Native council announces opposition to Alaska gold mine
Posted August 12, 2019 12:08 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BETHEL, Alaska — An Alaska Native council has announced its opposition to a proposed gold mine project.
KYUK-AM reported Friday that the Quinhagak Native Tribal Council has issued a resolution opposing the Donlin Gold mine project.
Council President Darren Cleveland says they are concerned residents will leave Quinhagak for work at the mine site 280 miles (451 kilometres) northwest of Anchorage in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Cleveland says many younger men may leave and take entire families while women and elders would need to hunt and fish for the community.
He also says a mining accident could contaminate the main food source for the village near a Kuskokwim River tributary, even though Quinhagak is almost 200 miles (322 kilometres) away.
Donlin Gold did not immediately respond to the station’s request for comment.
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Information from: KYUK-AM, http://www.kyuk.org
The Associated Press
