Good morning again, ladies and gentlemen. Our next company to present is NovaGold. They're a gold-focused exploration and development company with a portfolio of assets including a 50% interest in the Donlin Gold Project in Alaska. Speaking with us today is President and CEO Gregory Lang. Please take it away, Gregory.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to get an update on NovaGold. As I'm sure you're aware, our presentation does contain forward-looking materials, and I urge you to read that on our website if you're curious about such things. First, I'll give you some highlights on the investment thesis behind NovaGold. You know, we're really a very simple company. We have one asset that's our 50% interest in the Donlin Gold Project up in Alaska. You know, we co-own this asset with Barrick, one of the largest gold producers in the industry. You know, Donlin's a unique asset. It's got size. It's about 40 million ounces at 2.25 grams. So it's one of the largest, highest-grade undeveloped open-pit projects out there. It's in a great jurisdiction. We're very comfortable operating in Alaska.
You know, we've got good partnerships, not just with Barrick, but also with two Native corporations. One owns the land and one owns the mineral estates, and we have life-of-mine agreements with both of them. You know, the project is largely unexplored, and we'll come to that shortly. So still some tremendous potential at the Donlin site. You know, over the last 10 years, we've been steadily advancing the Donlin Project. You know, when I joined the company about 10 years ago, I joined the same time our chairman and largest shareholder, Dr. Thomas Kaplan, joined. You know, we set about transforming NovaGold into a pure gold play focused on the Donlin asset up in Alaska, you know, with the view that assets in safe jurisdictions ultimately command a premium valuation. You know, and since that time, we've simplified the company. We did our last equity raise in 2012.
We raised over $330 million. After the equity raise, we started permitting the project, and we have successfully completed the federal permitting process. We have a Joint Record of Decision from the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers. Along the way, we sold a property to Newmont called Galore Creek, and we spun out some copper exploration properties into a company called Trilogy. Now we're a pure play focused on Donlin. You know, Alaska is, you know, it's really a leading gold jurisdiction. It's the second-largest gold-producing state in the U.S. It's got a very well-established mining industry. You know, the economy in Alaska is largely dominated by the petroleum resources on the North Slope and the military. But it's also a state that understands and appreciates the value of responsible mineral development. You know, Donlin will be a big mine.
As envisioned in the original feasibility study, it would produce over 1 million ounces a year with a mine life measured in decades at almost 30 years, just based on the known reserves that we see today. This makes it one of the largest undeveloped gold producers, and it would be one of the few mines in the industry that produce 1 million ounces a year. You know, the grade at Donlin is also pretty exceptional. You know, if we're an open-pit mine at 2.25 grams per ton, that is about what the industry grades were over a decade ago. Many new mines have been built with head grades of around 1 gram or less, and it really speaks to the quality of the asset at Donlin that its grade is, you know, better than twice some of these new mines.
You know, this slide just gives you a sense of the exploration potential that remains at Donlin. You know, our known ore bodies, the Acma and Lewis, occupy about three kilometers of an eight-kilometer gold-bearing system. What's illustrated on this map is about 5% of the land position at Donlin. We've got gold-bearing drill holes all up and down this trend, and when the time is right, we will resume exploration. You know, we have done drilling below the current pit bottom, and we know the deposit is open-ended both along strike and at depth. The other thing that really differentiates the Donlin Project about other assets up in Alaska and other parts of the world is that we're on private land that's owned by two Alaska Native corporations.
This ownership came about when the federal government transferred certain lands to the Native corporations for their economic self-determination. We have life-of-mine agreements in place with both of these organizations. Calista owns the mineral estate, and TKC owns the surface rights. You know, they both have an owner's interest in helping us move this project forward, and they want to see it developed. They've also been a very staunch advocate for the project in our nation's capital. As you follow the industry and the activities in the United States, clearly it's very complicated, and I think having that Native ownership and participation has been very key to our success. Now I'll give you some highlights of the activities that, you know, we conducted at site last year. That's just a shot of us at the site with, you know, Mark Bristow, the CEO of our partner.
You know, Donlin's field program focused mainly on several areas. We had been doing a lot of drilling in and around the ore bodies over the last few years, but our drilling in 2023 focused on the geotechnical work to support the tailings dam design and the hydrology modeling, you know, all necessary to advance the mine planning. You know, we will continue, you know, with our community outreach programs. That's been a big part of our success up in Alaska is the fact that we've been engaged with the communities, you know, really every step of the way as long as we've been involved in this project. And they're very supportive of the project, and it's a, you know, Donlin's located in an area where it's, you know, very impoverished. There's really no economic opportunities for the people in this part of Alaska.
You know, permitting, this is just a, you know, really a snapshot of where we've come with the permitting. You know, as I mentioned earlier, we have completed the federal permitting process, and we received a Joint Record of Decision from the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management. That was the first time two federal agencies issued a Joint Record of Decision, and that, I think, really speaks to the cooperative manner in which we approached the permitting of this project. You can see the other federal permits that we have in hand that pertain to the pipeline and other associated infrastructure. The state permits, the only outstanding permit of any consequence, is the tailings dam, and that's a, you know, relatively long lead-time item, and we've, you know, it's not on our critical path.
Last year, we did the necessary geotechnical drilling to support the design, and this year we will be finalizing the design and submitting that to the state of Alaska for approval. You know, the federal permits actually authorize us to construct the tailings dam and other activities at the site, but in Alaska, these types of structures are administered by the state. Hence, for just about every federal permit, we have a comparable state permit that we've received. You know, current activities, you know, we've got our permits in hand, and as always happens in the U.S., you have to, you know, defend your permits. And we have, you know, there's been some challenges to our permits, and we've successfully defended them in court. You know, this is something that we anticipated. I have not been around a mining project in the U.S.
for many decades that somebody didn't challenge, but so far we've prevailed in the courts, and I anticipate we will continue to do that. You know, ESG, we're, you know, it's a fairly simple site at this stage, but our environmental record has been good with no significant issues. Our safety record has been exceptional. We are now approaching 12 years with no lost-time accidents. We also are active in the communities and engaged with the local people on many different levels, as well as providing job training for future opportunities at the mine. From a governance point of view, our board is well-diversified. We're represented, about 30% are represented by women and minorities, and in company-wide, we're just under 50% women. So we take our diversification on our board very seriously. You know, we're very strong financially. You know, the company has $126 million in the treasury.
We have not gone to the equity markets since 2012, where we raised about $330 million at a price of around $9.50 a share. Very few companies in our situation in our space go that long without needing to go to the equity markets. You know, we're very careful with our treasury. We're a relatively small company. We've got about a dozen employees, and we've, you know, raised the money to advance the project, and we've made that money last. And looking at the, you know, our cash balance and our average burn rate, you know, we've got sufficient liquidity to continue to move the project forward. You know, in one aspect about the Donlin Project, you know, we are highly levered to gold price, which, frankly, the entire industry is. But we're levered in a place where you can keep it.
You know, the project has pretty, you know, thin returns at lower prices, but at prices over $2,000 an ounce, the returns get very robust, and the project looks even better, and we anticipate a rising gold price environment in the near future. You know, we're an institutional quality stock. About two-thirds of our stock is held in the top 10 shareholders. Many have been with the story a long time. You know, they view us as an unexpiring warrant on an ounce of gold, and they're, you know, like the way the company is positioned. You know, upcoming catalysts, you know, we're continuing to carefully and methodically advance this project with our partner. You know, the owners have approved a budget next year of $28 million to continue mine planning work, tailings dam design.
We've got a metallurgical pilot plant underway, which is, you know, helping us provide, you know, good insights into the final design. So, you know, we continue to move this project forward. You know, we're in active discussions with our partner on, you know, increasing the budget this year. Maybe, you know, one of the things that we know sooner or later needs to be done, and that's updating the capital and operating costs. You know, our information is stale, and we're working on getting a scope of work to do that, and that is, of course, something that is really the foundation to lead us on a path of updating the feasibility study. Thank you. That concludes my presentation. I say I have 28 seconds left.
So we do have time for one quick question, if anybody has one. Maybe just a very quick one from me.
Obviously, you have a very close working relationship with your partner there. Where does Donlin Gold fit within its project development pipeline?
Well, I think that's a question, frankly, better posed of our partner. But, you know, Barrick continues to advance the Donlin Gold Project. I think, as we all follow the industry, we note that they're, at the current time, they're very focused on their copper projects in Balochistan, Pakistan. But, you know, we continue to work and move Donlin forward.
Well, that does take us completely to the end of time. Thank you very much, Gregory.
Thank you.