[Rockhounds] Barrick Gold Challenge

[Grant Johnston]

This might interest some of you who actually understand this stuff.

Barrick Gold has offered US$10 million to anyone who can figure a way
to tease out up to 180 million ounces of silver trapped in silica at
its Veladero mine in Argentina.

Currently, the company is only able to obtain less than 7 percent of
the silver in the ore, so company officials have offered the reward to
anyone who comes up with an idea that the company implements. "This
opportunity will appeal to chemists, metallurgists, physicists,
engineers, or any inventor with a new concept for improving silver
recovery," said Greg Wilkins, President and CEO. "Experience in mining
is not required because we are looking for innovation and new
approaches. The $10 million award is a substantial incentive to spur
creative thinking but, beyond that, Barrick will fund research and
development for proposals that have merit. Scientists sometimes have
difficulty finding funding to take their good ideas to the next level,
so we believe this will be a welcome aspect of the program." Proposals
will be assessed by a team of experts and evaluated on their technical
viability and ability to be safely implemented at Veladero. Those
judged to have merit will be invited to submit a detailed proposal. If
successful, they will go on to further phases of development, testing
and commercial evaluation.

Proposals are due January 21, 2008, and details are at www.unlockthevalue.com.


 Grant Johnston, Chico, CA