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Gold/Mining/Energy : BRE-X, Indonesia, Ashanti Goldfields, Strong Companies. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: alan holman who wrote (27595)	12/18/1997 2:09:00 PM
From: alan holman	Respond to of 28369

P.T. Inco Back in Production as Power Restored, El Nino Drought Ends PR Newswire - December 18, 1997 12:04 N. %MNG V%PRN P%PRN TORONTO, Dec. 18 /CNW-PRN/ - The Indonesian operation of Inco Limited is returning to full production as hydroelectric power was restored today and the worst drought in south Asia in half a century has eased with seasonal rains. Inco President Scott Hand, who is also President and Commissioner of P.T. International Nickel Indonesia, said today that because the Company undertook an aggressive program to lessen the impact of the El Nino drought, P.T. Inco is now on target to meet its expanded 1998 production of 100 million pounds of nickel in matte - eight million more than originally planned for 1998. Production for 1997 is expected to be about 70 million pounds. He said P.T. Inco, 59 per cent owned by Inco Limited, will return to full production early in January after two of its three electric furnaces were shut down in mid-November as the result of El Nino drought which affected P.T. Inco's ability to generate hydroelectric power. About 85 per cent of P.T. Inco's power comes from its 165-megawatt hydroelectric generating facility. Hydro power generation was restored today following increases in the lake level and major channel deepening from Lake Towuti that will benefit P.T. Inco later if water levels are low. P.T. Inco is widely recognized as one of the low cost nickel producers in the world. It has a number of competitive advantages for further growth, including an excellent ore body and low cost power. With its current expansion project and opportunities for further expansion, P.T. Inco is expected to increase its position as a leading supplier to meet the rapidly growing demand for nickel in the Asian market. Hand said the drought hasn't slowed the U.S. $580 million expansion of the P.T. Inco's facilities to increase annual production capacity by 50 per cent to 150 million pounds of nickel in matte. It's on schedule and on budget. A key milestone of the expansion project was completed on December 14 as the Larona River was diverted to accommodate the construction of a new hydroelectric dam. Initial production from the project is expected in late 1998 with gradual increases of production in 1999 and full production in 2000. As a result of the expansion which includes the capacity to generate an extra 93 megawatts of hydro power, P.T. Inco, now one of the world's lowest cost nickel producers, will have even lower cash costs in 1999. ''With all the work done by our people and with the rains steadily increasing, we're ending 1997 on an upbeat note and we're in great shape for an excellent year at P.T. Inco in 1998,'' said Mr. Hand. Photographs and video footage of the P.T. Inco expansion are available from Inco Corporate Public Affairs at 416 361-7754. SOURCE Inco Limited /CONTACT: Toronto: David Allen (416) 361-7669; Jakarta: Andre Deanuwy, 62 21 524-9000/ (N.)

To: alan holman who wrote (27595)	12/19/1997 3:00:00 AM
From: Phil Jones	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28369

Alan: Graham Farquharson says in the CP report that nothing like Bre-X ever happened before "or could again". I wonder about this last part. Bre-X took over investors. They wanted to believe. Even though the info coming out of Busang was "too good to be true", investors wanted to believe it. What I never understood was why, when Bre-X was adding 200,000,000 ounces to the world's gold reserves, the price of gold didn't drop through the floor. Instead it was over US$400 at one point. And after Bre-X's "200,000,000 ounces" had vaporized, the price of gold plunges. That suggests to me that the big gold traders in the world never did take Bre-X seriously. Imagine how low the price of gold might have gone in recent months if the 200,000,000 ounces of reserves had been confirmed. US$200? Anyway, Bre-X was great entertainment for a year, and gave good insights into how greed often gets the better of people's otherwise rational thinking.

To: alan holman who wrote (27595)	12/19/1997 9:23:00 AM
From: Mr Metals	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28369

Alan Check this out. Bre-X Minerals Ltd - Globe says Canadian diplomat knew of fraud Bre-X Minerals Ltd BXMShares issued 2191033301997-05-07 close $0.09Friday Dec 19 1997The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, December 19, edition that Gary Smith, the Canadian ambassador in Indonesia, was given confidential information last March about possible fraud at Bre-X Minerals' Busang gold site, documents show. The Globe's Paul Waldie writes that the ambassador was worried about the impact of the fraud, according to confidential memos written by embassy officials. One memo marked "confidential Canadian eyes only," says, "We have the makings of a massive scandal on our hands which could severely affect Canadian economic and political interests at home and abroad." The documents include briefing notes set to Lloyd Axworthy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to the memos, Ambassador Smith got the confidential information when he met Paul Murphy, executive vice president of PT Freeport Indonesia, at 9:30 am on March 27 to review Freeport's drill results at Busang. The meeting came just as Freeport issued a press release in Canada saying that preliminary drilling found no gold. (c) Copyright 1997 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com Mr Metals