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Donlin applies for gas line right of way Proposing 315-mile line from Cook Inlet to mine; construction on 14-inch line would begin in 2016, gas delivery in 2019 Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Donlin Gold LLC has applied to the State Pipeline Coordinator’s Office for a right-of-way lease for a pipeline to take natural gas from Cook Inlet to the proposed mine north of Crooked Creek.
The 14-inch diameter 315-mile line would begin at the west end of the Beluga gas field some 30 miles northwest of Anchorage and end at the proposed Donlin Gold mine site some 10 miles north of Crooked Creek.
The gas line would tie in with the Beluga Natural Gas Pipeline system some 7.7 miles north of the Beluga Power Plant and end at the pipeline terminus metering station at the mine site at milepost 315 of the line.
Permitting is under way for the Donlin gold mine, a project of Novagold Resources and Barrick Gold Corp. A 2011 feasibility study for the mine envisioned a 53,500-metric-ton-per-day mill producing an average of 1.1 million ounces of gold annually for 27 years, with annual production in the first five years expected to be 1.5 million ounces of gold.
A draft environmental impact statement for the mine is expected to be published in August, with a final EIS expected to take about another year, with a decision on the final EIS and accompanying permits slated for the end of 2015.
Gas from Enstar system “The proposed pipeline would receive natural gas from the Enstar Beluga Pipeline system and transport the gas to an endpoint at the proposed Donlin Gold mine,” Donlin Gold said in its right-of-way application.
The line would be able to transport 73 million standard cubic feet per day with a maximum allowable operating pressure of 1,480 pounds psig.
The line would operate at ambient temperature with the exception of the first 10 to 15 miles where the temperature would be slightly higher as the gas transitions from the discharge temperature at the compressor station to the surrounding ambient soil temperature.
Most of the pipeline would be buried, the company said, going aboveground at two active faults. The pigging launcher near Farewell would have supports for the aboveground launcher and receiver. There would also be ancillary aboveground piping and associated valves at 16 remote mainline block valve locations.
There would be no permanent bridge structures, just temporary crossing structures where necessary for equipment during construction.
Horizontal direction drilling would be used at large flow and sensitive habitat river crossings.
Multiple years of construction The right-of-way application says three to four years of construction would be necessary and temporary support facilities would be required at various points along the 315-mile route, including main camps with communications/tower, pipe storage yards, airstrips, fuel storage sites at airstrips and camps, access roads to material sites, airstrips and water sources and barge landings.
Nine construction campsites would be established during construction, with large 300-person camps moved to support pipeline work and smaller 30-person camps used to support HDD drill crews.
Pipeline construction is planned to begin in approximately 2016, depending on receipt of authorizations. The first year would include pre-construction civil work such as ROW development and construction of access roads. Pipeline installation would take two to three years.
Startup would be upon completion of construction and commissioning of the pipeline, allowing delivery of natural gas to the mine in mid-2019.
Estimated cost for materials, construction and installation of the pipeline project is $1.02 billion; construction and installation of the pipeline, not including the electric transmission line and fiber optic cable and other costs, is estimated at $484.9 million.
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