Mineral Resources

Throughout much of the 20th century, mining had a significant effect on economic and social well-being in the Calista Region. More than 1 million ounces of placer gold, 600,000 ounces of platinum and 40,000 flasks of mercury were produced, and mining provided hundreds of jobs. During their peak production periods, the Goodnews Bay Platinum Mine and the Red Devil Mercury Mine were leading North American mineral producers. Placer gold mining supported several settlements, including Iditarod, Marshall and Nyac. Today, placer gold production continues on a small scale and is an important source of revenue for Calista.

Calista owns the subsurface estate at the Donlin Gold project, operated by Donlin Gold LLC, which hosts one of the largest known undeveloped gold deposits in the world.  Now in the permitting and predevelopment stage, if this project goes to development, year-round employment will be available to Shareholders and residents.  In addition to providing local jobs and economic growth, the project will also benefit all Alaska Native Corporation Shareholders through ANCSA 7(i) and 7(j) resource revenue sharing.

Donlin Gold Project

Donlin Gold is the site operator for the Donlin Creek area project. Donlin Gold is co-owned by NOVAGOLD Resources and Barrick Gold Corporation. Click here to learn more about Donlin Gold.

Sand, Rock and Gravel

Construction material production, including sand, gravel and quarry rock, has provided a steady revenue stream and is of growing importance.

Oil and Gas

Limited exploration for oil and natural gas resources in the Calista Region has focused in three areas – the Bethel Basin, the Yukon Delta/Norton Sound and the Holitna Basin. With the exception of Norton Sound, none of these areas received adequate subsurface exploration efforts; however, all of the geologic information collected to date suggests a low probability for the occurrence of conventional, economically recoverable oil resources. Natural gas accumulations may exist but will require extensive exploration to locate them. Remoteness and lack of substantial markets make the region less attractive for natural gas to major exploration companies. Lying between the Kuskokwim Mountains and the Alaska Range, the Holitna Basin is geologically similar to other prospective Tertiary basins in Alaska and may contain recoverable natural gas resources.