``There is this impression in some parts of Alaska that our environmental standards, compliance and enforcement efforts are not as strong as theirs,'' Bennett said in an interview. ``My purpose in going up there ... is to talk to folks about how our process actually works. How do you get a mine permitted in B.C.''

The minister will be accompanied on his trip by Chad Day, the Tahltan Central Council president, along with senior government environment and energy officials.

Bennett said concerns about B.C.'s plans to expand its mining interests in the province's north have heightened since last summer's massive tailings pond failure at the Mount Polley mine in the central Interior