Dow Jones Business News -- March 19, 1997
Bre-X Geologist Falls From Helicopter In Indonesia
Dow Jones News Services
JAKARTA -- Indonesia's Busang saga took a bizarre new twist
Wednesday when the Filipino geologist of Canada's Bre-X Minerals
Ltd. (BXMNF), which found what is claimed to be one of the
world's biggest gold deposits, disappeared over the island of
Kalimantan.
Indonesian police and search and rescue officials confirmed that
40-year-old Michael de Guzman apparently plunged to his death
after the right-hand door of the French-made Alloete helicopter
suddenly opened shortly after lift off from the coastal city of
Samarinda, 1,260 kilometers northeast of Jakarta.
Edi Tursono, the pilot of the Indonesia Air Transport helicopter,
told police he searched for about 20 minutes but failed to find
de Guzman's body. De Guzman was the exploration manager for
Bre-X, the small Calgary-based company that holds the Busang
concession.
Police said they were still searching the area around Tenggarong,
a small town about 30 kilometers northeast of Samarinda. De
Guzman was on his way to the Busang site, 225 kilometers to the
northwest across rugged foothills.
A spokesman for PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of
Louisiana-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), which
will operate the mine, couldn't provide any additional
information. Freeport geologists have been conducting due
diligence drilling on the Busang site for the past three weeks.
Geologist Michael De Guzman and John Felderhof, Bre-X Minerals
Ltd.'s (BXMNF) vice-chairman and co-founder of the deposit, were
to have attended a meeting with Freeport officials in Samarinda
this week.
Bre-X's Jakarta representative Greg McDonald confirmed that de
Guzman took a flight to Kalimantan on Tuesday, but said he had no
word about Felderhof's movements and thought Felderhof was at his
home in Grand Cayman.
The latest twist in the saga over the Busang find follows last
month's signing of a joint venture to develop the mine, which
includes Bre-X, Freeport and two Indonesian companies closely
linked to Indonesian President Suharto.
Under the deal, Bre-X will hold a 45% stake in Busang, Freeport
15%, and the Indonesian interests 40%. The joint-venture
agreement followed a vicious five-month long battle for Busang.
Suitors for the mine included Bre-X, Barrick Gold Corp. (T.ABX)
and Placer Dome Inc. (T.PDG) - all three of which are based in
Canada.
The awarding of the deal to Freeport took many in the market by
surprise as the Louisiana-based mining company had never
officially announced an interest in Busang.
In a news release, Bre-X Minerals Ltd. (BXMNF) said: ''It is with
great sadness that we have to announce that Mike de Guzman,
Bre-X's chief geologist at the Busang gold deposit, fell
approximately 800 feet from a helicopter as he was returning to
the mine site in East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. This is a
tragic development, and our hearts and prayers are with Mike's
family.''
The company said a search and rescue team is conducting an
extensive search of the area. It said John B. Felderhof,
vice-chairman of Bre-X, who is currently in North America, will
be returning immediately to Indonesia. |
