Humboldt County News

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Newgold to FirstGold

Newgold, Inc. announced that it will now be known as "Firstgold Corp." Newgold's primary website has changed to www.firstgoldcorp.com, though it can still be accessed through www.newgold.com. Company CEO Scott Dockter said, "As has been previously stated, the name change is an important part of our plan to increase investor awareness of the Company. There is a Canadian mining company named 'New Gold' and we don't want our investors confused. Changing the name is a logical move that we believe will be well received." In coordination with the name change, Newgold's ticker symbol will be changed from "NGLD" to "FGOC." Firstgold Corp. expects to move toward its production phase in early 2007, subject to regulatory approval that is anticipated prior to the end of this year. In addition to Relief Canyon, Firstgold Corp. has announced its intention to conduct 40,000 feet of drilling at the Red Caps property which is adjacent to ground held by Barrick Gold's Cortez JV in the highly mineralized Eureka-Cortez-Battle Mountain trend. Additional information about Newgold, Inc can be found by visiting its web site at www.firstgoldcorp.com.

A Monday traffic stop on Interstate 80 put a sizeable wad of cash in the hands of authorities, the Nevada Highway Patrol reported. A trooper patrolling I-80 in Lander County stopped a westbound Volkswagen for speeding. The trooper became suspicious while questioning the driver, who consented to a search of his vehicle. The trooper found $29,000. After the driver denied any knowledge of the money, the cash was seized pending further investigation. the NHP said.

NHP Still Looking for Missing Driver

Police are tring to locate the driver of a tractor trailer that was the second vehicle to strike a man on Interstate 80 eight miles east of Lovelock at 6 p.m. last Thursday. According to Sgt. P.A. Kinard of the Nevada Highway Patrol, the preliminary investigation reveals that a man running through the center median and into the westbound lanes was first struck by a Dodge pickup driven by an Ohio man and then a semi tractor trailer. The driver of the Dodge stopped and called police. The semi did not stop, according to Kinard. The victim, whose identity is unknown, died at the scene. Sgt. John Shilling said troopers are trying to determine if a broken-down vehicle found a quarter-mile east of the accident scene belonged to the victim. Witnesses to the accident are asked to call the Nevada Highway Patrol at (775) 688-2500.

Democratic Congress affects U.S. Mining Industry (Recap)

The new Democrat-controlled Congress will be largely hostile to the U.S. mining industry on everything from taxes to environmental regulation. "The next two years are going to be extremely challenging for the mining industry, there’s no two ways about it," said Dan Gerkin, the National Mining Association’s senior vice president for government affairs. "I assure you, environmental issues are going to be a priority in the new Congress," he told delegates at the 112th Northwest Mining Association convention. The legislative outlook was in stark contrast to the tone of most of the five-day conference entitled "Sustaining the Boom," where an estimated 2,000 delegates celebrated some of the highest gold and metal prices ever. Laura Skaer, NWMA’s executive director from Spokane, Wash., said earlier in the week the industry was enjoying a "super cycle" due largely to booming demand in China. But she bemoaned the "disastrous election results in Congress." Come January, Democrats will claim a 51-49 majority in the Senate — counting two independents as members of their caucus — where Republicans previously ruled 55-45. In the House, the GOP’s 233-202 advantage will turn Democrat, 232-203. GOP losers in the Senate included at least five "really rock-solid supporters" of mining, Gerkin said. In the House, 18 of the Republicans who lost had an 80 percent or voter voting record on the National Mining Association’s scorecard, he said. Just as concerning to the industry are some things that will not happen, such as Endangered Species Act reforms which were gaining momentum under the guidance of Rep. Richard Pombo, of Calif., the House Resources Committee chairman who lost his seat. Nevada is the third largest gold producer in the world behind South Africa and Australia. I’m Eric Skye and you’re listening to KWNA News.

The Newmont Mining Corporation entered into a partnership with Great Basin College to provide testing and training of 800 employees over a two-year period. At least $750,000 has been pledged to develop new mining-related courses at the college and includes 60,000 man-hours of training. The program entitled One Nevada Maintanence training program started late last month at the Elko Campus with possible expansion to other GBC campuses. The program will focus on skill areas already addressed by GBC including Diesel, welding, electrical, systems technology, instrumentation, and industrial plant mechanics. Once the Newmont training is finished, the program will be open to the public.

BLM to Hold Post-Vegetation Workshop

A workshop will be held at the BLM Elko Field Office to discuss post-fire vegetation rehabilitation objectives as they affect grazing on public lands. The workshop will be held on tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 8:00 a.m. in the BLM Elko Field Office, 3900 East Idaho Street in Elko. The workshop is free and the public is invited. For questions or more information about the workshops, please contact Shane DeForest or any Rangeland Management Specialist at the BLM Elko Field Office at (775) 753-0200.