Resource World Magazine

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 49 ALASKA Canadian junior companies. In the early 1990s, Robert Friedland's Fairbanks Gold acquired the claims and advanced what is now Kinross Gold's Fort Knox Mine. The late 1990s saw the staking rush in the Goodpaster district around the now oper- ating Pogo Mine. The early to mid-2000s saw the further exploration and resource delineation of several previously known deposits – notably Pebble, Donlin Creek, Livengood and Golden Summit. Each of these deposits, whilst previously known, have been substantially increased and advanced by the respective companies working on them and they now form the basis for Alaska's next generation of mines. Northern Dynasty's Pebble deposit, originally a Cominco (now Teck) discov- ery, dates to the late 1980s, but it was the work by Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. [NDM-TSX; NAK-NYSE American] in the early 2000s that resulted in the delineation of one of largest, undeveloped , copper-gold deposits in the world. At a 0.3% copper equivalent cut-off, the current resource estimate includes 6.5 billion tonnes in the measured and indicated categories con- taining 57 billion lb copper, 71 million oz gold, 3.4 billion lb molybdenum and 345 million oz silver; plus 4.5 billion tonnes in the inferred category, containing 25 billion lb copper, 36 million oz gold, 2.2 billion lb molybdenum and 170 million oz silver. For the last several years the project has been a focal point for environmen- tal opposition, but significant progress is now being made towards its development. In 2017, Pebble formally entered the fed- eral permitting process, and in 2018, the NEPA 404 Wetland permit application was received and Pebble EIS process began. What the company calls its "smaller footprint, no cyanide" mine design is advancing through the US Army Corps led NEPA 404 permitting process and the Corps have indicated publicly that they are targeting a Final EIS next year and with a Record of Decision by mid-2020. Another Alaskan giant advanc- ing through the permitting process is NovaGold's [NG-TSX, NYSE] and Barrick Gold's [ABX-TSX, GOLD-NYSE] joint ventured Donlin Gold Project. Located approximately 450 km west of Anchorage and on land owned by the Kuskokwim Corporation, which holds the surface rights, and Calista Corporation, which owns the subsurface rights, Donlin Gold anticipates producing 1.1 million ounces of gold annually over a 27-year mine life. Additional exploration potential still remains as the currently planned pits occupy only three km of an eight-km long mineralized belt. With approximately 39,000,000 ounces of gold in measured and indicated mineral resources grading 2.24 g/t inclusive of proven and probable reserves, Donlin is one of the world's larg- est undeveloped gold deposits. In April 2018, the USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers), final Environmental Impact Study was received and in 2019 the project received two key state permits: the final Waste Management Permit from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), and the final Reclamation and Closure Plan Approval from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR). Although major projects continue to move forward through the permitting pro- cess, exploration funding remains scarce for the junior explorers and this has led to opportunities for several Australian com- panies who are now active within Alaska, most notably Northern Star, South32, and PolarX. In September 2018, Northern Star Resources [NST-ASX] purchased the Pogo Mine from Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (85% interest and mine operator) and Sumitomo Corporation (15% inter- est) for US $260 million. Northern Star continues to have exploration success fol- lowing up on a 2017 discovery intercept of 4 metres grading 64.5 g/t gold located approximately 1 km from the existing mining area. Exploration drilling has now extended the strike distance over 2.3 km to a depth of 500 metres and remains open. This new area appears to be similar to the existing Pogo deposit, where, a US $30 mil- lion expansion plan was announced by Northern Star in September to increase the annual throughput capacity from 1 million tonnes to 1.3 million tonnes. Moving north and west to the Ambler District, Trilogy Metals [TMQ-TSX, NYSE] and South32 Limited [SHTLF-OTC; SOUHY-ASX, LSE, Jo'burg] continue to advance the Arctic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit and the nearby Bornite car- bonate replacement copper-cobalt deposit. Originally explored by Kennecott as The Donlin gold project exploration camp 450 km west of Anchorage, Alaska, a 50:50 joint venture between NovaGold Resources and Barrick Gold. Note the airstrip at the upper left. Photo courtesy NovaGold Resources Inc.

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