PHOTO ESSAY: Liberia's largest gold miner and community tensions

JIKANDOR, Liberia (AP) — The announcement posted in the village has a cheerful tone: “BMMC is pleased to inform you that there will be a blast” at a mining pit nearby.

Residents told visiting journalists with The Associated Press and The Gecko Project that such explosions have cracked or crumbled homes during the operations of Liberia’s largest gold miner, the Bea Mountain Mining Corporation.

The journalists’ investigation into the company found multiple spills of cyanide and other toxic chemicals by its largest mine into waterways, incidents documented by Liberia’s environmental regulators in reports that were removed from public view.

But concerns go beyond the spills. The mining operation also has cleared 2,200 hectares (5,436 acres) of rain forest, an area six times the size of New York’s Central Park. Such forests are home to endangered species, including pygmy hippos and Western chimpanzees.

Half of Liberia’s forested area is covered by proposed or active mining licenses for Bea Mountain or other firms, according to a report last year by the nonprofit Forest Trends.

In villages near the largest Bea Mountain mine, other grievances emerged. Some residents asserted that the mining company had failed to deliver on promised training to help villagers obtain senior management positions in its operations.

Residents recalled the anger that spilled over in 2024 in protests against the mining operations that they said police ended with tear gas and deadly force. One woman showed what she said was a scar on her scalp from a tear gas canister.

“The blood was coming down and I fell unconscious,” Satta Surtual said. Police denied using excessive force.

These are the tensions that often underlay mining operations across the African continent, where experts say regulation and oversight can be weak.

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.

An aerial view shows a forest where Bea Mountain Mining Corporation is conducting exploration near Gbargbo Village, Liberia, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Boima G. Kamara, who has lived his entire life in Jikando, is preparing to relocate because mining pollution has poisoned the river his village depends on, July 8, 2025, in Jikando, Liberia. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Residents express their disappointment with the failure of Bea Mountain Mining Corporation to deliver promises such as schools, hospitals and employment, July 11, 2025, in Gbargbo, Liberia. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Flomo Zaza, whose farm was invaded by displaced elephants due to deforestation, stands in his backyard garden, which he relies on to feed his family in Zaza village, Liberia, July 8, 2025. "They ate everything," Zaza said. "We don't have any place to go. We are going to die if it continues." (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Children play in the village of Jikando, Liberia, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Residents are preparing to relocate from their village after the river they depend on was poisoned by mining waste in Jikando, Liberia, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Hawa Manubah, a mother of 13, leaves the ruins of her former home, which she says was damaged by concussions from mining explosives, in Gold Camp, Liberia. "We were in the house when we heard the blasting sound-boom, and everyone ran away," she said on July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Satta Surtual shows a scar from an injury sustained during a protest in Gogioma, Liberia, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

People walk on through Kinjor, Liberia, on July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Marie Pearl stands by her house, which has developed cracks that she blames on blasting at a nearby mine site in Gold Camp, Liberia, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

A sign gives directions to the New Liberty Gold Mine, operated by Bea Mountain Mining Corporation, in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

An aerial view shows Bea Mountain's N'dablama mine site and Gold Camp Community, Liberia, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Mustapha Pabai, the town chief, walks beside a polluted river, in Jikando, Liberia, July 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

An aerial view shows mining waste flowing into a large pond at an inland location east of Grand Cape Mount, not far from the Mano River in Liberia, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan acknowledges that sharing a name and party affiliation with the incumbent Republican gives him “an instant megaphone" in the crowded primary race. But Sullivan said his campaign isn't a sham or something Democrats put him up to doing.

He said friends for years have jokingly referred to him as senator and asked if he has ever thought about running. He said he’s been considering it for more than a decade.

“This is my choice,” Sullivan, who lives in the small fishing community of Petersburg, said in a telephone interview Monday.

Last week, Sen. Dan Sullivan accused the challenger Sullivan of “trying to trick” voters to help his main rival in the race, Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. The senator suggested the other Sullivan's entrance in the August primary was part of a coordinated effort by Democrats and Peltola's campaign to confuse voters, an accusation they deny. He threatened litigation to get to the bottom of it.

The issue is of national concern to Republicans because they are seeking to hold onto their majority in the U.S. Senate in what is expected to be a difficult midterm election year for the party in power. Sullivan, the challenger, dismissed claims that his candidacy is a merely a ruse to undermine the senator's reelection chances.

He said he has had no contact with Peltola's campaign — “zero, none, zilch” — and said “no” when asked if anyone from the state Democratic Party or any national Democratic operatives had contacted him to run.

A Peltola spokesperson, Harry Child, has said the campaign “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.” The executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party, Jenny-Marie Stryker, said her organization “is in no way affiliated with either Dan Sullivan.” A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson, Monica Robinson, replied “no” when asked if the group had been involved in urging the challenger Sullivan to run.

Sullivan called sharing a name with the Alaska's incumbent U.S. senator “a matter of fate” and said he had done nothing wrong.

“I have every right to run for whatever office I'm qualified for, and I’m qualified for this office,” the challenger said, adding: “I think I’m doing what most Americans would think would be a patriotic thing to do when you’re unsatisfied with the status quo. You stand up and say, I’m going to fight for things I believe that are going to make my community better.”

Ballots in prior years in Alaska have not identified the incumbent, but the Alaska Division of Elections’ current candidate list online does. It also distinguishes the candidates using a middle initial — Dan S. Sullivan for the senator and Dan J. Sullivan for the challenger.

Alaska has open primaries in which the top four vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the ranked choice general election in November. Sen. Sullivan's campaign worries having two Dan Sullivans on the ballot could confuse voters.

Sen. Sullivan's campaign, in a statement Monday, said, “Alaskans deserve a fair and honest election — not political games meant to manipulate the ballot and benefit Democrats.”

The challenger said he was registered with the limited government-leaning Alaskan Independence Party for decades, until the party's dissolution late last year. Election officials had said voters registered with the party could change their affiliation but if they did not, they'd be shown as “undeclared.” Sullivan said he then was listed as undeclared until filing to run for office, when he registered as Republican.

He said he was motivated in part by his late father, whom he described as a “true, compassionate, conservative Republican.” He said if he had to label himself, it would be “a pragmatic Republican centrist” — similar to Alaska's senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski, but “with touches of a Rand Paul Republican in there.”

He said he grew up in the Chicago area but was drawn to Alaska and put down roots nearly 50 years ago in Petersburg. The fishing community of about 3,400 in southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest is known as “Little Norway” for its many residents with Scandinavian roots. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service before changing careers and becoming a teacher. He has since retired.

Like most communities in Alaska, Petersburg isn't connected to the state's main road system and is accessible only by air or water. Juneau, the nearest city, is about 45 minutes away by plane.

Petersburg sits on Mitkof Island, which is distinguished by mountains, thick stands of forest and boggy areas called muskeg. Sea lions hauled up on buoys and humpback whales and orcas are common sights off its shores.

Sullivan, who will turn 69 this weekend, passed on an interview request last Friday, he said, because the king salmon were running and he wanted to fish.

As far as his run for office, the challenger said he plans to do some fundraising and hopes to campaign in the state's larger cities, including Anchorage and Juneau, but he so far has no firm plans to do so and is working on the details.

He finds the current dustup over his Senate run — and the incumbent's reaction — a bit surprising.

“I guess my thought would be, ‘Dude, why don’t you just run your campaign?’ If you’ve got a strong record, run on your record. People will love you for it and you’ll be swept back into office,” he said Monday. “Why would he be concerned that a guy out of Petersburg is this huge threat?”

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, heads to a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)