Alaska Tribes Invite Manhattan Gold Speculator to Meet the Real People of the Kuskokwim
Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition refutes Nova Gold’s assertion that the largest open-pit pure gold mine in the world is wanted by the people and Tribal Nations of the Kuskokwim
Bethel, AK - Nova Gold Resources, a Canadian company pursuing development of the proposed Donlin Gold Mine, recently hosted New York City hedge fund billionaire John Paulson to show him what he “won” after buying Barrick’s 40-percent stake in Donlin.
Donlin Gold is formally opposed by:
The following statement from Sophie Swope, Executive Director of Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition, can be quoted in-part or in-full.
It is clear that John Paulson’s visit was orchestrated to paint a rosy picture of the Donlin project by hand-selecting the sites he saw and people he met. His visit with Alaska Native Corporations—the owners of the land and mineral rights—kept him at arm’s length from the majority of our people and the leaders of our Tribal Governments whose lives and livelihoods would be affected by the mine.
This is no abstract concern. Any tailings dam failure, any road or waterway development that impedes the Kuskokwim River basin, any social harms from mining camps will have catastrophic effects that tear through every layer of our lives, permanently impacting salmon and subsistence food we depend on, the community cohesion that villages and towns are built on, and the way of life our people have carried for millennia.
Salmon is the real gold here. It has always been our food, our wealth, our survival. If digging up gold for jewelry and vaults means poisoning our waters and pushing salmon toward collapse, then what is left for the people of southwest Alaska?
That is why the Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition invites Paulson back to Alaska for a real tour. One that goes beyond boardrooms and curated site visits by Donlin Gold, The Kuskokwim Corporation, and Calista Corporation, and into the heart of our communities.
We would gladly host a town hall so he can hear directly from the people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. Then will he see there is no question that this mine does not, and cannot, have a social license here.