The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Donlin team exceeds expectations during challenging year North of 60 Mining News – January 22, 2021
Roughly 80% of the workers at Donlin Gold during 2020 were Alaska Natives from communities across the state, including Evan Polty, Jr., a Calista shareholder from Russian Mission.
While 103.9-meter drill intercepts averaging 6.1 grams per metric ton gold continues to demonstrate the robustness of mineralization at Donlin Gold, completing a 23,400-meter drill program during 2020 without a single COVID-19 case or lost time injury is an even more rewarding achievement for the 39-million-ounce gold mine project in western Alaska.
"Well done to the Donlin team for delivering a safe and COVID-free year," said Barrick Gold Corp. President and CEO Mark Bristow.
Barrick and Novagold Resources Inc. are equal owners of Donlin Gold LLC, a joint venture advancing the evaluation and future development of a mine at Donlin.
Already hosting 504.81 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 2.09 g/t (33.9 million oz) gold, Donlin Gold has plenty of ore to produce more than 1 million oz of gold annually over a 25-year mine life detailed in a 2011 feasibility study.
The 85-hole drill program completed at Donlin last year, the largest such program in 12 years, focused on validating and increasing the confidence in recent geologic modeling concepts for the world-class gold deposit.
Rewarding results
The Donlin Gold partners said the latest assay results, the third batch from the 2020 drilling, continue to exceed modeled grade-thickness (gold grades times width of zone), with higher grades observed over narrower intervals, particularly in sedimentary rocks.
Highlights from the third batch of assay results include:
• 23.8 meters averaging 6.5 g/t gold from a depth of 218.3 meters in hole DC20-1895, including 7.1 meters averaging 12.7 g/t gold.
• 6.8 meters averaging 52.1 g/t gold from a depth of 99.4 meters in hole DC20-1903.
• 37.3 meters averaging 7 g/t gold from a depth of 249.7 meters in hole DC20-1912, including 3.3 meters averaging 24.5 g/t gold.
• 39.2 meters averaging 4.3 g/t gold from a depth of 148.9 meters in hole DC20-1930, including 5.6 meters averaging 12.5 g/t gold.
• 103.9 meters averaging 6.1 g/t gold, from a depth of 390.2 meters in hole DC20-1937, including 22.2 meters averaging 12.5 g/t gold.
"In an era characterized by declining gold grades, it is truly rewarding to continue to be able to report drill results that support the potential of Donlin Gold, already an impressive asset in terms of size and grade for a large-scale open-pit gold project," said Novagold Resources President and CEO Greg Lang. "Indeed, the latest assay results continue to point to additional high-grade gold intersections that have only served to add confidence in recent geologic modeling concepts, while confirming multiple high-grade extensions in both the intrusive (igneous) and sedimentary rocks."
These results follow on earlier impressive results from the 2020 program:
• 45.9 meters averaging 5 g/t gold from a depth of 35.4 meters in hole DC20-1866.
• 41.9 meters averaging 11.6 g/t gold from 30.4 meters in hole DC20-1871.
• 7.7 meters averaging 18.4 g/t gold from 60.9 meters in hole DC20-1873.
• 4.2 meters averaging 80.6 g/t gold from 123.5 meters in hole DC20-1877.
• 19.8 meters averaging 11.3 g/t gold from 48.9 meters in hole DC20-1878.
• 6.9 meters averaging 43.1 g/t gold from 178.6 meters in hole DC20-1888.
"Assay results received to date are encouraging and support the drill program to better understand the Donlin Gold orebody and de-risk the project development. The ongoing modelling work and planned 2021 follow-up drilling program could further enhance the project parameters," said Bristow.
Assay results from 18 additional holes drilled during the 2020 drill program are expected to be reported in the coming weeks.
Donlin Gold plans to carry out additional confirmation and extension drilling this year focused on mineralization continuity, structural control, resource model upgrades, and geotechnical data collection. The partners will finalize program specifics once all assay results have been received and integrated into an interim model update.
Zero COVID cases
One of the most impressive things about the 2020 season at Donlin Gold is workers exceeded the originally planned program in terms of meters drilled without any cases of COVID-19. Considering that 80% of the workers at Donlin are Alaska Natives from villages and towns across the state, this was important to everybody involved with the program.
After meeting with Alaska Native leaders in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, Donlin Gold implemented rigorous COVID-19 measures that included testing, chartered flights, social distancing, and increased health screenings before reopening the exploration camp in May.
"I would like to extend my gratitude to the Donlin Gold and contractor teams as well as our Alaska Native Corporation Partners, Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC) for their reinforcement of our unwavering commitment to the highest standards of safety, social responsibility and environmental stewardship, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19," said Lang.
Donlin Gold continues to work with its Alaska Native partners Calista Corp. and The Kuskokwim Corporation (TKC), as well as other key representatives of the communities in the region, in response to needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and other areas of need.
These initiatives include:
• COVID-19 – Established a partnership with Bethel Community Services Foundation to support the Y-K Resiliency Fund and Covenant House Alaska for homeless and at-risk youth services in Bethel. Supplies were provided to 766 families and meals served to 3,700 participants in the Elders and Youth program.
• Environmental – Worked with TKC, state of Alaska, and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in an initiative to upgrade and improve health & safety standards of water and sewer services in Middle Kuskokwim area communities.
• Training and Education – Hosted two virtual Alaska Resource Education camps for Y-K and Doyon students, and Donlin Gold Scholarships were awarded to students selected by Calista and TKC to improve access to education in the region. Calista has awarded a total of 225 scholarships, with 158 students attending schools in Alaska and the balance having gone to schools out of state, with more than 10 villages in the Y-K region represented.
• Cultural Initiatives – Strengthened sponsorship of the First Alaskans Institute at the Elders & Youth 2020 statewide conference, the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention, and provided distanced activities and programs for youth and elders.
As part of Donlin Gold's ongoing community engagement efforts, friendship agreements were approved and signed by five communities – Crooked Creek, Sleetmute, Nikolai, Akiak and Napaskiak – in the project's region during 2020. These agreements with Donlin Gold expand upon the long-term relationships already established with these communities and address specific community needs such as water, sewer, and landfill projects; an ice road that connects remote villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region; salmon studies; and suicide prevention programs.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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