The Donlin Gold Project is a large proposed open pit gold mine about 270 miles west of Anchorage which was started in 2012.
Kurt Parkan with the Project said currently they are two and a half years into working through the permits needed and the Environmental Impact Statement is being worked on by the Army Corp of Engineers and partners.
Parkan: “And we expect to have a draft out for public comment sometime around the end of 2015.”
If approved, the project is slated to take between 3 or 4 years to construct which will require 3,000 employees.
After that the mining operation to remove approximately 34 million ounces of gold suspected to be in the region will operate for around 27 years and employ 900 people.
Along with the mine, a proposed 14 inch steel natural gas underground pipeline will be constructed to the project.
Parkan: “Hooking into the Beluga Field and running to the project to provide power for the project site. The capacity of the pipeline is about double of what we’re going to need to provide natural gas to operate our facility. The pipe itself will be what’s called an open access pipeline which means any entity which has an interest in bringing natural gas through the pipeline themselves for their use is able to do that.”
Critics worry about what will happen when operations are done and Donlin has closed up shop but Parkan said they plan to restore the area.