The Donlin WorkforceImportant in the Past and the FuturePart 2: Training Opportunities by Bill Bieber, Operations Manager

P r O j e c T U P d aT ea P r I l 2 0 0 9

Workforce development has always been, and will continue to be, a cornerstone to the success of the donlin creek project. If you have ever seen a major construction project you have seen many different types of jobs going on at one time – everything from carpentry to iron work to electrical and concrete work to heavy equipment, design, management and finance, not to mention camp cleaning and catering, trucking, bus driving and maintenance. We recognize that although there is some level of experience in the region regarding these trades, the number of experienced employees needed to construct a project the size of donlin creek probably isn’t already present in the Yukon Kuskokwim or even the entire state of alaska.

a significant training effort needs to take place, and it will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will be to prepare for a major construction effort involving an estimated 2,000 employees, peaking at around 2,500. What is the likelihood of alaska being able to produce 2,500 experienced construction employees? It is not too likely; therefore, training needs to take place.

Several training locations have been identified by donlin within the region. The first location considered is the Yuut elitnaurviat People’s learning center in Bethel. This facility is currently being considered as the main training hub for the project. Training sites in aniak and Saint Mary’s are also being considered in addition to the Bethel site.

We will utilize all available resources in the region including the department of labor, the calista employee database, the association of Village council Presidents (aVcP) database and the donlin creek llc database to recruit regional candidates for the construction phase.

Once construction reaches the midpoint of completion, the training centers will then be converted to provide training for the operational phase of the project, utilizing workers who are already working on the

Bill Bieber, Operations Manager

continued on page 3

Community Meetings: Bill Bieber, Mary Nelson and I continued to travel in the region last month to share our proposed mine project description with more Yukon Kuskokwim (YK) communities and learn more about their concerns. Since our last newsletter, we met with village residents from emmonak, alakanuk, Nunam Iqua, Toksook Bay, Newtok, Tununak, Nightmute, Hooper Bay, Paimiut, Scammon Bay and chevak.

With a region as vast as the YK, this has been quite an effort. But we committed to reaching out to all of the tribes in the region after learning of aVcP resolutions in 2006 and 2008 requesting that we work with the tribes on our project proposal before the formal permitting process begins. Our meetings are voluntary and not required by law. The formal National environmental Policy act (NePa) process that will be undertaken by the state and federal agencies will include both scoping and formal tribal consultation. Our meetings with the tribes are not in any way associated with the NePa scoping or government-to-government processes that the agencies will undertake. Our only hope in this effort has been to respond to residents’ requests for more information about our proposal and to learn about any concerns before we submit our permit applications so that we can address them in our final project proposal.

Informational Open Houses: In response to some YK region residents’ requests for more detailed information on the proposed project, we have produced two subregional area Informational Project Open Houses: one in aniak on March 12 and one in Bethel on april 8. Our goal at each of these meetings is to create an opportunity for the specialized scientists and engineers who have been developing the donlin mine project proposal to speak face-to-face with the people who live in the region. Here, detailed questions can be responded to directly in as much detail as residents request. and yet again, our design team is learning even more as they listen to more of the traditional knowledge that residents share with them.

Meeting with Kuskokwim Fisheries Working Group: One of the biggest concerns that we hear in the region is the concept that the 1-3 barge tows per day could effect fish runs, commercial and subsistence fishing activity, or erosion rates. each barge tow would consist of four barges pushed by a tug. On March 20 we met with the Kuskokwim Fisheries Working Group, co-chaired by Bev Hoffman, Greg rozitska and lamont albertson, to discuss how we might work with them to learn more about both concerns and practices along the river before we flesh out the details of our plan. Our hope is to work with this group of knowledgeable, local fishers to minimize any potential impacts and make the barge traffic work for everyone who lives and works on the Kuskokwim river.

as always, if you have questions or concerns, please call us directly at any time at (888) 225-7590.

Sincerely,

doug NicholsonPresident and General Manager(907) 273-0200

with Doug NicholsonFace to Face

doug Nicholson listens to Sandra Kozevnikoff from russian Mission.

construction phase. This will be accomplished by first retraining regional construction employees as portions of the construction are completed.

Throughout the construction of donlin creek, project employees will be hired to complete work slated for completion such as pre-stripping which includes heavy equipment operating, maintenance, and other related phases of completion.

The training centers will be utilized by donlin, if permitted, until the mine is fully staffed and ongoing training can be completed on site.

Q&A: Donlin Creek LLC Addresses Questions from the Region

Upriver residents operated the large equipment simulator as part of the job Training information station at the aniak Open House.

A: The consistency of tailings at donlin would be like a thick, silty mud that would have no potential for hydroelctric power generation. It is true that wet tailings resembling silt would be left over from the milling process and an engineered dam would be built to contain the tailings, but this dam is not capable of hydroelectric power production unfortunately. It would have a synthetic liner similar to those used for landfills to minimize any seepage. a system would be in place to collect any seepage and pump it back to the tailings facility.

Groundwater and surface water below the facility would be monitored on an ongoing basis. The ultimate size of the tailings storage facility would be about 1.75 miles long by 1 mile wide.

after the close of mining and milling activities, excess water would be pumped from the tailings storage facility to the pit lake. The area would then be covered with rock, gravel, and soil, and seeded with indigenous grasses.

Q:

Tailings pond at a gold mine

Tailings storage facility - cross section

(Donlin Workforce, continued from cover)

*NePa: National environmental Policy act will require an environmental Impact Statement (eIS).

Timel ine

Formal Publiccomment Opportunities

Donlin is here

This March, donlin creek llc (dcllc) held its first Informational Project Open House at the aniak community center in response to upriver residents’ requests for more in-depth detail on all aspects of the prospective donlin creek gold mine. While the recent community Meetings were planned as presentations from dcllc management with time for general questions and discussion, the Open House allowed us to address questions from participants in a one-on-one format.

at the Open House, dcllc made available a core team of experts involved in the development of our proposed safe and responsible mine. Our goal was to provide the people in the region direct access to our team and allow enough time to go into as much detail on specific questions as residents requested. dcllc flew in residents from the 10 outlying, upriver villages to aniak for the Open House: lower Kalskag, Upper Kalskag, chuathbaluk, Napaimiut, crooked creek, Georgetown, red devil, Sleetmute and Stony river.

Participants had the chance to talk with project scientists and engineers on the following subjects:

“I was very glad when dcllc in our last meeting said they’d be coming back with experts in each of these fields,” Nick Kameroff, an aniak Open House attendee said. “We are able to pick [donlin’s] brains to see how the process will be phased and implemented to be an operating gold mine. all of the stations help me realize how they’re working to protect the environment.”

Orutsararmuit Native council and dcllc also hosted an Open House in Bethel on Wednesday, april 8 at the Yupiit Piciryarait cultural center from noon to 7 p.m. all residents from the Yukon Kuskokwim region were invited to attend.

andrew Gusty, another aniak Open House participant, says, “What we’re doing today is the right thing for the village … It’s good to watch the process. The way they plan it, it will be good – good for local people.”

Open House in Aniak on March 12By Mary Sattler Nelson

• Seismic planning

• Water quality management

• acid rock drainage (ard)

• Transportation issues

• Hazardous materials

• cyanide management

• Mercury management

• Tailings dam design

• reclamation planning

• reclamation guarantees

• employment and training

enric Fernandez from the donlin team greets Nick Kameroff of aniak.

Village Outreach

FromL-R:AnnieLouWilliams•MaryNelsonexplainstheOpenHouseformat.•ProjectForesteranswersMaryEffemka'squestionsabout the reclamation plan.

FromL-R:UpriverresidentsWassillieMacarandAndrewGustypointoutcriticalhabitattoDCLLC’sEnricFernandezwhotakesnotes.•AndrewFredericksfromSleetmutehadmanyquestionsforDonlinteammembers.•SophieSakarinterpretsduringtheAniakOpenHouse.

Donlin Creek LLC – Listening to the Region, then Returning to Address your Concerns in our Proposal

Donlin CreekProjectHoly cross

Mountain Village

russian Mission

Kasigluk

Kongiganak

atmautluak Bethel

Tuntutuliak

Nightmute

Tununak

Quinhagak

Marshall

Nunapitchuk

chefornak

eek

Toksook Bay

Oscarville

Kipnuk

Newtok

Kwigillingok

NapakiakNapaskiak

Saint Mary’sPitkas Point

Pilot Station

Scammon Bay

Hooper Baychevak

Paimiut

Shagelukanvik

GraylingNunam Iqua

alakanuk

Emmonak

Stony riverSleetmute

crooked creek

Aniak

Tuluksak

Georgetown

akiak

red devil

Kwethluk

akiachak

Upper Kalskag

lower Kalskag

chuathbaluk

Napaimute

Mekoryuk

OphirTelida

Nikolai

McGrathFlat

Takotna

Goodnews Bay

centralized Meeting Village locations

Outlying Villages Traveled to central Meeting Point

Villages Where Weather Prohibited Safe Travel on day of Meeting

Villages with Future Meeting dates

lime Village

Platinum

PO Box 241954Anchorage, AK 99524-1954

POSTAL CUSTOMER

Permitting and Underground MiningMINING VOcaBUlarY WOrdS:

Understanding the Yup’ik and Athabaskan Cultures When the Donlin project first got under way, leaders in the region provided information about the history of the Yukon Kuskokwim region to Donlin’s management team. In this series, we are publishing some of these insights for our readers who are not residents of the region.

Words of Wisdom: Yup’ik elders pass on Qanruyutet (words of wisdom) to the younger generation through their oral traditions, giving youth the tools they need to be successful in life.

as donlin creek llc visits villages in the region, we are listening to residents and encouraging them to share Qanruyutet with us. We believe that success will only be achieved with the support of the people residing in the Yukon Kuskokwim, and we are actively listening to you in order to hear and address your concerns.

Baseline Studies: In order to ensure that any future development does not compromise the integrity of the proposed project area, a strong environmental program has included a combination of various initial baseline studies since 1996.

Some of these studies include surface water quality monitoring, groundwater quality monitoring, mercury baseline studies and geochemistry. environmental baseline data from these studies are used to design a mine that meets environmental standards, protects natural resources and monitors the environment to ensure it is protected.

Prst First ClassUS Postage

PaIdAnchorage, AK Permit No. 630

ECRWSS