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What really impressed me about Donlin was their integrity; their willingness to be truthful
and honest about everything that they’re about. They’re interested in the welfare of the
environment and the people.
Danny Ausdahl, Jr. gets his boat ready for a trip to the sawmill near Napaimute, where firewood is stacked for drying. In addition to serving as heavy equipment operator, part-time maintenance worker, and bus driver for the Kuspuk School District, Danny owns Tabor Tours with his wife. He also works part-time at Ausdahl Mercantile, the family grocery store and hardware in Upper Kalskag, where Danny was born and raised.
happens they stop the job immediately and take care of it and they learn from anything that has happened. Health and safety – they always had everyone fill out these field level risk assessment cards. You had to really think about what your job entails and then what kind of risks you might possibly encounter, and if you do encounter those risks, what can you do to prevent them. What they did, it’s really the mission statement: Everyone going home safe and healthy every day.
I have no idea what permitting processes Donlin and Barrick and NOVAGOLD went through to start the mine, but it’s a lot. I made checklists from some of the permits, environmental-wise, just to make sure we are doing our job in accordance to the state and federal guidelines, and just learning how to read them was another thing in itself.
This is a real-world problem. Mines have to comply with environmental regulations, and seeing that we are in compliance, it felt great to know that, even though I was just an intern, my job was making a difference.
The way we made a road in or a drill pad, we didn’t just push everything aside and throw it over the edge. There was an art to it, a way you needed to do it: put the land back the way it was before we broke it.
Watching people that you train – when they see they can actually do it on their own and they come back
to you with this really big smile, that’s priceless. You helped them get there because somebody else helped you get there. That’s the best part, because you made another friend. It wasn’t just a regular friend, it was
a true friend. Because you never know where you’re going to be in life down the line.
NG 41
VOICES
Danny Ausdahl, Jr.
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Andrea Gusty
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Danica Mike
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Ellie Wright
We’re the landowners, and so we want to make sure that long after this mine operates and closes that our land is there forever, and our shareholders will be there forever, too. So it is important to us, through our partnership with the mining company and Calista and our duty to our shareholders, to make sure that that land is in pristine condition. Just like we found it.
We had a meeting in Chuathbaluk. We talked to Kalskag. We’re going to be in Lower Kalskag. We’ve been to Sleetmute. We’ve been to every one of our communities to bring this message of partnership and environmental stewardship. We know that we have
to do the best possible job that we can to ensure that this project is not only one that will make money for our Corporations, but also one that will be the most protective of our land and our people’s way of life.
Safety at Donlin is paramount. The people come first. Even with all the jobs to do, they want people to be safe; to perform under safe conditions. If anything