Dan Graham, General Manager of Donlin Gold added, “The expanded 2021 drill program was a success be- cause of the incredible work by the Donlin Gold team, Calista and TKC, and our collective dedication to the highest standards of safety, social re- sponsibility, and environmental stew- ardship. We are grateful that, even while expanding the 2021 drill pro- gram mid-summer, COVID-19 cases at site were minimal and there were no lost-time incidents. Once built, the Donlin Gold project is expected to pro- vide significant benefits for the Y-K region and the State of Alaska for gen- erations to come.” Donlin Gold worked with its Alas- ka Native partners, Calista and TKC, as well as other key representatives of Y-K communities, to support health and safety, environmental manage- ment, training and education, and cul- tural initiatives in the Y-K region. Some of these initiatives included: i) the sponsorship of the Calricaraq (“to practice good health”) team from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corpora - tion to travel to area villages to support residents and families who have lost
loved ones to suicide — a heightened challenge in remote villages, especial- ly during the COVID-19 pandemic; ii) sponsoring and participating in the Lower Kuskokwim School District’s annual College and Career fair, held virtually this year due to Covid, with 42 vendors and 100 students in atten- dance; iii) partnering with KSKO Radio to purchase and distribute hand-held radios for five middle Kuskokwim vil - lages, expanding the reach of public radio to communities where internet connectivity is lacking; and iv) col- laborating with 26 villages throughout the Y-K region in the fourth annual “In It For The Long Haul” backhaul project last summer to remove 180,000 pounds of hazardous and electronic waste — the most waste ever removed in a single season since the project in- ception. The 2022 budget for Donlin Gold LLC (on a 100% basis) is set at $60 million, split equally by the two owners. It is the largest project bud- get in more than a decade and is de- signed to update geologic modelling and interpretation work for an up- dated resource model and includes
engineering activities for use in an updated project feasibility study. Ap- proximately 34,000 meters of in-pit, and below-pit drilling is planned un- der the current scope, as well as sup- port for fieldwork and permitting for the Alaska Dam Safety Certifications, environmental studies, and external affairs efforts. The Donlin Gold project is lo- cated in Alaska, the second largest gold-producing state in the U.S. With approximately 39 million ounces of gold grading 2.24 grams per tonne in the measured and indicated min- eral resource categories (100% basis), Donlin Gold hosts one of the larg- est and highest-grade undeveloped open-pit gold endowments in the world. The planned pits in which the existing resources are sited occupy only three kilometers of an eight-ki- lometer mineralized belt, which itself is located on less than five percent of Donlin Gold’s land position. Current activities at Donlin Gold are focused on the drill program, optimization efforts, community outreach, and ad - vancing the remaining State permit- ting actions.
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Spring 2022
The Alaska Miner
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