I will be vindibated: Bre-X chief

I will be vindibated: Bre-X chief

ARLINGTON, Virginia (AP): David Walsh, chairman of Bre-X Minerals Ltd., told USA Today he is not a swindler or foolhardy gold prospector despite the crash of his company's stock after questions were raised about its Indonesian gold holdings.

Walsh told the paper he will be vindicated of accusations he lied about the amount of gold in the Indonesian field.

"There's really been a well-oiled disinformation campaign against us," Walsh said in the Wednesday interview. "I stand by our test results."

The tiny Calgary, Canada, firm Walsh heads captivated investors across North America with claims that it had discovered the biggest gold find of the century in Indonesia.

Bre-X shares purchased for a few cents in 1993 soared to more than US$200 last September, then lost more than 80 percent of their value in frenzied selloff on March 27 after tests by a prospective partner - Freeport McMoRan - turned up no evidence of mineable gold at the site.

Walsh, a former stockbroker, said the meteoritic rise of his company was legitimate.

"We wanted to build this company on a business-like basis, not with promotion or as a fly-by-night operation," he told USA Today. He advised shareholders to: "Do what I'm doing. Be patient. Wait for the audit results. This problem is not Bre-X's doing."

He predicted independent tests to be released in early May will back Bre-X's initial claim that the side on the Indonesian island of Borneo contains gold.

If it turns out to be as vast as the 71 million ounces estimated by Bre-X, the find would be worth more than US$24 billion at Wednesday's gold price of $341.10 per ounce.

"I tried to keep our share price equal to the value of the deposit," Walsh told the paper. "If we hadn't done that and lagged behind, we were a target for a takeover and at a very cheap price. That wouldn't have been good for our shareholders."