The Pogo Gold Mine, where gold production was launched in Alaska, is our company's first overseas mine where we are taking th ... e initiative. We were fully committed to the environment from the design stage and engaged the local residents in discussions which culminated in our receiving development permits. Exploration at the Pogo Mine began in 1990, and gold deposits were discovered in 1994. We verified the gold quantity, obtained environmental permits then moved onto mine construction and launched production in 2006. This was the first of many overseas mines we have invested in where we were in charge of the mine's development. The United States is the world's leader in the introduction of environmental assessments, and Alaska has many national parks and wildlife refuges with very stringent environmental protection standards requiring 83 separate permits. We recognized that coexistence with the environment and relating to local residents were essential in the mine's development, which led us to conduct a full environmental review from the design stage. This is the only gold mine employing unique processes others cannot realize. We also held open forums with local residents to gain their understanding of the critical efforts we were making for the environment. read more