The Northern Miner June 8 2020 Issue 12

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FOCUS ON CANADA / GUIDE TO THE 2020 CANADIAN MINING SYMPOSIUM Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM

CANADIAN GOLD EXPLORATION Special Focus / 9-14

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AngloGold Ashanti confirms 196 covid-19 cases at Mponeng SOUTH AFRICA

| ‘Vast majority’ tested asymptomatic, company says

B Y C A R L A . W IL L IA M S

cwilliams@northernminer.com

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ngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) has temporarily closed its Mponeng mine in South Africa after 196 workers tested positive for covid-19. The company has conducted 651 tests since the first covid-19 case was detected at the mine on May 21, with the “vast majority” of those tested asymptomatic, the company reported. The cases were discovered as part

of a screening, contact tracing and testing program at the site, with anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms during the screening process referred to a medical practitioner for assessment and testing, where clinically required, the company said. In line with national health protocols, all positive cases will be isolated, with the company providing onsite facilities at Mponeng for those who may need them. Mponeng, the world’s deepest gold mine, is located in the West Wits mining district on the border

between the Gauteng and North West provinces, 76 km southwest of Johannesburg. In February, the company agreed to sell the mine to Harmony Gold (NASDAQ: HMY) in a deal worth US$300 million to focus on more profitable mines in Ghana, Australia and the Americas. The deal is expected to close later this year. The gold miner voluntarily closed the mine to allow for contact tracing and sanitization of the site and Se

e SOUTH AFRICA / 3

New plan for Northern Dynasty’s Pebble project ALASKA

| Questions remain over world’s most productive wild salmon fishery

B Y J A C K S O N

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Mining.com

orthern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM) has welcomed a change of plan for its Pebble project in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, which would now include an all land-based transportation route to connect the proposed coppergold-molybdenum-silver mine in southwest Alaska. On May 22, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) — the lead federal regulator for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) permitting process — recommended a preferred development alternative for the proposed mine site: a two-lane, 85-mile

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access road along the northern shore of Lake Iliamna. During a media availability session, USACE Alaska district regulatory division chief David Hobbie confirmed this was the “least environmentally damaging practicable alternative” (LEDPA) for the proposed Pebble mine as it would avoid the need for ferry transport across the lake. If permitted, Pebble would be North America’s largest mine, with an estimate resource of 6.5 billion tonnes in the measured and indicated category containing 57 billion lb. copper and 71 million oz. gold, 3.4 billion lb. molybdenum and 345 million oz. silver. Northern Dynasty had previously included the road as a possible alternative in earlier filings with the government. President and CEO Ron Thiessen said the ‘northern transportation corridor’ — otherwise known as ‘Alternative 3’ in the Pebble EIS — had been extensively studied by the company’s U.S. subsidiary (the Pebble Partnership) and presents several benefits over the lake ferry options. Se P M 4 0 0 6 9 2 4 0

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