Bre-X and Barrick face new hurdle
Bre-X and Barrick face new hurdle
JAKARTA (JP): Canadian mining companies Bre-X Minerals Ltd.
and Barrick Gold Corp. face a new stumbling block before they can
develop the disputed Busang gold mine.
Sources said yesterday Bre-X did not agree that the
government's 10 percent stake in the project could be taken
equally from the two firms' shares, and that the government was
planning to revoke the Busang II concession.
"Barrick wants to see that the government's request for a 10
percent stake in Busang would be taken equally from the two
companies' shares. But seemingly Bre-X has objected to such a
scheme," an informed source told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
She said Barrick was waiting for "new solutions" to several
disagreements between the two Canadian companies.
Another informed mining industry source said the government
had planned to revoke the Busang II mining concession, which was
being held by PT Asketindo, Bre-X's local partner.
Busang II, which Bre-X claims holds one of the world's largest
deposits with an estimated 57.33 million ounces of gold, was
discovered by PT Asketindo and Bre-X.
The source said that after the discovery the government
granted Bre-X and Asketindo a temporary mining contract, which
would qualify them for a final contract of work to develop the
gold mine.
He said the revocation of the Busang II concession would mean
that Asketindo and Bre-X -- which in October signed up Sigit
Hardjojudanto, Rukmana's eldest brother -- would no longer have
the right to develop the gold mine and pave the way for other
firms to control it.
Umar Said, the Ministry of Mines and Energy's secretary-
general, said earlier that the two Canadian companies had finally
agreed that Barrick would have a 75 percent stake and Bre-X a 25
percent in the gold mine.
He said the two mining firms had also agreed to accommodate a
10 percent stake for the government but were undecided on how to
arrange it.
Another Canadian mining company, Placer Dome Inc., said it was
still keen to acquire a substantial interest in the Busang mine.
(bnt)