When drilling at the Donlin Creek gold exploration project ramped up to a blistering pace last summer, managers wondered how its uniquely local work force would hold up.
Donlin is one of the richest gold mine prospects in Alaska.
Barrick Gold is the new operator of a remote Southwest Alaska project that, as of last year, boasted a Native shareholder hire rate exceeding 90 percent.
By all accounts, the recruitment of Native villagers to Donlin -- instead of importing workers -- had been a success story in recent years.
But this year, Barrick, one of the world's biggest mining companies, moved quickly to double both the size of the drilling program and the size of the work force.
Corporate executives wondered whether they'd be able to preserve the track record they'd inherited this year when they bought Donlin's prior operator, Placer Dome. Placer had forged a mid-1990s partnership with Calista Corp., the Native corporation for the Yukon and Kuskokwim region.
Initially, Placer had faced high turnover among Native workers at Donlin -- exceeding 300 percent a year. But the company had consulted the area's villages to solve the problem, and last year's turnover at Donlin was about 10 percent.
This year, Barrick doubled the Donlin workforce to 214 employees. The company also set a goal of doubling exploration drilling, to 275,000 feet.
Both goals were daunting, said Bill Bieber, operations manager for Barrick.
But Barrick preserved Placer's local-hire track record, Bieber announced Thursday to an audience of more than 100 gathered at the Alaska Miners Association's week-long convention in Anchorage.
"It's been really successful. Beyond our original dreams," added George Gardner, president of Chiulista Camp Services, a Calista subsidiary formed to service the Donlin project.
Since its creation in 1995, Chiulista has sprouted new business ventures all over Alaska, Gardner also told the crowd.
"We owe it all to Donlin," Gardner added during an interview Thursday, standing elbow to elbow with a couple of Chiulista employees, who also attended the miners' conference.
Barrick's statistics unveiled Thursday indicate the company has been able to remain within a few percentage points of Placer's Calista-shareholder hire rates.
Barrick's Calista shareholder hire rate is now at 89 percent, and 90 percent of the Donlin supervisors are shareholders. Turnover has slipped somewhat -- to about 18 percent.
The Donlin gold estate is within Calista's subsurface land but the surface is owned by Kuskokwim Corp., a consortium of 10 Eskimo villages.
Barrick continues to explore at Donlin this month.
"Eight drills are still turning," said Stan Foo, Barrick's Alaska project manager.
The company embarked on its ambitious work schedule because it faces a looming deadline for a mine feasibility study.
Presently, the total mineral resource at Donlin is estimated at more than 28 million ounces of gold.
If all goes as planned, Barrick will apply for development permits next October, Foo said.
The feasibility study must be finished next year to meet an obligation to NovaGold Resources Inc., Barrick's partner at Donlin.
Simultaneously, Barrick is attempting to buy out NovaGold.
NovaGold is now suing Barrick in federal district court in Anchorage, claiming the Toronto firm violated various U.S. laws in the hostile takeover attempt.
Daily News reporter Elizabeth Bluemink can be reached at ebluemink@adn.com or 257-4317.
