SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP):

Two Canadian mining companies have announced a new search for gold and copper in the central Dominican Republic, joining a flock of North American businesses scouting for metals in the Caribbean nation.

Everton Resources Inc. and GlobeStar Mining Corp will search the 400-square-kilometre (154-square-mile) copper and gold producing Maimon Formation about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Santo Domingo, GlobeStar CEO Bill Fisher said by phone from Toronto.

Using helicopters loaded with electromagnetic and magnetic measurement equipment, the companies will look 300 metres (984 feet) under the surface for six weeks beginning in December.

It will be the first such search in this area since 1972, Everton said in a statement.

Mining companies have been arriving in the Dominican Republic in droves since Barrick Gold Corp began its US$1.4 billion redevelopment of the massive Pueblo Viejo mine, which could be the second-largest gold mine in the Americas, Fisher said.

The Dominican Republic's relative political stability and its impending entrance into the Central American Free Trade Agreement are helping attract the companies, he said.

"It's as busy as it's ever been. Gold price is high, copper price is high. The whole industry is just going 100 per cent," Fisher said. "I hope we'll be mining (in the Dominican Republic) for 20 years."

GlobeStar was already developing the area's Cerro de Maimon site, which holds an estimated 3.35 metric tonnes (3.69 tons) of copper. It would be the highest grade open-pit copper mine outside of the Congo, Fisher said.

That mine, scheduled to begin producing in 2008, is also estimated to hold 1.28 grams per tonne of gold.

Gold, which traded at US$635.30 per troy ounce Tuesday, is posting its highest prices in more than two decades.

When copper traded for US$4.04 per pound on the commodities market in May, it had reached more than five times its value from 2000.

"It's as busy as it's ever been. Gold price is high, copper price is high. The whole industry is just going 100 per cent," Fisher said. "I hope we'll be mining (in the Dominican Republic) for 20 years."