Avidian Gold seeks state permit to drill 30 exploration holes near Cantwell

Avidian Gold Alaska, Inc. wants to drill 30 exploration holes along the West Fork Chulitna River near Cantwell. Residents have until 5 p.m. Aug. 18, 2026, Alaska Standard Time, to tell the state what they think.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources received the hardrock exploration application for the project the company calls Golden Zone, in the Valdez Creek Mining District. Proposed use would run from the date any authorization is issued through Dec. 31, 2028, unless extended. Written comments and inquiries go to Willow-Creek Feighery at the Division of Mining, Land and Water's Fairbanks Mine Permitting Office.

The notice approves nothing. DNR may also authorize cross-country travel on state land outside the mining locations, and other state land use will be adjudicated separately.

The proposal may be a continuation of an existing project rather than a brand-new development. The notice does not, by itself, establish that any drilling or site disturbance has already occurred. Valdez Creek Mining Company completed a 24-hole core drilling program totaling 19,988 feet at the site in 2017. That was followed by 23 holes at the Lucky Saddle prospect and seven holes at the Lucky Top prospect in 2018, then more core drilling and trenching in 2019. That work identified five vertically stacked, gold-bearing zones.

The district has a long production record. The open-pit operation at Valdez Creek was the largest placer gold mine in North America in 1992 and the largest gold mine in Alaska for 11 of the 12 years between 1984 and 1995. The area had produced more than 500,000 troy ounces as of 2021. As of 2023, the source lode had not been found. Alaska News has previously covered DNR notices for placer applications near Cantwell, including a proposal at Grog Creek.

No comment from Cantwell-area residents appears in the state notice. Residents near the proposed exploration area have a stake in whether permitting changes local land use, traffic, access and noise. Alaska Native communities in the Cantwell and Valdez Creek area have raised concerns elsewhere that changes in land use or water quality can affect subsistence values and traditional use areas. Elsewhere in Alaska, mining exploration proposals have drawn scrutiny from tribes and environmental groups arguing that permitting should not advance until environmental impacts are fully assessed.