Calista Corporation has named a new Vice President for Lands and Natural Resource Development with a long history of working for Donlin Gold, the company that wants to build one of the biggest gold mines in the world. The rights to that prospect are held by Calista.
Tisha Kuhns worked for more than a decade as a geologist for Donlin Gold, and carried those skills over into a job with the Calista Corporation in 2016. Kuhns grew up in Bethel and is a Calista shareholder.
She has replaced Rosie Barr, who came to Calista from the NANA Regional Corporation, which owned the land and mineral rights for the Red Dog zinc mine north of Kotzebue. Calista has used the Red Dog mine and its jobs as an example of what the Donlin mine could bring to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Kuhns has stepped into this role as Calista faces more pressure from shareholders about the proposed Donlin Gold mine. More than 300 female shareholders signed a letter expressing their concerns and demanding a vote on the mine. Two resolutions have been passed supporting a vote as well. But Calista has held fast to its commitment to the Donlin Gold project, circulating newspaper opinion pieces recently extolling the benefits that the mine could bring to the Y-K Delta.
In a statement, Calista praised Kuhns’ dedication toward developing natural resources:
“The entire Calista team is looking to Kuhns to fulfill a key mandate of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and sustainably develop our Region’s natural resources,” the statement read.
In a separate statement, Kuhns said that she is “excited to continue demonstrating how sustainable development and subsistence can support one another.”