Item 1. Legal Proceedings
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
The Company is a 30% owner of the Peak Gold JV, which operates the Manh Choh mine near Tok, Alaska. Ore from the mine is being trucked to the Fort Knox mill for processing via public roadways in state-of-the-art trucks carrying legal loads. Certain owners of vacation homes along the ore haul route and others claiming potential impact have organized a group to oppose the ore haul plan and disrupt the project. These efforts have included administrative appeals of certain state mine permits unrelated to ore haul. To date, those appeals have been unsuccessful. On October 20, 2023, the Committee for Safe Communities ("CSC"), an Alaskan non-profit corporation inclusive of this same group of objectors and formed for the purpose of opposing the project, filed suit (the "Complaint") in the Superior Court in Fairbanks, Alaska against the State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (“DOT”). The Complaint seeks injunctive relief against the DOT with respect to its oversight of the Peak Gold JV’s ore haul plan. The Complaint alleges that the DOT has approved a haul route and trucking plan that violates DOT regulations, DOT’s actions have created an unreasonable risk to public safety constituting an attractive public nuisance, and DOT has aided and abetted the offense of negligent driving. On November 2, 2023, the plaintiff filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the DOT and is seeking expedited consideration of its motion. The Peak Gold JV is also in consultation with DOT on addressing the allegations raised. On November 9, 2023, the Court denied CSC's motion for expedited consideration of the motion for preliminary injunction. The Peak Gold JV filed a motion to intervene and on November 15, 2023, the Court granted such motion to intervene. The plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction is fully briefed and awaiting decision by the Court. On December 15, 2023, the plaintiff filed a motion for a hearing on its motion for preliminary injunction, which has been fully briefed, and is awaiting decision by the Court. On January 15, 2024, Peak Gold and DOT jointly moved for judgment on the pleadings and to stay all discovery, which motions remain pending.
29
Table of Contents
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.