Going for gold in the Dominican Republic

http://www.dominicantoday.com 27/11/06

Santo Domingo.-The Dominican Republic’s imminent entry into the Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) and the country’s relative stability is attracting a number of mining companies to the country.

According to a report by the International Herald Tribune, several North American businesses are scouting for metals in the Caribbean nation, including two Canadian mining companies who announced a new search for gold and copper in the central region of the country on Thursday.

GlobeStar Mining Corp. and Everton Resources Inc. plan to search the 400-square-kilometer (154-square-mile) copper- and gold-producing Maimon Formation about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Santo Domingo, said Toronto-based GlobeStar CEO Bill Fisher.

Everton say it will be the first such search in this area since 1972. The companies will explore 300 meters (984 feet) under the surface for six weeks beginning in December, using helicopters loaded with electromagnetic and magnetic measurement equipment.

The DR has a long history of mining exploitation. “Companies have been coming here in droves since Barrick Gold Corp. began its US$1.4 billion (€1.08 billion) redevelopment of the massive Pueblo Viejo mine, which could be the second-largest gold mine in the Americas”, Fisher said.

"It's as busy as it's ever been. Gold price is high, copper price is high. The whole industry is just going 100 percent," Fisher said. "I hope we'll be mining (in the Dominican Republic) for 20 years."

GlobeStar is already active in the Cerro de Maimon site, which holds an estimated 3.35 metric tons (3.69 tons) of copper, and would be the highest grade open-pit copper mine outside of the Congo, Fisher said.

Cerro de Maimon, which is scheduled to begin producing in 2008, is also estimated to hold 1.28 grams of gold per ton processed.

Gold, which was trading in London at US$630.30 (€489.43) bid per troy ounce on Thursday, posted its highest prices in more than two decades. When copper traded for US$4.04 (€4.14) per pound on the commodities market in May, it had reached more than five times its value from 2000.