Indonesia's Nusamba to check Busang gold deposit
Reuters Story - February 19, 1997 05:14
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JAKARTA, Feb 19 (Reuter) - Indonesia's Nusamba Group, which
has a stake in the huge Busang gold property in East Kalimantan,
said on Wednesday it would send a team to the area to check the
deposit.
"We will send a team to check the gold deposit in East
Kalimantan," Nusamba president-commissioner Muhammad "Bob" Hasan
told a press conference after a shareholders' meeting of Astra
International . He gave no further details.
Industry sources said companies involved in the project were
expected to visit the property for environmental, geological and
engineering assessments to prepare for Busang's development.
The Indonesian government on Tuesday approved a proposal
from Canada's Bre-X Minerals Ltd to develop the
property with its Indonesian partners and Freeport McMoRan
Copper and Gold Inc of the United States.
Bre-X will have a 45 percent stake in Busang, Indonesia's PT
Askatindo Karya Minerals and PT Amsya Lyna and their partners 30
percent, Freeport 15 percent, and the Indonesian government the
remaining 10 percent.
The Nusamba group, 80 percent owned by three foundations
headed by President Suharto and 10 percent each by Hasan and
Suharto's eldest son Sigit Harjojudanto, has a 50 percent stake
each in Askatindo and Amsya.
Hasan declined to comment on how much Nusamba would pay for
its stake in the Busang property or how it would be raised.
"If you ask where we will get the money, it's a company
secret. We don't have to let you know about it," he said. [emphasis added]
He also dismissed any possible link between his close
relationship with President Suharto and Nusamba's Busang stake.
"My considerations in the business area are purely business,
not politics," he said.
"I have been friends with President Suharto since 40 years
ago when communists were still in Indonesia," he said.
Hasan was elected president-commissioner of Indonesia's
largest car maker PT Astra International on Wednesday at the
shareholders' meeting. Nusamba had a 8.83 percent stake in Astra
as of February 3, making it the third-biggest shareholder. |
