Newmont (NYSE:NEM) Defines McPhillamys Gold Discovery

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) via its joint venture partner Alkane Resources (ASE:ALK) in the Orange District Exploration has defined the McPhillamys gold discovery, which is located in South Wales, Australia.

One sources say that Alkane Resources has inked a maiden resource estimate of 2.96 million ounces of gold for the McPhillamys gold discovery, located within the Orange District Exploration Joint Venture with Newmont.

An independent resource assessment by Richard Lewis of Lewis Mineral Resource Consulting Pty Ltd in Sydney. defined an initial Indicated and Inferred Resource at a 0.3g/t gold cut-off of 91.94 million tons grading 1.00g/t Au and 0.07% Cu for a cumulative total of 2.96 million ounces of gold and 60,000 tons of copper.

The bulk of the Resource is located within an Inner Ore Zone with dimensions of 600 metres by 200 metres.

Newmont has a 75 percent stake in the joint venture through its subsidiary Newmont Australia Limited.

They increased the stake from 51 percent in August 2009 to 75 percent in March 2010 after the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study on the McPhillamys Project.

Australian gold mining is looking better after the recent deal with the goverment which left gold untouched by the new taxes on coal and iron ore.