Work to continue at Alaska mine site, despite vote

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The group promoting a massive gold-and-copper prospect near Alaska's Bristol Bay said Tuesday they plan to press on with their work, despite passage of a ballot initiative aimed at stopping the controversial Pebble Mine.

Unofficial results released by southwest Alaska's Lake and Peninsula Borough late Monday showed a vote of 280-246 in favor of a ban on large-scale resource extraction activity, including mining, that would destroy or degrade salmon habitat.

The measure was targeted at Pebble Mine, which opponents fear could fundamentally change the landscape and disrupt, if not destroy, a way of life in rural Alaska and threaten one of the world's premier …