• In June, Panther Minerals is expected to begin drilling for uranium near Elim, Alaska.
• Approximately 350 members of the Iñupiat ethnic group live there, subsisting on fishing and forest resources.
• The community is opposing the mining project, as it has done in the past.

There is an Iñupiat community in northwestern Alaska waging a fierce battle against uranium mining. Canadian mining company Panther Minerals has announced that it will begin exploring a uranium mine at the headwaters of the Tubuktulik river, near the village of Elim, starting this summer. The village is home to approximately 350 Iñupiat people, whose economy is based almost exclusively on fishing in the river. The new mining plan risks compromising the ecosystem, and there are also fears that uranium operations could cause cancer among the population, as has happened in the past with other indigenous communities such as the Navajo.

The Iñupiat of Elim, backed by other indigenous communities across Alaska, have been waging a months-long battle against Panther Minerals — to block the project and prevent similar ones from getting off the ground, following new mining concessions in the region granted by US president Donald Trump.

The exploitation of uranium

In early 2024, Canadian mining company Panther Minerals began moving to obtain exploration permits for several uranium deposits in northwestern Alaska. The sites in question are Boulder Creek and Fireweed, at the headwaters of the Tubuktulik river, which flows for several dozen kilometres before reaching the village of Elim. Mining companies had already come forward for these sites in the past — in 2000 and again in 2008 — but nothing came of it, as uranium prices had since collapsed and local community resistance had proved an obstacle.

Last summer, Panther Minerals obtained the permits to proceed, with work scheduled to begin in June. The first wells will be drilled, uranium samples will be collected, and decisions will then be made about how to proceed with the extraction process. This situation has alarmed the local community, made up of approximately 350 people belonging to the Iñupiat ethnic group. Their way of life is shaped by nature and the seasons, and is built on hunting, river fishing and gathering forest resources. The uranium extraction project, approved without any involvement of the local community, risks wiping all of this out.

The Iñupiat fear that the work could contaminate river water and that uranium processing could have harmful effects on the population. Canadian company Panther Minerals has dismissed these concerns, but the local community has pointed to a cautionary tale from the past: that of the Navajo indigenous people of the United States, among whom cancer rates surged after uranium mining operations began near their settlements in the 1950s.

The Iñupiat battle

The Iñupiat have launched a major mobilisation to oppose uranium mining operations. They have appealed against the permits granted to the Canadian company and have called for meaningful consultation, but US authorities have so far refused to listen. Full-scale protests then got underway, winning the support of dozens of other indigenous communities across Alaska, and directed not only at Panther Minerals but also at Graphite One, which has begun moving to extract graphite in the Elim area.

Richard S ✓ @Richard01173388

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@Richard01173388 'Protect our future': Alaskan Indigenous town fights 'destructive' uranium mine project

Panther Minerals set to start exploring Elim's land as Trump seeks to expand drilling and resource extraction in Alaska
Aisha Kehoe Down in Elim

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After a series of small local demonstrations, in March the indigenous communities decided to make their voices heard at one of Alaska's most prominent events. The Iditarod, a dog sled race that passes right by Elim, became the backdrop for banners and chants that reverberated across the United States. "Protect our future", "Keep uranium in the ground", read the placards held by dozens of people, including local community members and academics.

The green light given to the uranium extraction plan in 2024 could set a precedent for similar concessions. In one of the many executive orders signed on the day of his return to the White House, Donald Trump called for new mineral resource exploration policies in Alaska and revoked a series of protections introduced by the Biden administration, including limits on logging. This could give a boost to drilling operations such as those planned near the village of Elim. But the local community has no intention of giving up. In the past, mining companies that came to explore the area were eventually driven away. The goal is to repeat those experiences.