The Donlin Gold Project is a large, undeveloped, refractory gold deposit located 19 km north of the Kuskokwim River and about 450 kilometers northwest of Anchorage. The deposit is situated on Native lands owned by The Kuskokwim Corporation (surface estate) and Calista Corporation (subsurface estate).

In December 2007, Barrick and NovaGold formed the Donlin Gold LLC, jointly owned on a 50/50 basis, which will oversee development of the project. Calista can exercise their option to participate at up to 15% interest in the project by making pro-rata share payments of the project's capital costs.

Work in 2008 has focused on completing a series of optimization studies for power, logistics, ore processing and production levels, and will integrate all data into a final feasibility study anticipated in the first quarter of 2009.

In June, 2008, NovaGold announced that The Donlin Gold LLC has identified a preferred design for the Donlin Gold project that anticipates a throughput of approximately 50,000 tonnes per day using onsite diesel and wind cogeneration for power. Using this design, Donlin Gold would operate for 25 to 30 years and could produce up to 1.5 million ounces of gold annually.

Once the final feasibility study is completed, it is anticipated that the permitting process will be initiated in cooperation with Alaskan Native Corporations, local communities and Alaska State and US Federal regulators.

The submittal of development applications may require development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The NEPA process would be a multi-year federal effort that mandates multiple opportunities for formal public comment and agency review. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Office of Project Management and Permitting, is responsible for coordinating the state permitting process.

Although there are no formal public meetings planned by state or federal agencies prior to submittal of the permit applications, state agency staff are in the process of meeting with communities, local government officials, and non-governmental organizations to discuss the project.

In conjunction with the ongoing exploration and feasibility study activities, the operators are collecting baseline environmental data for the project area. State and federal agencies are providing guidance to them for this data collection effort.

On July 26th, 2012 Donlin Gold LLC, submitted a Section 404 permit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The submittal of the 404 permit trigged the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process.  For further information on the 404 and NEPA process please visit http://www.donlingoldeis.com/.

Mining Section

Large Mines