Dave Waldo News Today

A new study predicts accidents will increase next year when big trucks begin hauling gold ore 240 miles from a mine in Tetlin to Kinross’s Fort Knox mill. That’s one of many findings reviewed Tuesday by a state Transportation Department committee analyzing the trucking route.

A committee that will help study Kinross Gold’s controversial plan to haul ore from a gold mine in Tetlin to the mill near Fairbanks met for the first time Monday. The diverse panel formed by the state Department of Transportation will represent the concerns and interests of communities and agencies along the 240-mile route.