Donlin Gold issued the following statement in response to Earthjustice’s baseless lawsuit, which seeks to undo years of engagement with project stakeholders (April 6, 2023).
Donlin Gold’s stakeholders fully believe that the lawsuit filed by Earthjustice is meritless, and are confident the record will once again fully support the regulating agencies’ decisions.
Donlin Gold is being developed in partnership and at the invitation of two Alaska Native Corporations: Calista Corporation (Calista), which owns the minerals and a portion of the surface rights, and The Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC), which owns most of the project’s surface rights. Calista and TKC initiated development of the Project to unlock important socioeconomic benefits for their shareholders.
“The federal permitting process spanned more than six years, over two presidential administrations, and included hundreds of stakeholders meetings and public comment opportunities that garnered thousands of comments,” stated Donlin Gold External Affairs Manager, Kristina Woolston. “Those comments were taken into consideration before the final joint record of decision (JROD) and the federal environmental impact statement (FEIS) were issued in 2018. Stakeholder engagement has continued since then, led by Calista Corporation and TKC as part of our collective commitment to open and accurate dialogue with all stakeholders.”
Donlin Gold will review each point claimed by Earthjustice in the lawsuit. In the meantime, the Donlin Gold team and the owners continue to advance remaining state permitting, as well as drilling and technical work, subject to Donlin Gold LLC Board approval.
The Project is being advanced in accordance with the principles enshrined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, which provides a mechanism for environmentally sound and socially responsible development of Alaska natural resources for the benefit of its Alaska Native stakeholders.
The State of Alaska has steadfastly stood behind state-granted permits. Donlin Gold, with strong support from Barrick Gold and NOVAGOLD, as well as TKC and Calista, will vigorously defend the JROD and all the duly issued permits in Federal Court, in coordination with the United States Department of Justice, which represents the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management.
