A reconfiguration of the Skagway waterfront is in the design stage.
The municipality of Skagway is poised to take ownership of its waterfront next March, when the 55-year lease to White Pass is set to expire. The Ore Peninsula is of particular interest at the moment, as facilities are in need of repair, and plans are being developed to increase its capacity. A marine services platform is in the design stage, which would allow for the continuation of ore shipments from Skagway.
The ore shipments currently come from the Minto mine, in Canada’s Yukon Territory, 150 miles North West of Whitehorse.
This operation currently ships out around forty thousand ton of ore concentrates such as copper.
According to Skagway’s Port Director Cody Jennings, the municipality of Skagway is expecting to attract ore shipments from other future Canadian mining operations.
” Right now Minto is the only exporter through the port of Skagway, if additional mines come to fruition, this would be the preferred port, this is what we are hearing”
The Yukon government is funding the design. Currently a thirty percent design has been completed, and a 60 percent design will soon follow.
“We are looking at redeveloping that dock for a 500′ cruise float, there will be this marine services platform, we are also looking at moving those fuel headers, a roll on roll off facility…”
The marine services platform is a concrete dock for industrial use, designed with specifications from Yukon Government for ore export and can service barges. Ore shipments would be interrupted during the rebuilding of the dock, which is expected to take about a year.
Municipal staff continue to meet with Yukon Government representatives regarding funding for constructing the Marine Services Platform on the Ore Dock. This platform would allow containerized ore to be exported from Skagway using a rotainer system.
You can find the 30% design plan at this link
