Rescuers finally find Busang geologist's body

JAKARTA (JP): Rescuers have found the body of geologist Michael de Guzman, who it is thought fell to his death from a helicopter while flying to the Busang gold deposit he helped discover in East Kalimantan, an official said Monday.

Sugijanto, the head of the airport at Temindung, East Kalimantan, said De Guzman's body was found at about 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Sugijanto coordinated the five-day search, conducted by a 200-strong team comprising members of the local police, military, Bre-X employees, Temindung airport staff, and residents.

Sugijanto said he was only informed about the find yesterday morning by team members combing land at the PT Sumalindo base camp, some 200 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital Samarinda.

"I immediately sent out a Search and Rescue helicopter from Balikpapan with air evacuation equipment," he said.

The body of De Guzman, a Filipino national, was found face down in a swamp, 150 meters to the west of the estimated location in Manamang, a village north of Muarakaman, part of PT Surya Hutani Jaya's timber estate, Sugijanto said.

He said the body of the Bre-X Minerals Ltd. mining company's operations manager was now at the Wahab Sachrani Hospital in Samarinda, awaiting autopsy.

The authorities speculated that De Guzman committed suicide following the discovery of a note inside one of his bags.

De Guzman was on his way to the Busang property in Muaraancalong district last Wednesday when he fell out of the back sliding door of the Allouette 3 helicopter he allegedly opened 17 minutes after leaving Samarinda airport. The authorities reckon he jumped.

The helicopter had been hired from the air charter firm Indonesia Air Transport by Bre-X, for whom De Guzman was also chief geologist. Officials said the helicopter was in a good condition.

Bre-X estimated the Busang deposit contained at least 70 million ounces of gold, currently worth around $25 billion, making it the biggest such discovery of this century.

PT Freeport Indonesia spokesman Edward J. Pressman said yesterday his company was still carrying out exploration at the Busang II and III sites in East Kalimantan in order to determine the real extent of the gold reserves there.

"Wait for another three or four weeks (for an explanation)," Pressman said.

Bre-X has entered into an agreement with Indonesian partners and the United States mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. to develop Busang.

The death of De Guzman coincided with newspaper reports that Busang contained less than the originally estimated gold reserves.

The Neraca newspaper, quoting an unidentified source, reported Friday that a review by New Orleans-based Freeport had shown that the gold deposit in Busang was smaller than Bre-X's estimate.

Minister of Mines and Energy Ida Bagus Sudjana said Sunday his ministry would look into the latest news reports about the Busang deposit.

The Busang property was the subject of a bidding war until last month as several mining companies wooed the government for control of the property.

Following the controversial scramble for shares, the government announced last month that Bre-X was given a 45 percent stake, the Indonesian government 10 percent, Freeport 15 percent, with 30 percent going to a private Indonesian consortium controlled by businessman Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, a close confidante of President Soeharto. (aan)