Bre-X has yet to pick an adviser for Busang

Bre-X has yet to pick an adviser for Busang

CALGARY, Canada (Reuter): Bre-X Minerals Ltd, which garnered a muted response from investors in its first day of trade on the Toronto exchange Tuesday, expects within the next month to begin the process of finding a partner for its Busang gold project in Indonesia, company vice-president Steve McAnulty said.

McAnulty said on Tuesday the company has yet to make its choice of a financial adviser to help Bre-X determine a company that would take a 25 percent stake in Busang.

"We have talked to a number of candidates and we'll be making a decision on it probably in the next month or so," he told Reuters in a phone interview.

He said Bre-X has spoken to various potential partners in the project, which the company estimates harbors a resource of over 30 million ounces of gold, but only about "generalities."

"As far as specifics go and talking deal, etcetera -- we haven't gotten to that stage yet," he said.

McAnulty said Bre-X does not want to rush the process, preferring instead to have more accurate resource estimates for the play before bringing another player on board.

"Our intention is not to sell any more than 25 percent and the larger it gets, the less we have to part with," he said.

Bre-X closed after its first day of TSE trade on Tuesday at C$187.55, C$0.05 above its open, with 208,502 shares changing hands.

The stock closed at a year-high C$184 Monday on the Alberta Stock Exchange, its first trading venue.

McAnulty said he was not disappointed with the TSE debut of Bre-X, which has climbed to current levels from C$2 in about 13 months.

"I don't know what people expected, but I'm certainly not disappointed with it, that's for sure."

Meanwhile, the company has completed the necessary documentation to list its shares on Nasdaq, he said.

McAnulty said he expected listing of Bre-X shares on the U.S. exchange was "imminent," but he was unable to provide an exact date.