The Donlin announcement is all about Barrick trying to push NG into "fire sale" mode. They had a bad Donlin JV agreement originally requiring a Feasibility Study WAY before ABX could provide one, allowing NG to get a 50% share of Donlin. This has stuck in ABX's craw for years (and why they tried a hostile takeover when they realized they couldn't make the deadline), and they still have their eye on the prize - get exclusive control of Donlin.

IMO, Schaft is a different story than Donlin for several reasons: 1) Insiders hold ~60% of CUU 2) Schaft is an easier project to bring into production (power availability, port access, lack of serious environmental issues), 3) TCK doesn't view CUU as prey

One similarity between the two projects is the existence of a JV agreement with a clause that one of the partners was/is unable to meet. ABX couldn't meet the Donlin JV timeline for a FS, and TCK won't be able to bring a mine into production within 4 years after backing in to Schaft.