Barrick’s Goldstrike granted patents

The U.S. subsidiary of American Barrick Resources (TSE) has been granted patents giving it full title and ownership of the Goldstrike property in Nevada.

To date, the company has contributed $1 billion to development of the mine, where advanced technology is used to recover what were previously uneconomic gold reserves. As a result of the development, Barrick says, it has created more than 1,500 jobs and paid considerable county, state and federal taxes. Despite the prosperity the mine will bring to the region, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt called the $5-per-acre patent fee an “outrage.”