"Where the money is"

...which just happens to be Yellowknife's name in Dogrib, one of the eleven official languages spoken in the N.W.T..

The Discovery Mine on February 10, 1950 poured it’s first gold brick. 1950. Think about it...gold was $34.72 an ounce that year. And here we sit today, 51 years later, seeing gold at $1800/ounce, a solid company (that would be Tyhee) now in charge and numerous drilled zones that prove there is no shortage of where that first pour came from. Over 2.1 million ounces worth just waiting to be dug up.

Speaking of which, I dug up this reply from DW in 2008 and thought it might be good to know things are progressing...but never at the pace we would like. Catalyst? My opinion is the starting gate is open, the crowd is roaring, the starters pistol is aimed at the sky and...and..as Marvin the Martian would say: "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!", "Isn't that lovely?", "This makes me very angry, very angry indeed."

Well, until the Kaboom sounds here is info from Mr. Webb two years ago. Since then we have the PFS and the EA and full Feasibility Study is on the way and getting ready for delivery in the months to come. Then I think as we get things OK'ed for our own "first pour", there will be a very loud....well just get your ear plugs ready.

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As part of our Preliminary Assessment, we are looking at a 3000 to 5000 tonne per day mill on site. This would act as the processing centre for any deposits within 15 to 20 km. We have walked a road right of way and submitted this as part of our permit application, to get ore from Nicholas Lake to the Ormsby site. It is a 10 km all-weather route.

We are working on a Preliminary Assessment which typically precedes a Prefeasibility or Feasibility report. We have completed a number of model pits on the Ormsby Zone, and are examining both an open pit and an underground option for Nicholas Lake. I could guess a date, but it is best to say it will be ready when it is delivered to us. Look for a month or so after we publish the NL OP resource.

A mine and mill complex can be constructed in 12 months although most engineers request 18 months. We’d need all permits, which typically take 12 to 24 months after final application documents are submitted. Some construction can be done in advance of final permits, but that can be fairly risky.

We have letters of support from the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. We have positive feedback from the principal native groups in the area including one letter of support. We’ll have to wait for our final plans to be published before we go any further, however we do meet the nearby communities on an ongoing basis. We have hired Hugh Wilson as our VP Environment and Community Affairs to spearhead this. His previous employment was with Miramar obtaining their permits for Hope Bay.

We have no plans to raise further equity at this time. We have enough cash in the bank to accomplish all of our goals for 2008, plus some in the money warrants coming due in March and April. If we have exceptional results at BigSky, Clan Lake, or Goodwin Lake we may increase our budgets, but that would more or less be self-financing. We also anticipate a capital budget of between $175 and $200 million for a 3000 to 5000 tpd mine and mill operation which, should it be required, will most likely be financed through a typical debt and equity package, so ultimately, there would be additional equity issued.

I talk to Keith from time to time, and we all have our little secrets, so I’m not sure what his 9 attributes might be. One can guess, based on Keith’s background that these attributes could include, in no particular order:

Evidence of large gold deposits (past producing mines)
Large structures
Large alteration zones
Large and reactive host rocks
Extensive source rock
Large heat engines
Multiple tectonic and/or thermal events
Some way to obscure prior discovery (cover rocks)
Good logistics (transportation power water)
Good social/political/fiscal structure

Yellowknife has all of these to some degree, except for the last item. That is what you can make of it and is not afforded to all who operate in the district.

Dave