Just some more facts please

The inescapable Kinross “Just the Facts” ad campaign in Fairbanks could benefit with more facts about its ore hauling project.

The company has a highly selective notion about just what Alaskans should know.

·Just the Facts says that five bridges are scheduled for replacement. Just the Facts does not say that the Fairbanks transportation planning agency is to meet Wednesday at noon to attempt to get replacement of the Steese Bridge over Chena Hot Springs Road added to its improvement plan. Then it would go out for public comment.

Just the Facts doesn’t say that the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities did not include funding for this project in its normal plan. The bridge is being added to benefit Kinross, a fact missing from Just the Facts.

· Just the Facts doesn’t say that the latest estimates show that Kinross expects to make, at today’s prices, profits of $900 an ounce because the “all-in sustaining cost” is expected to be about $1,110 per ounce. Current gold prices are close to $2,000.

The Tetlin mine is expected to produce 900,000 ounces of gold over five years, which equates to profits of more than $800 million. Thirty percent of that would go to Contango, a partner in the joint venture, putting estimated profits for Kinross in the neighborhood of $570 million as the 70 percent owner.

· Just the Facts does not include a link to the annual report Kinross has to file in Canada that shows how much the company pays to governments in taxes and fees. Kinross paid $240,000 in “fees” to the Tetlin village in 2022. It paid $13.6 million in taxes to the Fairbanks North Star Borough and $4.9 million in taxes, royalties and fees to the state. The report also shows what the company pays elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world.

· Kinross says that Black Gold Transport “has brought in a small housing facility that will allow drivers to find time to find suitable permanent housing in the Fairbanks North Star Borough and are working to relocate their existing Black Gold Express operation to a new location down the road.” It does not say that Kinross has purchased the trucks and trailers or where the drivers are from.

· Just the Facts makes a big point of saying, that the Kinross trucks “will carry legal loads that do not require any special permits or exemptions.” It doesn’t say that in Alaska any load can be made “legal” by adding axles to distribute the weight. Alaska is the only state in which the 165,000-pound trucks are allowed without special permits or exemptions.

· After reading the column printed by the Anchorage Daily News and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner by Tetlin Chief Michael Sam, I think Just the Facts should reveal whether Sam is an employee, a contractor or a recipient of any funds from Kinross or Contango, its partner. I mention this because Sam cites the role of the previous chief, Danny Adams, in getting this project started. Adams had a contract with the original mine promoters from 2010 to 2015.

“This vision goes back to 2008, when the late Chief Danny Adams and the village council members made it their priority to develop an economic future for their people. Chief Danny was a well-respected Tanana Chiefs Conference executive board member and a visionary leader in the Upper Tanana region,” Sam said.

On Oct. 15, 2010, Contango hired Adams at a rate of $5,000 a month as a consultant. Contango said Adams had “special knowledge and experience with governmental affairs and tribal affairs issues and operates an independent consulting practice.”

Adams had to work “approximately” 200 hours per year, which works out to $300 an hour. In addition, Adams received $80,000 in discretionary bonuses by mid-2013.

The contract said that none of his work would have anything to do with the mineral lease he had approved as the Tetlin chief, but it also included language that said his work was vital to the enterprise.

“None of the services or work of Consultant shall relate in any manner to that certain Mineral Lease dated effective July 15, 2008 by and between the Native Village of Tetlin and Juneau Exploration, L.P. which has assigned its interest in the Mineral Lease to an affiliate of CORE,” the contract said.

The company listed the contract with Adams under “risk factors.”

“We are dependent upon the knowledge and services provided by the Chief of the Tetlin Indian Tribe., and could be seriously harmed if the Chief terminated his services or became otherwise unavailable,” Contango told the SEC in its annual report.

The loss of Adams’s services “could have a material adverse affect on us and could prevent us from pursuing our business plan.”

The joint venture agreement in 2014 between Contango and Royal Gold included a requirement that the Adams contract be terminated. It was terminated in January 2015.

Adams, who died in Nov. 17, 2015 at 57, had been the Tetlin chief for 26 years.

That joint venture became Peak Gold.

In 2020, Kinross acquired the 40 percent interest of Royal Gold and a 30 percent interest from Contango, becoming manager of the new Peak Gold LLC.

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