Name of the Project
Donlin gold project.

Location
Alaska, in the US.

Client
Donlin Gold, which is equally owned by Canada-based miners Barrick Gold Corp and NovaGold Resources, while the land is owned by the Calista Corporation  – a community organisation comprising the Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC) and Alaska Native corporation for the Yukon–Kuskokwim region – which owns the mineral rights.

Project Description
The Donlin gold (formerly Donlin Creek) project, as currently envisioned, will be one of only a handful of gold mines worldwide that produce more than one-million ounces of gold a year.

The 109 km2 Donlin Creek property, which is part of the Kuskokwim gold belt, is one of the largest undeveloped gold resources in the world, containing estimated proven and probable reserves of about 504.8-million ounces of gold at a grade of 2.09 g/t, and measured and indicated resources of 541.3-million ounces, as well as inferred resources of 92.2-million ounces of gold.

The project is expected to be capable of producing 1.5-million ounces of gold a year in the first five years of operation, and an average of 1.1-million ounces of gold a year over its projected 27-year mine life.

The project is also being updated to include power generation using natural gas delivered to the site through a 500 km pipeline from the Cook Inlet to the mine site.

Potential Job Creation
Up to 3 000 jobs will be created during construction and up to 1 400 jobs during operation.

Value
Initial capital costs for the project in April 2009 were estimated at $4.5-billion. This has now been revised upwards to $6.7-billion.

Duration
Production is expected to begin in late 2017 or early 2018.

Latest Development
The Donlin gold project has jumped a major hurdle with the US Army Corp of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issuing a record of decision (RoD) and awarding key federal permits for the project.

The Corps and BLM issued a joint RoD four months after the final environmental-impact statement (EIS) was issued, marking the completion of the multiyear federal environmental review process.

The Corps has also issued a combined Clean Water Act Section 404 and Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10 permit, while the BLM has issued the offer to lease for the right-of-way for those portions of the natural gas pipeline that will cross federal lands.

Receipt of the RoD and federal permits represents an important milestone in the development of the gold. The companies have said that they will now concentrate on concluding the optimisation studies and value enhancing options designed to reduce initial capital outlays and improve project economics.

Further details on the path forward are expected to be provided in the fourth quarter.

However, a group representing Yukon–Kuskokwim region leaders has expressed its outrage over the RoD, stating that the social- and environmental-impacts of the mine will be devastating to the subsistence region and traditional Yup’ik way of life.

Yukon–Kuskokwim tribes asked Alaska governor Bill Walker to allow for an extra year to project permitting so that tribes could “meaningfully participate” in project review, but feels that the state and federal agencies have now expedited the project at the cost of affected tribes and residents.

The group has stated that the final EIS details the impacts of the proposed mine, including increased levels of mercury, atmospherically deposited and in the Yukon and Kuskokwim river, damage to salmon habitat, disruption of smelt spawning and increased erosion of the banks of the Kuskokwim river.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
SRK Consulting (technical report) and AMEC Americas (lead feasibility study consultant).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Barrick Gold investor relations manager Joyce Davies, tel +1 416 307 7354, fax +1 416 861 0727 or email jdavies@barrick.com.
NovaGold Donlin Creek, tel +1 888 225 7590, fax +1 907 273 0201 or email info@donlincreek.com.
SRK Consulting, tel +1 907 677 3520, fax +1 907 677 3620 or email anchorage@srk.com.