Hey Bill, Not to harp on the Kilborn thing but my curiousity has gotten the better of me. Do you, ol'49r or anyone else know what Kilborns terms of reference was in its contract with Bre-x?
I have been working on the assumption that Normet was subcontracted to do the detailed sample analyses. Their report was appended as part of the feasibility study. Remember that even after Stratcona indicated problems, Normet was suggesting to buy Bre-x. Normets behavior was a factor(although small) in my decision to stay in.
Junaidi, is it possible that Normet is stillborn? Sorry but I've tried everything and I can't get that to rhyme.
alan holman's history lesson was useful for something :),
Wednesday, April 9, 1997
Consultant denies finding placer gold in
Bre-X samples
OSC under pressure to unlock Bre-X secrets
By PAUL BAGNELL
Mining Reporter The Financial Post
An Australian mineral consulting firm said yesterday its report to Bre-X Minerals Ltd. -- one that last week raised fears of possible tampering at Bre-X's Indonesian gold find -- had been badly misinterpreted.
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Last week, parts of a report by Australian mineral consultants Normet Pty. Ltd. were divulged in the Northern Miner newspaper. The news that Normet found gold particles that were "mostly rounded with beaded outlines" set off alarm bells among gold experts, including some who have earned their living in the gold assaying business.
Several said rounded gold particles simply do not show up in rock samples, a fact that made them suspect Bre-X's crushed rock samples may have been "salted" with gold. Rounded gold particles, they said, usually come from rivers and are commonly known as "placer" gold.
Normet yesterday denied it had found placer gold in Bre-X's samples. The firm said it did not tell Bre-X that it had found gold that did not belong in bedrock ore.
Experts contacted yesterday gave considerable weight to Normet's statements, but said questions remain about the rounded particles that demand answers.
Dr. George Duncan, president of Accurassay Laboratories in Kirkland Lake, Ont., said the biggest unanswered question now is whether Normet believes rounded gold particles have come from underground rock samples.
He had earlier been among those who suspected tampering at Busang, but yesterday softened his position after seeing a copy of the Normet report. "The question I have is: Did they confirm gold particulates embedded in the rock?" Duncan said.
"It's important to know what proportion of gold particles they looked at were beaded," said Tim
Oriad, director of research at Casmyn Resource Development, a Vancouver-based gold producer.
Oriad has researched accusations of gold salting several times in his career, and twice established fraud.
Oriad, who has reviewed the full Normet report, said the gold particles could have become rounded when the ore sample was crushed prior to testing.
"It's plausible and it happens frequently," he said.
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