Past Pages, Dec. 5, 2011: Big discovery by Barrick Gold gets industry attention

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we feature snippets of stories that published a decade ago to provide readers a 10-year perspective of business news in the region. This week’s stories first published in the Dec. 5, 2011, edition of the NNBW.

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Big discovery by Barrick Gold gets industry attention

Barrick Gold Corporation’s two new gold discoveries in Nevada represent the biggest mining story in the state for 2011, says Alan Coyner, administrator for the Nevada Division of Minerals.

In September, Barrick said it had found estimated resources of nearly 3.5 million ounces of gold at its Red Hill and Goldrush claims near the company’s flagship Cortez mining operations 75 miles southwest of Elko. Barrick is conducting further drilling on the claim area to determine the full scope of the discovery.

“It is the story of the year because of its size,” Coyner told a standing-room crowd of top-level mining executives at the annual Northwest Mining Association conference at John Ascuaga’s Nugget. “It is obviously going to be big — you can tell from the cross-sections and the drill intercepts that they have published. It further strengthens Barrick’s position in Nevada outside of the Carlin Trend. Their biggest deposits are Goldstrike and Meikle, and now they have another anchor.”


Homeowners bring renewed glow to holiday contractors

Companies that provide holiday lighting services expect December to be both merry and bright.

Although budget cutbacks at some large businesses in the Truckee Meadows have impacted lighting companies and decorators, the residential lighting market remains strong, particularly in high-end and middle-class neighborhoods, lighting contractors say.

Many companies that do holiday lighting, such as landscaping and electrical contractors, added the service to boost revenues during slow winter months. Hanging Christmas lights provides additional revenues and gives employers a means of keeping key employees busy and avoid seasonal layoffs.

As one example, Signature Landscapes branched out into holiday lighting when it purchased Reno Lawn and Landscaping in 2006. Business was booming until 2009, says the company’s marketing manager, Steve Fine, and it’s slowly recovering after a few down years.


Investment fund purchases distribution facility at TRIC

The $25.6 million sale of a major industrial property at Tahoe Reno Industrial Center in Storey County reflects a vote of confidence in the Northern Nevada market, says a broker who helped put the deal together.

KTR Capital Partners Ltd. of New York acquired the 566,885-square-foot building from Eagle Valley Industrial Center LLC, owned by McShane Development Company, a suburban Chicago company, and MetLife Real Estate Investments.

The building on the east side of Tahoe Reno Industrial Center is completely occupied by a Diapers.com distribution center. Completed in mid-2008, the building sat vacant for more than two years before Diapers.com moved in. But a tenant who’d signed a lease on the entire building created an attractive proposition for KTR Capital Partners.

“This was a compelling opportunity to acquire a high-quality, stabilized asset at a discount to replacement cost,” said Philip Prassas, senior vice president of investments for KTR.