60 minutes

[silverstacker]

Did anyone watch 60 this evening? The discussion was a second gold rush out west. Apparently they have identified reserves north of $6 billion.

[Morsecode]

Yep. That's at Adam's house.

[Market Harmony]

If you follow the mining sector at all, then to hear of a potential billion dollar deal is quite rare. Many of the miners are cash poor and not looking to add to reserves unless it is a cheap acquisition that does not require immediate exploitation and has an easy path to production. Nothing about the 60 minutes story led me to think that the mushroom pickers claim is going to pan out. Pun intended

[galenrog]

The mushroom picker provided little in the way of verifiable evidence supporting his opinion of reserves. While the general area holds much promise of economical metals mining, no major is going to purchase or enter a long term lease without ore body definition by their own people.

Opening a new mine is terribly expensive. In some situations the costs before any ore is processed can exceed $500 million. $6 billion in reserves seems a bit low for most of the majors to do more than take a look.

[Recyclersteve]

Also I've read that from the time a discovery is made, it can take 7-12 years before real metal is taken out of the ground.

[galenrog]

True. Some can take far longer. There are a few in Oregon that have been in one permitting stage or another for over 25 years. It would be far better if there were not so many government agencies involved that have conflicting regulations.

[neilgin1]

i'll buy the beans and rice, get the water jugs, AND bring us along a 100 per cent copper still....so lets all git a going.

and i'll kick in fer the sluice.