Hey Mikey and ALL: Here is the latest out of Indonesia and South Pacific has honourable mention.
Friday, March 21, 1997
Bre-X to get final work contracts next week, sources say
Terminal illness prompted de Guzman suicide: Bre-X
By S.N. VASUKI
For The Financial Post
JAKARTA - Bre-X Minerals Ltd.'s Busang gold project will receive a final go-ahead from the Indonesian government next
week, sources close to the country's Mines and Energy Ministry said yesterday.
Other Canadian mining juniors with projects in Indonesia are expected to receive vital work contracts for their properties by
the end of this week, the source said. "The Busang venture will receive presidential approval, probably next Thursday or
Friday," he said.
"The ministry has already approved the relevant documents and it will be sent to President Suharto early next week for
signing."
A lengthy delay in the issuance of a vital "contract of work" for development of Busang is what has driven much of the
high-stakes drama surrounding Calgary-based Bre-X, which now holds 45% of the massive discovery on Borneo.
Getting Suharto's signature on the COW will be a much-needed boost for Bre-X, which has been hit this week with the
suicide of its senior Busang geologist.
Sources also said several other Canadian companies hunting for gold, diamonds and copper in Indonesia will receive their
COWs as early as this weekend.
Many of those companies have watched their stock prices dwindle as confusion over Bre-X's claim to Busang persisted during
the wait for approval.
"You can map the downward trend of our stock price to the Bre-X story," said Cam DeLong, of South Pacific Resources
Corp. in Vancouver.
Bre-X's application, and those of at least eight other Canadian companies, are grouped in what is referred to as the "sixth
generation" of COW applications. There are 70 applications in the sixth generation, of which Bre-X accounts for two.
Contracts in a single generation are usually issued together but, because of the spectacular nature of the Busang find, the
Busang COW will be signed separately, the sources said.
Also eagerly awaiting the COW are Bre-X's partners - U.S. miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and an
Indonesian consortium.
Under Indonesian mining law, COWs are vital because they guarantee land tenure for 30 years.
"It's one of the best pieces of mineral legislation in any developing country in the world," said Ken McKechnie, president of
Indomin Resources Ltd. of Toronto.
Indomin has four applications in the sixth generation, one for gold exploration on a property immediately adjacent to the
Busang find.
South Pacific has seven applications in the sixth generation, and has been waiting as long as two years for approval. It was
prepared to move some of its investments out of Indonesia if its COWs were not signed, DeLong said.
South Pacific's applications include four gold and diamond prospects in Borneo's East Kalimantan province, where Busang is
located, and two gold and copper prospects in West Kalimantan.
Other Canadian companies with sixth-generation applications include Scorpion Minerals Inc., International Pursuit Corp.,
Diadem Resources Ltd., Waseco Resources Inc. and Mindoro Resources Ltd.
- with files from Paul Bagnell/FP |
