Autopsy performed on Bre-X geologist
JAKARTA (JP): A team of doctors performed an autopsy yesterday on the body of geologist Michael de Guzman who fell from a helicopter while flying to the Busang gold property he helped discover in East Kalimantan.
Sugiyanto, head of the Temindung airport in the East Kalimantan capital Samarinda, said de Guzman's body was at the Wahab Syahrani General Hospital in the provincial capital.
"Doctors performed an autopsy on the body today (Tuesday). The autopsy finished at 3 p.m.," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone, but did not mention any results. Sugiyanto coordinated the five-day search and rescue operation launched after de Guzman fell from the Alouette 3 helicopter last week.
"The body seems to be fairly intact," he added.
The doctors were from the Bre-X Minerals company and the East Kalimantan Police Hospital, he said.
The body was taken to Balikpapan yesterday at 5 p.m. It was scheduled to be flown to Jakarta this morning.
Sugiyanto said last Friday that de Guzman may have committed suicide as one of several letters found in a bag he left in the helicopter was addressed to his wife saying that he was suffering from acute hepatitis B.
De Guzman, a Filipino national, was on his way to the Busang property last Wednesday when the back door of the helicopter burst open 17 minutes after leaving Samarinda airport, search and rescue officials said.
The Busang motherlode, estimated by Canadian exploration company Bre-X Minerals Ltd to contain at least 71 million ounces of gold currently worth around $25 billion, is the biggest gold find this century.
The helicopter had been hired by Bre-X, where de Guzman was chief geologist, and was said to be in good condition.
Frank Cimafranca, third secretary and consul at the Philippine embassy in Jakarta, told Reuters De Guzman's body was likely to be shipped back to the Philippines over the next few days unless police wanted to conduct further investigations.
Embassy sources said de Guzman's wife and two daughters were expected to arrive in Jakarta today from the Philippines. The sources did not rule out a further autopsy.
Bre-X has entered into an agreement with Indonesian partners and the U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc to develop Busang.
The death of de Guzman, coupled with newspaper reports last Friday that Busang contained less than the estimated gold reserves, hit the Bre-X share price on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.
The shares rebounded partly Monday after the company issued a statement defending the accuracy of the assay results and calculations on the amount of gold contained in Busang. (imn/swe)