources. Information received and assay results shall be kept confidential for a period of two years. At the end of that period the information and results shall be open to public inspection and may be published by the department. Secs. 27.05.100 27.05.130. Unlawful acts; penalties. [Repealed, § 21 ch 166 SLA 1978.] Secs. 27.05.140 27.05.170. Prospectors' subsidies. [Repealed, § 2 ch 51 SLA 1963.] Secs. 27.05.180 27.05.210. State equipment for prospectors. [Repealed, § 16 ch 93 SLA 1984.] Sec. 27.05.250. Reclamation. [Repealed, § 3 ch 92 SLA 1990. For current law, see AS 27.19 .]