The latest numbers show promise for a proposed major gold mine at Livengood. The Canadian company International Tower Hill is in the early stages of studying the open pit mine, but a Preliminary Economic Assessment was issued late last month. Project Manager Karl Hanneman says the document contains numbers that bode well for the Livengood mine.
Hanneman says it’s estimated that 16 million ounces of gold could be recovered at a mine that would surpass Ft. Knox as Alaska’s largest surface gold mine. Operating costs are currently estimated at about $550 per ounce. That does not include debt service on construction investment, but with gold at $1,800 dollars an ounce, Hanneman calls the economics robust.
It’s estimated that Livengood would employ more than 1,000 during construction and about 400 during operation.  Hanneman lays out an upcoming four to five year time frame during which additional studies and permitting will determine whether the project moves ahead.
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Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
