Environment

Last year’s winter had a promising start in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta: temperatures were closer to the normal cold that residents expect. That changed in February and March. 

If constructed, the proposed Donlin gold mine will need a huge power source. The company wants to construct a 315-mile natural gas pipeline from Beluga Point on Cook Inlet to the mine site near Crooked Creek on the Kuskokwim River. To cross roughly 207 miles of state land, the pipeline needs a lease from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. On Monday, department officials traveled to Bethel to gather public comment on the project.

NovaGold is one of two international mining companies that have partnered to develop the proposed Donlin gold mine, located in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. In its latest quarterly report, NovaGold says that it recently sold a big mining project, which will free up some cash to spend on Donlin. 

More than 130 Calista shareholders signed a letter sent to the Calista Native Corporation protesting the proposed Donlin gold mine, and they are all women. Calista owns the subsurface rights to the mine, and is the regional corporation for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.