Protecting Mother Kuskokwin & Stopping the Donlin Gold Mine Project

American Indian Airwaves

Over the past several months under the Biden Administration, several fossil fuel mega projects or “carbon bombs” have been approved with a mega gold mining project currently under proposal and in opposition by numerous Alaska Native organizations, communities, and nations. For instance, on March 13th, 2023, the U.S. Interior Department approved the ConocoPhillips $8 billion Willow oil and gas drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope, which will produce a peak of 180,000 barrels of oil per day, roughly 40 percent of all current daily production in Alaska. In addition, on April 13th, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy approved the $39 billion Alaska Gasline Development Corp’s (AGDC) project to export Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to countries the United States does not have free trade agreements with, mainly in Asia. Backers of the project expect it to be operational by 2030 if it receives the required permits. Alaska LNG includes a liquefaction facility on the Kenai peninsula in southern Alaska and the proposed 807-mile pipeline will transport gas in northern Alaska across the state. While the Biden Administration contends these mega projects are a matter of economic and national security, the proposed Donlin gold mine project is along the salmon-bearing tributary of the Kuskokwim River in Alaska and threatens several Alaska Native families, communities, and nations traditional ways of life. The company Donlin Gold, LLC is owned by Barrick Gold and NovaGold corporations and it has proposed an open pit mine, measuring up to 2.2 miles long and 1 mile wide in YK Delta. Donlin Gold’s proposed open mine is projected to have a 27-year life span that will result in mining about 1.5 million ounces of gold per year, destroying land and life throughout the region, storing over 3 billion tons of waste rock mine tailings in an artificial pond behind a large earthen dam (460 feet high and 5,800 feet long). Our guest for the hour discusses how the recent mega projects will harm Mother Earth, the proposed Donlin Gold Mine Project and its implications for life, the extractive industries in Alaska, and the overall complexities of the Alaska Native Settlement Claims Act of 1971 that shape a very complex and dynamic terrain for Alaska Native peoples, communities, and nations, and more. • Guest: o Anaan’arar Sophie Swope is Cup’ik, a community organizer at Native Movement (https://www.nativemovement.org), and the director for the Mother Kuskokwim Tribal Coalition (https://www.facebook.com/MotherKuskokwim/), an organization dedicated to fighting against the Donlin Gold Mine Project and protecting the traditional territories of Alaska Native peoples throughout Materilluk (Bethel, AK) region. No Donlin Gold (https://nodonlingold.org/). Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Tunein, YouTube, and more. American Indian Airwaves is an all-volunteer collective and Native American public affairs program that broadcast weekly on KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles, CA, Thursdays, from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.