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

To: Surething who wrote (27726)	2/7/1998 2:10:00 PM
From: alan holman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28369

wedabay.com

To: Surething who wrote (27726)	2/22/1998 11:36:00 PM
From: alan holman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28369

IIIIIIIIIIICOULD..JUST>>SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOCUS-New contracts fillip for Indonesian mining Reuters Story - February 22, 1998 20:46 %EMRG %MET %ID %MIN %GOL %GDM %MIS %CA %CRIM %US %WEA %AU FCX N.TO ANTM.JK BHPX V%REUTER P%RTR By Jim Poole JAKARTA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Indonesian government has announced a fresh round of 38 mining contracts that will allow foreign firms to develop gold, silver, nickel and diamond deposits in this sprawling mineral-rich archipelago. "The event is a strong signal that Indonesia is open to foreign participation in this important sector," said Canada's Ambassador to Indonesia Gary Smith. "Of the 38 contracts, fifteen directly involve Canadian mining and exploration interests," he said in a statement last week. The proposals have been carefully vetted to avoid any repeat of last year's fiasco involving Canada's Bre-X Minerals which claimed the gold find of the century in Indonesia, only for it to turn out to be a costly fraud. "We carefully select the applicants because we don't want situations like the Busang case happening again," said Mines and Energy Minister Ida Bagus Sudjana. Bre-X said it discovered a huge mine in the Busang area of Kalimantan but it turned out to be a hoax, wiping out the firm's market value of Canada $6.0 billion (US$4.2 billion) and sapping confidence in exploration stocks. "A huge amount of capital is required for exploration activities, which are very speculative in terms of results," Sudjana told reporters. The country is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, but the plunge in the rupiah and financial turmoil seem to have had little impact so far on mining investment. "Investment in the mining sector has not been affected by the current monetary crisis," Sudjana said. The mining potential of these volcanic islands is huge. Its large mineral reserves include bauxite, copper, nickel, gold and diamonds. PT Freeport Indonesia, 82 percent-owned by U.S. company Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc , has the world's largest copper and gold mine in Irian Jaya. PT Inco, 59 percent-owned by Inco Ltd of Canada, mines nickel in the Soraoko area of Sulawesi, and PT Aneka Tambang mines the metal in southeast Sulawesi and Gebe island. Freeport and a scattering of mines across the islands produce about 100 tonnes of gold a year. Dry weather has affected operations at PT Inco, but the giant Freeport mine uses underground water and is not dependent on rivers to transport the concentrates. PT Aneka Tambang was awarded 15 of the latest round of contracts in joint ventures with foreign companies. Chief among them was a venture with BHP Asia-Pacific Nickel Pty Ltd to produce 40,000 tonnes of nickel and 3,600 tonnes of cobalt starting in 2001 from Gag island deposits off west Irian Jaya. Australia's Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd has a 75-percent stake in the project, with the balance held by PT Aneka Tambang. BHP has 75 percent of the equity and says output will only go ahead if costs were near the world's lowest. Among other contracts awarded to PT Aneka Tambang, 12 were for gold, one for nickel and one for diamonds. It has 10 to 30 percent of these projects with foreign partners holding the rest. -- Jakarta newsroom (6221) 384-6364; Fax (6221) 344-8404 -- Email: jakarta.newsroomreuters.com C