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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 (28013)	7/25/1998 6:47:00 PM
From: Walter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28369

Saturday, July 25, 1998 Bre-X's Walsh accused SNC By SANDRA RUBIN The Financial Post Two weeks before he died, the chairman of Bre-X Minerals Ltd. pointed a finger at SNC-Lavalin Inc., claiming it had been hired to carry out an independent analysis of Busang, and its failure to report anything suspicious after "months of on-site inspections" gave him a false sense of security in the doomed project. David Walsh's assertion is a blow for the Montreal-based engineering giant, which has insisted its Kilborn subsidiary was hired only to do computer modelling and provide estimates of the size of the Busang find. But Walsh said in his final statement, sworn May 20 and filed in the Bahamas supreme court, that the work by SNC-Kilborn and Normet Pty. Ltd. went beyond that. "[They] were contracted to provide independent analysis of the Busang properties," he said in the affidavit, obtained by The Financial Post. "Following months of on-site inspections from a review of samples and assay information, neither of these institutions reported any irregularities in the procedures at the site or even any suspicion of irregularities. "As a non-geologist, I was comforted by the receipt in January 1996 and November 1996 of substantial feasibility studies from these firms which confirmed the results and methodologies being pursued by Bre-X." The due diligence team from Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc., which uncovered the fraud, said its people knew almost within minutes of setting foot on the remote jungle camp that something was very wrong. SNC official Suzanne Lalande conceded the firm had engineers on site, on and off, from 1995 until the scheme was uncovered, but denied there had been inspections. "It was not in our mandate to make site inspections," she said. "We were there ... because it was part of our work to be there, but there was no mandate. The site inspection was not carried out because we were not supposed to do so." Lalande said SNC was to conduct studies and computer models of geological samples - and did that professionally. But Walsh said the firm had a more significant role than that, claims Houston lawyer Paul Yetter. "The picture Mr. Walsh paints of SNC Lavalin is entirely different from the one being presented by the company itself - that of a low-level computer operator whose job it was to take and compile information," said Yetter, who is leading a Texas-based class-action suit. "What Mr. Walsh is saying is crystal clear: Kilborn was supposed to verify that there was gold there." The engineering firm has been hit with huge lawsuits in Canada and the U.S. Harvey Strosberg, who is leading an Ontario-based class action, said Walsh's statement is in sharp contrast with what SNC has been saying. "If it's true, it's totally inconsistent with what SNC-Lavalin has said and it could be a critical statement for investors." SNC shares (snc/tse) have taken a hit because of the firm's involvement in the nototious gold fraud. The stock was trading around $19 when the hoax was exposed in March 1997. It closed Friday up 10› at $10.90 - just slightly off its 52-week low of $10.65. "They've been hurt by Bre-X but I think the market has reacted too much," said Martin Dufresne, of Desjardins Securities. "The stock has dropped more than the value of the Kilborn subsidiary, which was acquired in 1996 for $39 million. Investors have overreacted to the impact of the Bre-X problem on SNC." BREAKING NEWS MARKET WATCH BIZ TICKERS MUTUAL FUNDS MONEY RATES BIZ SEARCH TD: Asia may slash global growth AT&T likely to form pact with BT Ex-suitor: no new bid for Loewen Tobin gives Inco ultimatum CANOE home \| We welcome your feedback. Copyright c 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. Please click here for full copyright terms and restrictions.

To: alan holman who wrote (28013)	7/26/1998 9:45:00 PM
From: alan holman	Respond to of 28369

Calgary, Alberta, Canada, May 8, 1997 ÿNEWS RELEASE Vol.: 97 No: 24 BRE-X MINERALS LTD., BRESEA RESOURCES LTD., and BRO-X MINERALS LTD., members of the BRE-X Minerals Group of Companies announced today that the they have sought and received court protection under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act and the Alberta and Canadian Business Corporation Acts. The Order received this morning from the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench appoints Price Waterhouse Limited as monitor of the assets and records of the three corporations. David Walsh, Chairman, President & CEO stated: "the purpose of this step was two-fold. Firstly, with the resignation of two outside directors announced yesterday from the respective Boards, we felt it was important that shareholders and creditors of Bre-X, Bresea, and Bro-X derive some confidence from the fact that the assets of the various companies will remain intact. Secondly, this provides the basis for a mechanism by which the various claims being advanced against the companies can be dealt with in an orderly way." The role of Price Waterhouse Limited as monitor is separate and distinct from the ongoing investigation being conducted by Price Waterhouse Chartered Accountants and Forensic Investigative Associates Inc., who were retained by Bre-X's solicitors to investigate any fraud that may have been committed against Bre-X and its shareholders and to ensure the copying, safeguarding and analysis of all relevant Bre-X records. That investigation is continuing and the companies are continuing to cooperate with those investigations and the investigation being undertaken by the RCMP which was instigated by Bre-X management. In an unrelated matter, Bre-X also announced that in response to a request from the companies John Felderhof has resigned from the Boards of Directors of each of Bre-X, Bro-X and Bresea, and is no longer in their employ effective immediately. A full text of the court order is expected to be posted on the Bre-X website at www.bre-x.com -30- On Behalf of the Board David G. Walsh Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bre-X Investor Relations Email: info@bre-x.com Web: www.bre-x.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------