Representatives of Kinross Fort Knox Gold Mine will be in Delta Junction today to talk about the Manh Choh Project, a new gold mine the company is planning to develop near Tetlin. It’s the second of three meetings the company is conducting in communities that are likely to be affected by the project.
Kinross Gold spokesperson Anna Atchison says tonight’s meeting, like the one last night in Tok, will be the first meetings the company’s been able to conduct live and in-person since the pandemic began.
“And it’s very exciting to be able to do that!” she said in an interview Monday.
Exciting, because it’ll be face-to-face, instead of online or over-the-phone, like the past few meetings. Atchison says in-person get-togethers enable better communication, whether it’s explaining economic impacts like the 400 jobs that Kinross says will be created. Or reading the level of concern over, for example, the volume of trucking needed to haul ore to the mill near Fox and back, which the company estimates will be three to four trucks per hour over the five years of the mine’s operation.
“Y’know, (since) October 1st and forward, we’ve been trying to meet people and listen and provide information via Zoom and phone, which – is what it is,” she said.
So Kinross has scheduled three community meetings and barbecues, all of which will be held outside. The first was Monday in Tok at the Memorial Park; today’s will be 4-6 p.m. at Delta Junction City Park, and the third will be 5-7 p.m. Wednesday night in Fox, at Lions Club Pavilion.
“It’s just another opportunity for those who perhaps were not too excited about Zoom meetings or phone calls, to be able to come out in person,” she said.
Atchison says during the meetings, she and other Kinross representatives will provide an update on the company’s plans to develop an open-pit gold mine near Tetlin, located just south of Tok and about 200 miles south of Kinross’ mill near Fox.
“So we’ve got a series of different posters up that show different phases and timeline of the project,” she said. “It also has a list of all the different types of jobs that will be available.”
Atchison says if all goes well, Kinross hopes to begin hauling ore by truck from the mine in Tetlin to the company’s mill near Fox in 2024.
