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Donlin Gold mine spill risk grows under new federal review
The court-ordered draft supplemental environmental impact statement assesses a scenario that could release about 27% of the mine’s tailings capacity and leave downstream metal contamination for more than a century, with fish abundance in the Kuskokwim River lower for generations.
A court-ordered draft supplemental environmental impact statement released by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management is examining a larger tailings failure risk for the proposed Donlin Gold mine in Alaska, warning that a spill could cause deaths and bury a nearby village, according to Mining.com.
The review focuses on a failure scenario that could release about 27% of the mine’s tailings capacity, a bigger case than a previous study that had examined only a 0.5% spill, after a court found a larger spill was reasonably foreseeable.
The draft SEIS says a large spill could bury Crooked Creek in tailings and likely render the village uninhabitable, while metal contamination downstream could persist for more than a century.
It also warns that fish abundance in the Kuskokwim River could remain lower for generations and that edible plants and other onshore resources could be harmed, with Organized Village of Kwethluk President Mary Nicolai citing concerns for the river used for customary and traditional practices.
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