Bre-X seeks govt advise on its operations

Bre-X seeks govt advise on its operations

JAKARTA (Antara): Bre-X Minerals Ltd said Tuesday it would seek the Indonesian government's advise on how to go about its operations in the country.

Bre-X manager for Indonesia, Greg McDonald, said the company and its local subsidiaries in the meantime would keep evaluating the potentials of its projects in the country and hope a decision would be reached on what the company should do next.

Based in Calgary, Canada, Bre-X Minerals Ltd is widely believed to have manipulated the data regarding its gold deposit discovery in Busang, East Kalimantan, after Strathcona Minerals assayed its samples and declared the incident a "hoax".

After the announcement that Bre-X would compensate its 549 employees, McDonald said, the company had no other course but to ask the government what to do next.

So far the government has only announced an order to freeze all Bre-X's activities in Indonesia but has not formally served a letter to that effect.

"As long as the company does not receive the letter, Bre-X will continue its operations Indonesia," McDonald said.

The company has been doing exploration work in Busang I, II and III in East Kalimantan, as well as in Sable, Aceh, and Sangihe, North Sulawesi.

None of the explorations, however, have reached production stage.

Through its subsidiary Westralian Atas Mineral, Bre-X has a 60 percent stake in its Busang I project, while its local partners, PT Krueng Gasui and PT Sungai Atan Perdana, own 30 percent and 10 percent respectively.

Bre-X owns 45 percent in its Busang II and III projects, while Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc owns 15 percent, Nusamba 30 percent and the Indonesian government 10 percent.

Bre-X finance control manager Bernhard Leode also said his company would ask for guidance and approval from the government concerning plans the company made for its projects throughout the country.

"For the next couple of months, along with our local partners, we will keep working to make sure that our projects in Indonesia still run well," he said.