Here is something for you to read as well HaqOr Kompas online May 2nd I think this is going to blow your socks off. Read the last paragraph.
imho
Friday, 2 May 1997
New Busang Results Will Be
Released Friday
Jakarta, Kompas Online
Canadian consultants Strathcona Mineral Services are expected to
announce the results on Friday (2/5) of their analyses carried out in
Toronto on samples from the Busang mine. Meanwhile in Indonesia there
are rumours that the final results will only be made public on Monday of
next week.
Kompas contacted the spokeswoman of PT Nusamba, Nia Sarinastiti
Regar, who said that the results will be given first to Bre-X which will
subsequently report the findings to the members of the consortium for the
exploitation of Busang, namely Nusamba and Freeport Mc Rohan Copper
& Gold. The results will also be communicated to the Indonesian
government.
As to the results of the analyses, Nia added that these were kept under the
stricted secrecy. According to reliable sources, the results indicate that
there is indeed a high content of gold in the samples, however it is not as
high as originally announced by Bre-X in mid-1996. this latest round of
analyses was undertaken in order to break the deadlock that resulted
when Freeport claimed earlier this year that samples it had analysed
revealed "insignificant" amounts of gold at Busang.
Strathcona has been hired by Bre-X Minerals Ltd., the largest shareholder
of the Busang mine in a partnership with Nusamba, to conduct analyses of
Busang samples independently.
The results of the analyses, which are being conducted in Perth, Australia,
are generating a lot of suspense because they are expected to finally settle
the controversy over whether there is gold or not in Busang.
Bre-X had initially claimed that there were 71 million ounces of gold in
Busang, which made this finding the largest ever in the world. After
Freeport's claims of insignificant amounts of gold at Busang, the value of
Bre-X shares experienced a spectacular drop, suffering the highest loss in
the history of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Soon thereafter, there circulated a story that Bre-X had deliberately made
false claims in order to artificially inflate the value of its shares. As a result,
the Indonesian government had recently announced that Bre-X would no
longer be given authorization to look for gold in the archipelago. However,
earlier this week Bre-X was awarded a new contract of work by the
Indonesian government to explore an area of 123,970 hectares in North
Sulawesi.(*) |
