Friday, 30th December 2005 (3435 views)

North America's largest gold deposit may hold even more yellow metal than originally thought, Anchorage Daily News reports.

Exploration work by Northern Dynasty Mines has unearthed a wealth of gold on the eastern edge of its claim on the Pebbles deposit in Alaska, taking the company by surprise.

"The drilling programme at the end of this year produced some unexpected and incredible results," said chief operating officer Bruce Jenkins.

"It's confirming an entire new deposit to the east."

The success has prompted Northern Dynasty mine to redraw its plans for developing the site. The company will consequently push back applying for a permit for at least 12 months.

It has previously been estimated that the Pebbles deposit holds 26.5 million ounces of gold, although this is set to rise on the recent news.

The find comes as yet another coup for the US gold industry, which is currently battling it out with Australia and South Africa for the global top spot.

While both Australia and South Africa's gold production is set to shrink this year, gold production in the US has already been tipped to rise following good results from deposits in Nevada.

The US fielded 258 tons of the precious metal in 2004.

 

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