Engineering Geology of Barrick Goldstrike Mines’ Betze Pit

Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc.’s Betze open pit is located at the north end of the Carlin Trend, in Eureka County, NV. Ten open pit gold mines exist on the trend, which strikes northwesterly, through the north end of Eureka County and into Elko County (Fig. 1). The final pit will be about 2440 m long x 1550 m wide (8000 x 5100 ft), elongate in a west-northwesterly direction and about 425 m (1400 ft) deep. The pit straddles the Barrick-Newmont Gold Co. property boundary. History The first hole at the Goldstrike Mine was drilled in 1962. Between 1963 and 1964, 17 shallow holes were drilled with little encouragement, in view of the price of gold at $1.12/g ($35/oz). From 1962 to 1975, several different companies explored the Goldstrike property. In 1975, Pancana Industries acquired the property. In 1976, Pancana’s exploration efforts found sufficient gold mineralization to initiate heap leach production. In 1977, Pancana formed a joint