Feds Begin To Look At Effects Of A Possible Large Spill At Proposed Alaska Mine
By Yereth Rosen
(Alaska Beacon) -- Nearly six years after it approved permits for the Donlin Gold mine, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is launching a new study of a possible large waste spill at the site.
The agency is working on a supplement to its environmental impact statement to comply with a federal court order that found the original environmental study, completed in 2018, to be deficient. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled in June 2025 that the Corps had erred by neglecting to analyze the impacts of a large spill resulting from a possible failure of the 471-foot dam planned to contain the mine’s tailings, the waste rock produced in the mining process.
The lawsuit that resulted in Gleason’s ruling was filed by six tribal governments in the Kuskokwim River area near the mine site.
The Corps, which announced the supplemental environmental impact statement launch in a Jan. 26 notice, said the new study will evaluate only the development alternative that it approved in August of 2018. At that time, both the Corps and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management granted some of the key permits that are needed for the giant gold mine to be built.
The Corps is accepting public comments on the early phase of the study until Feb. 24. Another public comment period will open when a draft of the supplemental environmental impact statement is released this fall. A final decision based on the new analysis is expected by May of 2027, the Corps said.
The Corps did not specify the size of a hypothetical large spill that will be analyzed in the process. Gleason did not specify an acceptable size for a hypothetical large spill either. She simply concluded that the spill size analyzed in 2018, which was only 0.5% of the total volume of tailings in the dam, was inadequate.
The Donlin mine would exploit one of the world’s largest undeveloped known open-pit gold deposits, totaling about 34 million ounces. It would produce roughly 1 million ounces a year for about three decades, according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. It would mine from an open pit extending 2.2 miles in length.
The project sponsor is Donlin Gold, a partnership of Novagold Resources Inc. Inc. and Paulson Advisers LLC.
In a statement, Donlin Gold said it will support the Corps as the agency works through the new analysis.
“We remain committed to sharing transparent, accurate information in supporting the supplemental EIS process,” Todd Dahlman, Donlin Gold’s general manager, said in the statement. “We prioritize safe and responsible development and will continue working closely with our partners and neighbors during this supplemental review, guided by a commitment to protecting salmon, clean water, and subsistence traditions.”
The regional Native corporation that owns the mineral rights and some surface lands at the mine project site issued a statement saying it welcomes the new review, but it also defended the tailing dam design as safe and touted potential economic benefits of the development.
Calista Corporation, which is a partner in the project, issued a statement that said it “supports responsible development as a way to generate socio-economic benefits in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region, while protecting the land, water and subsistence resources that are central to our way of life in the Region.”
Representatives of the tribal plaintiffs said they, too, welcome the new analysis, but that they continue to worry about what the mine will do to the region.
“We’re glad the federal agencies will be studying the impacts of a larger tailings spill on our region because this has not yet been studied adequately,” Chevak Native Village First Chief Gabriel Nanok said in a statement issued by Earthjustice, the environmental law firm representing the plaintiffs. “Most tribes in our region are deeply concerned about the risks posed to our communities, and our lands and waters, by this mine. Our ways of life for people now and future generations are at stake.”
An Earthjustice attorney said the new study may also turn out to be inadequate. For example, a new feasibility study that Donlin Gold has launched could change the project’s scope and make the supplemental environmental impact statement outdated, said the attorney, Hannah Foster.
“While we are glad the agencies are following the court’s direction to study a larger spill at Donlin, we have concerns based on new information that has come to light since the original study was issued,” Foster said in the statement.
Donlin Gold has said a final decision on whether to proceed with development is expected in 2027 and will be informed by that feasibility study.
There are signs that the Donlin mine is important to the Trump administration.
In October, it was added to a list of projects that the administration has designated for fast-track permitting.
That listing followed the exit of Barrick Gold, one of the world’s largest mining companies, from the project. Barrick’s shares were acquired by billionaire John Paulson, a Florida hedge fund manager and an ally of President Donald Trump.
Paulson also invested in Trilogy Metals, which is promoting construction of the controversial Ambler Road project that would give access to mining sites in the remote Ambler area of northwestern Alaska. Paulson’s investment in Trilogy was followed by the Trump administration’s decision to also invest in the company.