The Donlin Creek 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).
The current (September 2008) gold resource at Donlin Creek is included in the following table:
| Donlin Creek - Total Measured and Indicated Resources (at $650/oz)
|
| Tons (000's) |
Grade (ounces/ton) |
Contained Ounces (000's) |
| 409,738 |
0.072 |
29,336 |
In December 2007, Barrick and NovaGold formed the Donlin Creek 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 Creek LLC has identified a preferred design for the Donlin Creek project that anticipates a throughput of approximately 50,000 tonnes per day using onsite diesel and wind cogeneration for power. Using this design, Donlin Creek 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.
If you would like to find out more about the state’s permitting process for the Donlin Creek Project, please contact:
State of Alaska Large Mine Permitting Team
Jack DiMarchi, Project Manager
ADNR / Office of Project Management & Permitting
3700 Airport Way, Fairbanks, AK 99709
Telephone: (907) 374-3708
Fax: (907) 451-2703
Email: john.dimarchi@alaska.gov
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