Northern Dynastys Rebagliati looks ahead to PDAC award

Vancouver – When Ross Rebagliati won the first Olympic Gold medal for snowboarding in Nagano back in 1998, he was merely showing a competitive streak that appears to run in his family.

Now at the age of 63, father Mark Rebagliati is proving that the family’s will to win remains intact by picking up a coveted award for his role in the discovery of the Pebble East deposit in southern Alaska.

One of the largest of its kind in the world, it has already attracted an investment from industry heavyweight Rio Tinto (RT-N).

In recognition for this feat, the Hunter Dickinson Group head geologist will receive the Thayer Lindsley International Discovery award at next weeks Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto.

In an interview with the Northern Miner, Rebagliati conceded that his son may indeed be a chip off the old block.

Ross always had the attitude that you go into a race to win, said the veteran mine finder, when asked about traits that appear to run in the family.

Rebagliati said he is just as competitive as his infamous son, but in a different way. I always want to go out and find orebodies rather than just work on geology, he said.

Pebble East is not the only discovery that Rebagliati has been involved in during a career that dates back to 1964, when he took his first helicopter ride and began prospecting in northwestern B.C.s Stikine region.

A graduate of the Michigan Technological Universitys geological engineering program, he has been involved in a long list of B.C. discoveries, including Kemess South, Mount Milligan, and Southern Star.

In 1998, Rebagliati was rewarded for those efforts, when he received the Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award.

But Pebble East is the one that has given him the most satisfaction. Its like a kids dream, he said, referring to the shear size of a project that is being compared to the worlds largest porphyry copper-gold mines, including Grasberg in Indonesia.

At a 0.60% copper equivalent cut-off, the estimated inferred mineral resource in Pebble East stands at 3.4 billion tonnes, grading 1% copper equivalent, containing 42.6 billion pounds of copper, 39.6 million oz. of gold and 2.7 billion pounds of molybdenum.

It is adjacent to the Pebble West deposit, which contains a measured, plus indicated resource of 3 billion tonnes, grading 0.28% copper, 0.32 grams gold, and 0.015% molybdenum, using a 0.30% copper equivalent cutoff.

That does not include an additional inferred resource of 1.1 billion tonnes, grading 0.24% copper, 0.30 grams gold and 0.14% molybdenum, at a 0.30% copper equivalent cutoff.

While its potential value has come to light only in recent years, the idea that Pebble may have been underappreciated was one that had been tossed around within the Hunter Dickinson camp, long before it became available five years ago.

It was on our radar screen for quite some time, said Rebagliati, who oversees the work of 14 geologists, located in Alaska, B.C., and China

Hunter Dickinson company Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM-V, NAK-X) acquired the exploration rights to ground that hosts the original Pebble West deposit from Teck Cominco(TCK.B-T, TCK-N) in 2001.

At that time, Pebble West was considered a prize in itself. But it was the potential of the surrounding 250-square-kilometre land package that attracted Northern Dynasty, a company that is now owned 19.8% by Rio Tinto.

It committed itself to about 60,000-ft. of diamond drilling, hoping that it could find higher grade ore that would make the project economic and pay for mining infrastructure.

But when subsequent discoveries didnt contain the necessary tonnage to make the project economic, Northern Dynasty elected to reexamine Teck Comincos Pebble West drill core. It was that decision, which led to the discovery of Pebble East in late 2005.

Certain that Pebble East actually coalesces with its eastern neighbour, Northern Dynasty will spend about $40 million this year to re-confirm that theory and define the limits of the new deposit.

Due to its size and location near Alaskas salmon-rich Bristol Bay area, the project is attracting the attention of wealthy opponents. They include Alaskan money manager and sport fishing lodge operator Robert Gillam, who is participating in a campaign to stop the project from going ahead.

Gail Phillips, a former speaker with the Alaska House of Representatives, has taken a different view, saying that Pebble should be allowed to apply for mining permits, a process that will permit citizens of Alaska to decide whether it should be mined.

Rebagliati remains undeterred by what is proving to be a high profile debate.

Today, any significant mining operation in the world is going to be under scrutiny from environment and other special interest groups, said Rebagliati. Its something that has to be dealt with in an open and progressive way.

A far greater challenge in the short term, he said, is finding experienced drill crews as well as the helicopter portable rigs with the capacity to drill deep holes. It is equipment that is needed to limit the companys footprint until it secures the necessary mining permits.

The company has four rigs on the property this month and hopes to add another four by the end of March.

Meanwhile, Rebagliati said he is absolutely thrilled, to be a recipient of the Thayer Lindsley, an annual award that goes to individuals or a team of explorationists associated with a discovery anywhere in the world.

It is a level of recognition expressed by the industry at large, he said.