Northern Dynasty hits high grades at Pebble

Vancouver — Drilling by Northern Dynasty Minerals (NDM-V) on the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project in southwestern Alaska has uncovered a new zone of higher-grade mineralization.

A series of core holes in the eastern portion of the deposit intersected an extensive zone of mineralization. Drilled over an area measuring 600 by 600 metres, the East zone is associated with a zone of intense alteration underlying unmineralized and unaltered Tertiary units that thicken (up to 310 metres) toward the east. Several holes ended in mineralization, which has been encountered up to a depth of at least 725 metres.

Results from the diamond drilling include the following:

— hole 4149 — 302 metres (from a down-hole depth of 172 metres) grading 0.49 gram gold per tonne, 0.46% copper and 0.026% molybdenum, including a 236-metre section of 0.54 gram gold, 0.51% copper and 0.027% moly;

— hole 4293 — 469 metres (from a depth of 248 metres) grading 0.59 gram gold, 0.43% copper and 0.026% moly, including a higher-grade portion of 0.86 gram gold, 0.61% copper and 0.02% moly over 164 metres;

— hole 4300 — 417 metres (from 303 metres) grading 0.65 gram gold, 0.46% copper and 0.033% moly, including 132 metres of 0.98 gram gold, 0.66% copper and 0.017% moly (a deeper section encompassing the bottom 93 metres of the hole returned 0.52 gram gold, 0.31% copper and 0.081% moly).

Northern Dynasty has released a positive preliminary assessment of the Pebble deposit and will now proceed to the feasibility stage.

Inferred resources are pegged at 2.74 billion tonnes grading 0.3 gram gold per tonne, 0.27% copper, and 0.015% molybdenum, or 0.55% copper-equivalent. The stripping ratio, 0.23-to-1, is well below industry averages for large-scale open-pit operations.

Northern Dynasty has acquired an 80% interest in the deposit from Teck Cominco (TEK-T) in return for shares and cash, and has also exercised its right to acquire half of the surrounding lands from Teck Cominco. The major has the option of forming a 50-50 joint venture on the peripheral ground or selling it to the company for US$4 million.

London-based Galahad Gold has a 35% interest in Northern Dynasty, which has 45.1 million shares outstanding and traded at $5.52 on Dec. 7.