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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nikole Wollerstein who wrote (68199)	8/13/2006 2:39:04 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

Newmont Says It's Under Investigation (he who has the gold makes the rules - but gold ownership is so fleeting eh? - Snicker) news.moneycentral.msn.com DENVER (AP) - Newmont Mining Corp. disclosed Friday the government of Uzbekistan has launched a criminal investigation into the company amid a $48 million (euro37.6 million) tax dispute threatening its gold operations in that country. Newmont, one of the world's largest gold producers, did not specify the criminal allegations against the Zarafshan-Newmont Joint Venture and its employees in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It acknowledged the situation has deteriorated and it has placed employees on leave during negotiations with government officials. "At this point, the company no longer has day-to-day control over ZNJV's operations given these disputes and the threat of criminal charges against our personnel," Newmont spokesman Randy Engel said in an e-mailed statement. Uzbek officials refused to comment. The Uzbekistan dispute is the third international situation that Newmont has faced recently. The other two involve a jobs protest in Peru and an ongoing trial of a Newmont executive in Indonesia. The joint venture has been fighting an order from a Uzbekistan economic court to pay about taxes and penalties to resolve two claims dating to 2002. One claim for the period between 2002 and 2004 is for $37 million and the other for 2005 is for $11 million. Representatives of the joint venture contend it was protected from changes in tax laws by a decree; Uzbekistan tax authorities have rejected that argument. Engel said that the company also is pursuing international arbitration. Uzbekistan officials, in the meantime, have blocked the joint venture's gold shipments out of the country, and some of its assets have been seized, Newmont said. "If the Uzbek authorities continue to restrict gold shipments, ZNJV will no longer be able to maintain normal operations," Engel wrote. In addition, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has told the joint venture that funds in its account were no longer available. The partnership has an outstanding debt obligation of about $20 million (euro15.6 million) with the bank and the account has about $14 million (euro11 million), Newmont said. The mining company has said it would consider a sale of its 50-percent interest in the joint venture, worth about $94 million (euro73.6 million) as of June 30. In recent months, President Islam Karimov's government has pressured foreign-funded aid groups and media outlets, forcing many to leave the ex-Soviet republic. Relations with the United States deteriorated markedly after Washington joined with European countries in calling for an independent probe into last year's bloody uprising in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan. The Uzbek government eventually expelled U.S. forces from a base in the southern part of the country that was supporting operations in neighboring Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Newmont is defending a senior executive in Indonesia who is accused of dumping pollutants in a bay off Sulawesi Island and last week reached an agreement with Peruvian villagers who staged a demonstration over jobs marred by the death of one protester at a mine in the Andes north of Lima. Shares of Newmont dipped 14 cents, or 0.26 percent, to $52.73 a share in early trading on the new York Stock Exchange. Based in Denver, Newmont has operations in Nevada, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Canada, Uzbekistan, Bolivia, New Zealand and Mexico.