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THE JOURNAL - AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION BY THE ALASKA MINERS ASSOCIATION
AUGUST 2026 | WWW.ALASKAMINERS.ORG
Donlin Gold mine could turn a growing demand for gas into a statewide benefit BY TIM BRADNER
The owners are Calista Corp., the Alaska Native regional corporation for Southwest Alaska that owns the mineral rights, and The Kuskokwim Corp., a consortium of local village corporations that owns surface lands at the mine. Local ownership guarantees that the benefits of this big project will be spread widely, particularly in the Yukon-Kus- kokwim region, now one of the more undeveloped parts of the state. Calista will receive royalties from mining and share those with other Native corporations under the terms of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the federal law that returned lands to Native ownership. The employment aspect of Donlin Gold is important to Southwest Alaska. The mining company estimates 750 people will be needed in operations, with a $120 million annual payroll. This is a surface mine, with ore and rock being moved by heavy trucks and other equipment. The skills needed — drivers, mechanics and equipment operators — are largely already held by local people in the region who have worked in construction. Donlin Gold has a 40-plus-year history. Geologists working for Calista Corp. in the 1970s made the discovery of gold at Donlin Creek. They were helping the corporation make its land selections under the Native claims act. But discovering the gold wasn’t enough. Calista had to market it to mining companies willing to spend money on further exploration.
It took several years and a lot of perseverance, but in the mid-1990s, Calista finally wound up with Placer Dome, a medium-sized company that agreed to do further work. Several years of seasonal drilling followed. Even this became an economic stimulus to the region because local people were hired to run the drill rigs. Exploration continued. The size of the gold resource expanded, but the economics were uncertain because of the remote location and constantly changing gold prices. There were changes in mining company partners, too. Placer had to pull back but allowed a small “junior” mining company, NOVAGOLD, to invest in more drilling in return for a share of the project. NOVAGOLD did invest, found more gold and earned its share. Meanwhile, Placer was purchased by Barrick Gold, a major gold mining company. Barrick and NOVAGOLD, now partners, continued with exploration and confirmed 39 million ounces of gold, one of the largest known undeveloped gold deposits in the world. Ownership then flipped again. Citing changed corporate priorities, Barrick sold its share to NOVAGOLD, its partner, and Paulson Advisers, a major shareholder of NOVA- GOLD and an experienced mineral investment company. NOVAGOLD, now the project operator, continued work and is now in final engineering that could lead, after four decades, to a final decision to build the mine.
T he Donlin Gold mine west of Anchorage, in the mid-Kuskokwim River region north of Bethel, has big implications for our state. Among other things, it will make a major contribution to energy security for Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska. The project is nearing completion of its feasibility study and final engineering. A decision to build the mine could come early next year. The construction cost is being updated and is expected to be in the range of $10 billion. Here’s how the energy security part works: The plan for Donlin Gold is to power the mine with natural gas delivered through a 316-mile pipeline from Enstar Natural Gas Co.’s Beluga Pipeline near Beluga, north of Anchorage, to the mine site near Crooked Creek, on the Kuskokwim River. The mine developers say about 11 billion cubic feet of gas will be needed yearly. One could worry about how this will further strain gas supplies from Cook Inlet, where existing gas fields are being depleted, but here’s a different take on this:
Southcentral Alaska’s natural gas needs will be met one way or another, either by gas through a pipeline from the North Slope or by imported liquefied natural gas, or LNG. If the proposed Alaska LNG project, which includes the pipeline, moves ahead, Donlin Gold’s steady, year-round demand for gas will strengthen in-state demand and help the economics of Alaska LNG’s plan for phase one, which is only the North Slope pipeline. Utilities in Interi- or and Southcentral Alaska would initially be customers for the pipeline, but their demand is highly seasonal. Donlin Gold will be a steady, year-round customer. But if the North Slope pipeline is not built and South- central Alaska has to import LNG, Donlin Gold is equally important. That’s because its year-round demand will help pay for the LNG import facilities that are needed. This would reduce the cost burden on utilities and gas and electric ratepayers in the region. There’s a lot to like about Donlin Gold, starting with the fact that it is a privately held, Alaskan-owned project.
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