Tuesday, 26th July 2005 (3289 views)

Barrick Gold and Newcrest Mining are both reportedly eyeing up the potentially lucrative Pebble deposit in Alaska.

The deposit is believed to be the largest undeveloped gold find in North America and is believed to have attracted interest from some of the biggest names in gold mining.

Ronald Thiessen and Robert Dickinson, chief executive and co-chairman respectively of Northern Dynasty Minerals, which owns Pebble, refused to name the interested parties.

The Pebble deposit in southwestern Alaska has previously been dismissed by some firms as too low grade to be profitable, but exploration results this year showed that there are higher-grade zones and the site has garnered increasing interest. The study, in March 2005, suggested a measured and indicated resource of 31.3 million ounces of gold.

"Historically these porphyries (rock types) were primarily of interest to base-metals and diversified-mining operators, but we've noticed a significant interest from the gold companies," Mr Thiessen told Reuters news agency.

Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty wants to put together a consortium of investors by year-end to develop the find and is in the stages if completing a study into whether or not building a mine would be economically viable. Barrick and Newcrest have not commented on the Pebble rumours.

 

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