CNN Financial report: Did Bre-X expert kill self?
Family unsure geologist at center of Busang gold scandal really killed self
MANILA, Philippines (Reuter) - The family of a late Filipino geologist at the center of the Bre-X gold-mine scandal expressed doubts Tuesday that he committed suicide.
"For somebody who is on top of the world, for somebody who has got a great family and six beautiful kids whom he adores so much ... I don't see any reason...(why) he would commit suicide," said Simplicio de Guzman, brother of late Bre-X Minerals Ltd. chief geologist Michael de Guzman.
Michael de Guzman fell from a helicopter last month while returning to the Busang gold find, which he helped discover in the jungles of Indonesia's East Kalimantan province, located on Borneo island.
Bre-X originally billed Busang as one of the largest gold fields ever discovered, holding an estimated $20 billion of bullion.
However, word emerged soon after de Guzman's death that the field apparently contained insignificant amounts of gold.
The news sent Bre-X shares tumbling on the Nasdaq and Toronto stock markets.
Bre-X has a 45 percent stake in the Busang property, while U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. holds 15 percent and Indonesian interests the rest.
As news about Busang's insignificant gold deposits emerged, so to did questions about de Guzman's death.
Some Indonesian officials have called the
geologist's death a suicide, saying he left letters
indicating he suffered from acute hepatitis.
But officials only returned de Guzman's body to
the Philippines over the weekend -- 11 days after the
geologist's death.
On Tuesday, Simplicio de Guzman said his family
hopes to soon receive an Indonesian autopsy report
about his brother.
However, Simplicio said neither he nor other
family members had any indication that the Filipino
geologist suffered from any serious illness.
"Medical reports would show that he does not
have hepatitis," Simplicio added.
On Monday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer
newspaper quoted Simplicio as saying a Singapore
clinic gave his brother a clean bill of health last
February.
But the paper also noted that de Guzman had
been stricken by malaria 14 times in the past from his
frequent exploratory trips to the Kalimantan jungles.
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