This ought to make rooms easier to find in the future . . .
Here is an article from the February 9 Elko Daily Free Press:
Welcome to the Pequop Trend
If there was ever any doubt about the potential for gold production in
the Pequop Mountains it was shattered last week when Newmont Mining
Corp. announced it plans to spend more than $2 billion to acquire
Fronteer Gold’s Long Canyon Project.
The mountain range in eastern Elko County has been riddled with holes
in recent years as exploration drills probed from one end of the range
to the other. Word spread that this could be another Carlin Trend — or
bigger.
Newmont’s hefty offer confirms that there’s gold in them hills ...
lots and lots of gold.
It’s hard to overstate what this means for Elko County.
The incredible gold mining boom of the past few decades has been
centered in and around the Carlin Trend, which is situated mostly in
neighboring Eureka County. Needless to say, Eureka has been one county
that doesn’t need to worry about balancing its budget.
Newmont officials told the Free Press last week that they expect the
Pequop to be another Carlin Trend. If that’s true, they will be
measuring production not by the ounce but by the ton. The Carlin Trend
has produced more than $200 billion worth of gold in today’s gold
prices, according to the University of Nevada, Reno.
The good thing about the Pequops is that the entire range is right
here in Elko County.
Elko stands to become a very rich county, indeed. But what about the
cities and towns?
The Pequop range is situated about halfway between Wells and Wendover.
Both cities are hoping to cash in on the modern-day gold rush,
anticipating the housing that will be needed by miners.
With Newmont’s North American headquarters right here in Elko, along
with a massive warehouse and an abundance of established mining
vendors, much of the commercial end of the business could stay put.
After all, they will keep mining the Carlin Trend as operations ramp
up in the Pequop.
As far as the long-term economic impact goes, the sky is the limit.
Even if gold prices drop as they did in the late 1990s, we can be
assured that gold mining will continue in the region. At best we will
see expansion, while at worst it will be a matter of new mines rising
in the east to replace old ones that peter out to the west.
The $2.33 billion Long Canyon deal is only the tip of what promises to
be a very big iceberg. Newmont also will hold 40 percent of Agnico
Eagle’s West Pequop exploration project if the deal goes through, as
well as own the South Pequop Project that Golden Dory Resources Corp.
is exploring in a joint venture. Other exploration companies that have
claims in the area include Columbus Gold Corp., Mexivada Mining Corp.
and Miranda Gold Corp.
Newmont has been mining in northeastern Nevada since the mid-1960s
when it began as the Carlin Gold Mining Co. It is only fitting that
the company expand its reach into our state’s next mother lode.
News of the deal came just a week after Newmont received long-awaited
approval of its Emigrant Project, which is also located in Elko
County. That’s 180 jobs.
Mark Twain could identify with our present situation, as it seems the
reports we were hearing about the death of Nevada’s gold mining
industry turned out to be greatly exaggerated.
Here in Elko all we can see is a big rainbow, extending from the west
to the east.
And there’s a big pot of gold at both ends.
