GoldQuest reports new gold discovery in Dominican projects

[PICHARDO]

Can it be said that too many mining projects are being taken in the DR and very little said on the environmental impact of such big projects?

About two moths ago I was sitting with some folks in a biz trip return to DR and they both turned out to be big shots on a Canadian/French firm exploring potential oil reserves in the DR. As allowed during the conversation, it wasn't a matter of if, but quality and difficulty on the economic front to ROI in the wells.

The oil found so far is heavy sour crude and the quantity is not feasible for large scale production like Mexico or Venezuela. The main idea is that it could at worst; serve the needs of the DR 100% and some medium quantity for export markets. But the amount of investment to ROI is not quite there.

They're confident, given the recent geological samples and surveys, that the DR owns some commercial reserves; the hard part is finding the sweet spot to drill. It takes a great deal of work to get gasoline out of this kind of oil at a profit...

 

[dms3611]

There are not enough mining projects

.....name me one gold mining operation that is currently extracting anything here or has extracted anything in the last 6 years. Other than nickel with one producer here in the DR, please give me any other example of metals mining being done here currently or in the past 6 years. Lots of talk...not lots of action.

"If its not grown, it has to be mined".

 

[PICHARDO]

Quite the contrary!

Mercury, Amber, Onyx, Limestone, Travertine, Marble, Copper, Larimar, Iron, Gold, Ferronickel, Silver Dore, Bauxite, Natural Gypsum, Salt, etc...

There's a lot of mining going on in the DR...

 

[PICHARDO]

That's not including the heavy sulfurs and minerals derivatives in those mines as well...

 

[Chip]

Quite the contrary!

Mercury, Amber, Onyx, Limestone, Travertine, Marble, Copper, Larimar, Iron, Gold, Ferronickel, Silver Dore, Bauxite, Natural Gypsum, Salt, etc...

There's a lot of mining going on in the DR...

Ahem, Pichardo mi amigo, que le haga caso a dms3611, porque el trabaja en eso aqui, y por supuesto sabe de que esta hablando.

 

[PICHARDO]

Ahem, Pichardo mi amigo, que le haga caso a dms3611, porque el trabaja en eso aqui, y por supuesto sabe de que esta hablando.

Just named some currently in operation in the DR, regardless of the size of the operations is mining never the less...

I constantly procure Amber and Larimar for clients over seas and can tell you that little is being done to regulate and check the exploitation of these in the DR...

 

[Keith R]

I know that dms can speak for himself, but I suspect that he was not saying that there's no mining whatsoever in the DR, but rather that there's been lots of talk about gold mining in the DR over the years, but very little action. Same holds true for the oil. I've been hearing about those "reserves" (just off the coast of Azua, if I recall?) for over a dozen years at least, but little more than talk.

 

[aegap]

Well, I'd say Goldcorp and Barrick have certainly done way more than talk. And it's only a matter of time before they surpass Falconbridge, in terms of the aggregate worth of the minerals mined at the least.

 

[PICHARDO]

The problem is not the oil industry but the kind of oil found so far...
It costs a bundle to refine this type of oil found in the DR into usable gasoline, given that there's zero industry for an oil market in the DR; the initial investment to produce and market that oil runs too high in regards to the projected ROI for the investors to profit short or mid term.

I was kind of ignorant about the findings so far in the DR before my chat with those two guys, but they seem confident enough to be expending big bucks in exploration and site mining in the DR so far...

The biggest problem that held back any serious exploration with deep pockets before in the DR was basically the demands from the previous administrations on the shares of any such industry in Dominican soil. The current administration is doing a much better job with greater flexibility with these companies; don't be fooled into thinking that the recent events regarding the DR looking to buy out Shell from the refinery is not part of a bigger plan to this end...

 

[dms3611]

"Well, I'd say Goldcorp and Barrick have certainly done way more than talk. And it's only a matter of time before they surpass Falconbridge, in terms of the aggregate worth of the minerals mined at the least".


Hate to say it but I have to....you just don't know what you are talking about. Show me the mines where they are currently extracting gold, silver, or metals in the DR.......with exception of Bonao.

The rest is all talk. Also, please do not compare the little holes in the ground for Amber and Larimar as any type of mining operation. Thats mom and pop and is not metals mining....nor really any type of organized mining. Those are death traps always waiting to happen. They are not producing millions a year in revenue if you placed all those little holes in the ground together.

Other mining ops...CaCo3, Gypsum, Limestone, Travertine and Marble, are legit....but are not metals. The rest...Mercury, Onyx, Copper, Gold, Silver Dore, Bauxite, Salt, are items not being mined here currently in any way or for sure in any significant way.

Thats why more mining would be great because the resources for many things are here and should be opened up if completed responsibly.

 

[Keith R]

Thats why more mining would be great because the resources for many things are here and should be opened up if completed responsibly.

And that's the key, in my book.

 

[aegap]

Hate to say it but I have to....you just don't know what you are talking about. Show me the mines where they are currently extracting gold, silver, or metals in the DR.......with exception of Bonao.

The rest is all talk. Also, please do not compare the little holes in the ground for Amber and Larimar as any type of mining operation. Thats mom and pop and is not metals mining....nor really any type of organized mining.

I didn't say they were extracting nor did I boast about little holes in the ground, and my comment was not directed at you.

I'm certainly no expert, but I'd say way much more than just talk has been done with regards to Pueblo Viejo.

 

[A.Hidalgo]

Does the following fit into this conversation....

Will the country get a fair share of its own natural resources to be able to combat social inequalities? Or perhaps this is another project to line the pockets of some politicians. This according to Leonel is the largest private investment in Dominican history. I wish I could be optimistic, but this is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.:disappoin



TheStar.com | Business | Barrick Gold to reopen Dominican Republic mine

 

[Keith R]

yes, particularly since a lot of questions have been raised about Barrick's environmental record elsewhere. They faced intense opposition in Argentina and Chile from NGOs, but somehow I doubt they'll get the same level of scutiny in the DR.

 

[PICHARDO]

I completely agree that we disagree in many things posted here...

Also agree, that we fully agree in others as well...

Mining is not only about precious metals or anything that means a 100% top notch mining operations. Just basic mining, at its worst I may add...

Any mining operation in the world by any big green company produces ills related to the actual extraction of those goods from the ground or terrain where it’s embedded into. We can't expect the DR to be following any better than other under-developed countries in this field; if anything, the DR has been very lucky so far that major unfixable or too costly to repair environmental damages were conducted in the country, like in other places very well developed...

Mining be it a rustic hole in the ground wide enough for a person to dig out the goods or a 21st century technological marvel of the times, remains pretty much the same goal: To extract and commercialize the goods.

I understand your point 100% about the scale of the operations in the DR I pointed out; but if anything, one must understand that until recently the DR lacked an administration with the know-how personnel to exploit these natural resources with some level of responsibility.

We could say that staff at certain gov entities is educated in the fields at which posts they head. This from the top down, unlike past procedures where expertise and areas of knowledge were indiscriminately skipped in favor of party control and nominations.

 

[PICHARDO]

The problem is not the oil industry but the kind of oil found so far...
It costs a bundle to refine this type of oil found in the DR into usable gasoline, given that there's zero industry for an oil market in the DR; the initial investment to produce and market that oil runs too high in regards to the projected ROI for the investors to profit short or mid term.

I was kind of ignorant about the findings so far in the DR before my chat with those two guys, but they seem confident enough to be expending big bucks in exploration and site mining in the DR so far...

The biggest problem that held back any serious exploration with deep pockets before in the DR was basically the demands from the previous administrations on the shares of any such industry in Dominican soil. The current administration is doing a much better job with greater flexibility with these companies; don't be fooled into thinking that the recent events regarding the DR looking to buy out Shell from the refinery is not part of a bigger plan to this end...

To enforce this opnion:

Refidomsa will distribute 100% of local demand of avtur

El Dinero - Refidomsa distribuirá 100% de demanda local de avtur

In short, the gov decided to take over the supply chain of fuel to all airports in the DR... Which means that it will create a subsidy to this market, eventually to have airliners take advantage of cheaper fuel by making the DR a transit hub to the Caribbean and Europe...

And you ask: How can it plan such a thing given the cost of fuel? Think the DR will own the only refinery in existence in the country and will take 100% advantage of the Venezuela oil accord to pass the immediate savings to the airliners. The subsidy money will be easily recapped via the burst in travel taxes applied to the herds and the extra income created from the boost to the local economy feeding back the gov with the existent internal VAT in place.

God! This Leonel guy knows WTH his doing!!!!

Brilliant!!!!!