Bright Star eyes West Pogo

Vancouver Junior Bright Star Ventures(BSV-V) has picked up a 35% interest in prospective ground some 8 km west of the Pogo gold deposit in Alaska.

Dubbed the West Pogo project, Bright Star can earn its stake by either paying $55,000 or issuing between 223,500 to 298,000 shares.

AngloGold (USA) Exploration, a subsidiary of South African-based AngloGold (AU-N) has the right to earn a 65% interest in the West Pogo properties by spending US$800,000 over six years and paying US$150,000. AngloGold can earn another 10% interest by arranging production financing through a non-recourse loan to be paid out of its net proceeds from production.

The project is considered prospective because of its favorable proximity to the Pogo deposit being advanced by joint venture partners Teck Cominco (TEK-T) and Sumitomo Metal Mining. So far, Teck has spent some $28 million on the property defining mineral reserves of 5.5 million oz at an average grade of 18.9 grams gold per tonne. A $33 million development program is planned for Pogo in 2004.