ROCK CREEK MINE

ANNUAL MEETINGS and Reports

Rock Creek Mine & Big Hurrah Project 2011 Annual Report  (posted 4/9/12)

• Appendix A: Water Chemistry Graphs 
• Appendix B: Recycle Water Pond Flow Data
• Appendix C: Injection Rate Tables
• Appendix D: Sump Flow Data
• Appendix E: Water Treatment Plant Flow Data

Electronic Data

• Injection Well Data_2011.xlsx
• WaterChemistry_ContainedWater_2011.xlxs
• WaterChemistry_MonitoringWells_2011.xlxs
• WaterChemistry_SurfaceWater_2011.xlxs
• WaterChemistry_STPEffluent_2011.xlxs

Note:  You can request and receive these electronic data by contacting
Sharmon Stambaugh, DNR OPMP
(907) 269-0880 or sharmon.stambaugh@alaska.gov

Archive of Annual Meetings and Reports

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• Alaska Gold Company Mining Reclamation Bond February 2012
• Alaska Gold Company Mining Reclamation Bond August 2006
  
  
• State Agency Response to Comments on the Draft Reclamation Plan Approval (F20129578) for the Rock Creek Mine – February 3, 2012
  
  
• State Agency Response to Comments on 2006 Draft Authorizations - August 9, 2006
• Letters of Support
• Letters of Concern
  
  
• Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
• DNR Reclamation Plan Approval Extension letter dated December 15, 2011
• DNR Reclamation Plan Approval Extension letter dated August 10, 2010
• DNR Reclamation Plan Approval (issued 8/9/06)
• Request to Appeal DNR Reclamation Plan Approval (dated 8/29/06)
• DNR Letter granting Appeal Request and denying Stay (dated 9/1/06)
• DNR Review and Denial of Appeal Request (dated 10/5/06)
• DNR Title 41 Fish Habitat Permit (issued 8/9/06)
• DNR Temporary Water Use Permits for Rock Creek (4) (issued 8/9/06)
• DNR Temporary Water Use Permits for Big Hurrah (2) (issued 8/9/06)
• DNR Certificate of Approval to Construct a Dam (issued 9/8/06)
• DNR / ACMP Final Consistency Response (issued 7/31/06)
  
  
• Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
• DEC Waste Management Permit (2003-DB0051) (issued 8/9/06)
• DEC 401 Certificate of Reasonable Assurance (POA-2006-742-4) Amended (issued 8/18/06)
• Request for Informal Review and Stay of DEC Waste Management Permit 2004-DB0051, and Certificate of Reasonable Assurance (dated 8/24/06)
• DEC Informal Review Decision (dated 9/29/06)
• DEC Informal Review Decision Addendum  (dated 10/4/06)
• DEC Air Quality Control Minor Permit (AQ0978MSS02) (issued 7/23/07)
  (revises Permit No. AQ0978MSS01)
• DEC Air Quality Control Minor Permit (AQ0978MSS01) (issued 12/22/06)
• DEC Air Permit Comment Response (dated 12/22/06)
• DEC Air Permit Final Technical Analysis Report (dated 12/22/06)
• DEC Land Application Permit (2010-DB0011)  (issued 8/6/10)
• DEC Response to Comments Document for Permit 2010DB011
• DEC APDES Permit No. AK0053627  (issued 6/24/11)
• Permit Fact Sheet
• Response to Comments
• This permit authorizes discharge while the mine remains in temporary closure status.


• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District
• Permit Evaluation and Decision Document (issued 8/15/06)
• Dept of the Army Permit POA-2006-742-4, Rock Creek (issued 8/21/06)



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Corps suspends permit for Rock Creek Mine (12/07/06)
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – AlaskaDistrict News Release No. 06-016


Corps announces intent to reissue permit for Rock Creek Mine (02/27/07)
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District News Release No. 07-004


U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reissues permit for Rock Creek Mine (03/13/07)
• Dept of the Army Permit POA-2006-742-M, Rock Creek
• Permit Evaluation and Decision Document



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The Rock Creek Project is located on the Seward Peninsula along the west coast of Alaska.  There are two project components:  the Rock Creek Mine/Mill Complex located about 6 miles north of Nome in the Snake River watershed, and the Big Hurrah Mine located about 42 miles east of Nome in the Solomon River watershed.  Both are proposed to be developed as open pit gold mines by the project applicant, Alaska Gold Company (AGC), a wholly owned subsidiary of NovaGold Resources, Inc. 

The known gold resource at the Rock Creek Mine/Mill Complex lies within land owned approximately 66% by AGC, with the remainder within Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) lands.  At Big Hurrah site, the known gold resource lies within land owned 100% by AGC, and the surrounding lands are owned by Solomon Native Corporation.

The Rock Creek Mine/Mill Complex as planned includes an open pit mine, two non-acid-generating development rock stockpiles, a gold recovery plant, and a paste tailings storage facility.  Standard drilling and blasting techniques would be used to break the ore.  Ore milling rates would be about 2.75 million tons/year, while development rock stripping volumes would be in the range of 4.4 to 5.5 million tons/year.  Milling would include crushing, screening, gravity separation, flotation, and a cyanide leaching process.  The expected mine life is 4.5 years, with potential for additional discovery and expansion.  The project would employ up to 135 employees.

The Big Hurrah component consists of a smaller open pit gold mine, a non-acid-generating development rock stockpile, a temporary stockpile for acid-generating development rock that would later be backfilled into the pit, and an ore stockpile.  Ore would be trucked to the Rock Creek Mine/Mill Complex to be milled.  Ore would be mined at a 1,500 tons/day rate on a seasonal basis for a total of approximately 270,000 tons/year for 4 years.

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KEY PROJECT DOCUMENTS (from the Alaska Gold Company)

Documents submitted by Alaska Gold Company to the State of Alaska in support of project authorizations:

Rock Creek Project Plan of Operations

Volume 1: Project Description
Volume 2: Environmental Information Document (EID)


EID Appendices

• Archeological and Cultural Resources
• Cultural Resources at Rock Creek
• Cultural Resources at Big Hurrah
• Biological Resources
  • Rock Creek Wetlands
  • Big Hurrah Wetlands
  • Avian Survey
• Climate
  • Climate Data Technical Memo
  • Rock Creek Ambient Air Report 2004
  • PM10 Air Monitoring 2004-2005
• Geology-Geochemistry
  • Rock Creek Topsoil
  • Rock Creek Project Seismic Hazard Report
  • See also Plan of Operations Volume 6 and Volume 8
• Hydrology
  • Groundwater Databases
  • See also Plan of Operations Volume 5
• Rock Creek Mine Socio-Economics
• Visual Impacts

Volume 3: Waste Management Plans

• (Solid) Waste Management Plan
• Inert Waste Disposal (Landfill) Operations Plan
• Tailings Storage Facility Operations and Maintenance Manual
• Big Hurrah Development Rock Handling Plan
• Hazardous Materials Plan

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Archive of Applications, Draft Project Authorizations, and Public Process

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If you would like to find out more about the state’s permitting process for the Rock Creek Mine, please contact:

State of Alaska Large Mine Permitting Team
Sharmon M. Stambaugh
Large Mine Coordinator
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Office of Project Management and Permitting
550 West 7 th Avenue, Suite 920
Anchorage, AK 99501-3577
Phone: (907) 269-0880
Fax: (907) 269-8930
E-mail: sharmon.stambaugh@alaska.gov