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To: Bob Tate who wrote (2998)	11/9/1997 7:31:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116815

Bob, E-mail former USSR projects with your analyis to Richard Harmon. I most certainly not interested. There is a long list of failures with billions lost in quagmire of doing business in Russia/Kasachstan. (largest mining disaster to date is Placer Dome-pulling-out with egg on it's face) I do not want to engage you in polemic about enormous natural resources in Russia and former Soviet Union-they are on grand scale. It is a simply a corrupt, inefficient, burocratic and crime ridden situation. If you think it is terrible, you have seen nothing yet. Wait until civil unrest will in hungry, unpaid, alcohol decimated and polluted beyond any imagination (unless witnessed-and I did) mining towns would deteriorate into violence. If history ever tought any lessons...

To: Bob Tate who wrote (2998)	11/9/1997 8:18:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116815

Placer faces US$270M claim in Kazakh feud The Financial Post, Friday, May 16, 1997 at 03:38 Placer Dome Inc. is facing a demand for US$270 million from the government of Kazakhstan, as Placer's decision not to develop the Vasilkovskoye gold deposit continues to haunt it. A Placer spokesman said yesterday the company views the demand from the former Soviet republic as without merit. ''It's very far-fetched,'' said spokesman Hugh Leggatt before Placer's stock (PDG/TSE) rose 50 cents to close at $25.90. It is Placer that is owed money, said Leggatt. Placer says it is owed US$35 million -- which it calls a refundable deposit paid toward the Vasilkovskoye project -- and has gone to arbitration to get the money back. ''The US$35 million is rightfully ours under the agreement, which gave us the right to walk away,'' Leggatt said. A New York mining analyst, however, said Placer was naive to make the payment in the first place. ''It was a mistake to pay hard cash just to have a look at the deposit,'' the analyst said. Kazakhstan says Placer promised to spend US$270 million developing Vasilkovskoye. Vasilkovskoye was for years a huge open-pit gold mine operated by the Soviet Union. It is believed to contain a further 13.5 million ounces of gold, although the cost of recovering the gold is thought to be high. Nevertheless, a new would-be developer of Vasilkovskoye seems to be waiting in the wings. Malaysia Mining Corp. Bhd. is rumored to be on the verge of locking up a 70% to 80% interest in Vasilkovskoye. Malaysia Mining, based in Kuala Lumpur, operates tin mines and explores for precious metals in east Asian countries. It had 1996 sales of US$220 million. ''We've heard MMC has got up to 80% of Vasilkovskoye, with a junior partner holding the rest,'' said a Canadian mining executive whose company is active in east Asia. If so, Malaysia Mining will be at least the fifth company to take a crack at Vasilkovskoye. In April, Vancouver-based companies Teck Corp. and First Dynasty Mines Ltd. -- one of financier Robert Friedland's stable of companies -- had a joint bid to develop the property rejected by the Kazakhstan government. It was the second run Teck and First Dynasty had made for Vasilkovskoye. Placer's deal to develop the property caused controversy when it was announced in April 1995. In choosing Placer, the Kazakhstan government scuttled an open bidding process in which more than a dozen mining companies were participating. Also, there was controversy because an Australian company, Dominion Mining Ltd., had spent several million dollars exploring the project and believed it had exclusive negotiating rights. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development had refused to finance the project because of the manner in which Placer Dome's participation was arranged. Placer said it walked away from Vasilkovskoye because it felt it could achieve bigger profits from projects where it held a larger equity interest. It announced its withdrawal on Oct. 4, 1995. Under the terms of its Vasilkovskoye deal, Placer would have owned 23% and the Kazakhstan government would have held roughly 50%, with a group of western investors owning the rest. ''It's a good deposit, but we decided it would take a lot of our resources away from projects that had a greater benefit to us,'' Leggatt said. Leggatt said Placer is not unnerved by the US$270 million demand from Kazakhstan, and still has faith in the arbitration process. ''The process is there to resolve this kind of conflict, so we are hoping it will have a fair outcome for everybody.'' The arbitration is being held under the United Nations Commission on International Trade and Law. Thus far, both Placer and Kazakhstan have selected judges and those two individuals are, in turn, to jointly select a third. * Infomart-Online * The Financial Post, Wednesday, October 01, 1997 at 04:58 Toronto-based World Wide Minerals Ltd. said yesterday it is walking away from a US$23-million investment in a uranium project in Kazakhstan. The decision comes after the government of Kazakhstan refused in July to issue a uranium export licence to the company, which has developed a uranium mine in Stepnogorsk, northern Kazakhstan. World Wide says the government has ''effectively abrogated'' its agreement covering Stepnogorsk and other uranium projects. The company will try to recoup the money invested in the project, plus compensation for lost profits, but it provided few details during a conference call with investors yesterday. If negotiations fail, World Wide will begin legal and ''other appropriate actions,'' chief executive Paul Carroll said. It is not the only Canadian miner to have had a rough ride lately in Kazakhstan. Placer Dome Inc. and Kazakstan Goldfields Corp. both say the government owes them millions of dollars after reneging on agreements. In its most recent annual report, the mining company told its shareholders Kazakhstan was a country with ''many hurdles to overcome,'' but one that is making a strong drive toward privatizing its economy. The company, with a recently arranged US$60-million line of credit, says it is pursuing a uranium project in Mongolia and gold exploration in China. Shares of World Wide (WWS/TSE) fell 4 cents to 43 cents yesterday on volume of 158,650 shares.