Southwest Alaska Tribes Fight the World’s Largest Pure Gold Mine

The proposed Donlin Gold Mine in Southwest Alaska, described as the world's largest pure gold mine, faces significant opposition from Indigenous Tribes and legal challenges from Earthjustice. The project involves a massive open-pit mine and a 316-mile gas pipeline, which opponents argue threatens critical subsistence resources, including salmon and rainbow smelt, and risks tailings dam failure. Legal actions are currently targeting state permits and a federal environmental impact statement to potentially vacate authorizations and force a project redesign.

• The Donlin Gold Mine is a massive open-pit project that would include a 316-mile buried pipeline for gas from Cook Inlet, a mine complex, and infrastructure such as a new port, roads, and airstrips. The mine site would cover approximately 14 square miles, featuring an open pit 1,800 feet deep, a tailings dam, and a gas and diesel-fired power plant.
• The project's environmental impact includes the disturbance or filling of more than 4.7 square miles of wetlands and over 40 miles of rivers and streams. Local Tribes are specifically concerned about human health impacts, the risk of tailings dam failure, and the loss of rainbow smelt in the Kuskokwim River.
• The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is home to up to 58 federally recognized Tribes, predominantly Indigenous Yupik, Cup’ik, and Athabascan people. These communities rely on subsistence harvests, with salmon accounting for more than half of the annual harvest, and the Kuskokwim River Basin represents 11% of Alaska's land area, serving as a site for carbon storage.
• Opposition to the mine is organized through formal resolutions from over a dozen Tribes, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, the Association of Village Council Presidents, and the National Congress of American Indians. Additionally, the Alaska Native-led coalition Mother Kuskokwim was formed in July 2022 to support the fight against the project.
• Legal challenges are ongoing in both state and federal courts. A federal lawsuit filed on April 5, 2023, targets the final environmental impact statement and federal permits; if successful, it could vacate authorizations and require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to implement protections for the Kuskokwim River rainbow smelt.

APA

Earthjustice (2023). Southwest Alaska Tribes Fight the World’s Largest Pure Gold Mine. https://earthjustice.org/brief/2023/southwest-alaska-tribes-fight-the-worlds-largest-pure-gold-mine

Chicago

Earthjustice. Southwest Alaska Tribes Fight the World’s Largest Pure Gold Mine. 2023. https://earthjustice.org/brief/2023/southwest-alaska-tribes-fight-the-worlds-largest-pure-gold-mine.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Southwest Alaska Tribes Fight the World’s Largest Pure Gold Mine |date=6 April 2023 |url=https://earthjustice.org/brief/2023/southwest-alaska-tribes-fight-the-worlds-largest-pure-gold-mine |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2023southwest, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Southwest Alaska Tribes Fight the World’s Largest Pure Gold Mine}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://earthjustice.org/brief/2023/southwest-alaska-tribes-fight-the-worlds-largest-pure-gold-mine}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }