Barrick to continue exploration in Indonesia
JAKARTA (JP): Canada's Barrick Gold Corp will continue to explore in Indonesia regardless of what happens over the controversial Busang gold mine, a company executive said yesterday.
Barrick's vice president for communications, Vincent Borg, said nothing had changed his company's activities in Indonesia.
"The development in Busang gold mine did not affect our operation in Indonesia. We will continue our exploration there," he told The Jakarta Post from Toronto, Canada.
Vincent was commenting on a news story published by AP in Toronto last week which said dozens of mining companies, including the failed suitors of Bre-X in developing the Busang gold mine -- Placer Dome Inc and Barrick Gold Corp -- would probably halt mineral exploration in Indonesia until they got final approval.
He said his company was committed to exploring its 10 Indonesian properties, one of which is near East Kalimantan's Busang gold mine.
He said that since setting up an exploration office in Jakarta in mid-1994, Barrick had spent almost US$15 million on exploration in Indonesia.
"During the last two years alone we spent more than $10 million," Vincent said.
Barrick, which in 1995 posted a 40 percent rise in net profit to almost $1.3 billion and total assets of $3.56 billion, is exploring 10 properties in Indonesia in a series of joint ventures with local companies. The joint ventures are at varying stages of exploration and development.
Five of the properties -- three in Irian Jaya (2.9 million hectares), one in Sumatra (143,000 hectares), and one in East Nusa Tenggara (1.2 million hectares) -- are subject to the sixth generation of contract of works (COW) .
The other five -- four in Kalimantan (more than three million hectares), one in Sumatra -- are under the seventh generation of COW.
He said that because of his company's financial strength it had no problem funding exploration in Indonesia.
Vincent said Barrick had no data on Busang's reserves. "We only tested the samples of Busang provided by Bre-X. We have no chance of making our own drilling."
Analysts in Toronto have speculated that two former bidders for Bre-X -- Barrick Gold Corp and Placer Dome Inc -- could have relevant data about the size and viability of the site.
Barrick was about to sign a joint venture deal with Bre-X to develop the Busang gold mine when the government announced on Feb. 16 this year a new partnership to develop the mine.
Bre-X got 45 percent, down from its original 90 percent stake. New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Gold and Copper Inc got 15 percent and 40 percent went to the Indonesian government and two Indonesian companies. (bnt)