Lost River 2 Airport

Economic reasons and project abandonment. The airport was built to serve the Lost River Mine, a large-scale tin and fluorite exploration project. In the mid-1970s, the project was deemed economically unviable due to falling mineral prices and high operational costs in the remote Arctic environment. When the Lost River Mining Corporation ceased operations and abandoned the mine, the airport was no longer needed and was abandoned along with the rest of the site. The subsequent designation of the mine as an EPA Superfund site due to severe acid rock drainage and heavy metal contamination further ensured its permanent closure.

The airport is permanently closed and abandoned. Satellite imagery clearly shows the remnants of a single gravel runway, but it is completely unmaintained, partially overgrown, and unusable for any aviation purposes. The entire area, including the airport, is part of the Lost River Mine EPA Superfund site. The former mine buildings are in ruins, and the landscape is heavily contaminated with mining waste. The site is a ghost town, devoid of any population or economic activity. Current use is limited to long-term environmental monitoring and remediation activities managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to contain pollution from the abandoned mine tailings.

Lost River 2 Airport was a private, single-runway airstrip constructed in the early 1970s with the sole purpose of supporting the intensive exploration and development phase of the Lost River Mine on Alaska's remote Seward Peninsula. Its significance lies in its role as a critical logistical link to one of Alaska's most ambitious mining projects of that era. The airstrip handled frequent flights of bush planes (such as the de Havilland Beaver/Otter and Cessna aircraft) transporting personnel (geologists, engineers, miners), essential supplies, food, and heavy equipment to the isolated site. It operated in conjunction with the slightly larger, state-owned Lost River 1 Airport (PALR / LSR) located a short distance away. This specific airstrip (US-11079) was situated immediately adjacent to the main mine camp and processing mill, facilitating direct access for workers and high-priority cargo.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening the Lost River 2 Airport. A reopening is considered virtually impossible for several key reasons:
1. **No Economic Driver:** The mine it served is permanently closed and will not be redeveloped.
2. **Extreme Remoteness:** The location is isolated with no surrounding population or industry to justify an airport.
3. **Environmental Contamination:** Its location within a designated EPA Superfund site presents significant legal, environmental, and health-related barriers to any new development.
4. **Prohibitive Cost:** The cost to remediate the land, rebuild the runway, and establish modern infrastructure would be astronomical with no possibility of a return on investment.