RP to benefit from Busang hoax

RP to benefit from Busang hoax

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines expects to lure foreign mining
firms following revelations that the world's biggest gold find in
Indonesia is a hoax, a senior government official said yesterday.

"What it vindicates is the kind of transparency of the
decision-making process we follow here," said Environment and
Natural Resources Undersecretary Antonio La Vina.

"The chance of a fiasco like that in Busang to happen (in the
Philippines) will be nil," he said.

He said mining legislation passed by congress in 1995 had
sufficient safeguards, including strict disclosure requirements,
to prevent fraud such as tampering with geological data.

The mining industry was stunned Monday when independent
analyst Strathcona Minerals revealed that the world's supposed
richest gold field discovered by the Canadian mining firm Bre-X
Minerals Ltd. at Busang in Indonesia was a hoax.

The mysterious death in March of Bre-X's chief geologist at
Busang, Philippine national Michael de Guzman, has added to the
controversy. De Guzman was said to have jumped from a helicopter
in an apparent suicide, but family members suspect foul play.

"We would like to stress that we still have full trust in the
Filipino geologists here and abroad, in their integrity, skills
and technical competence since there is no proof whether
geologist Michael de Guzman took part in the fraud," La Vina told
reporters.

"I don't know if the geologists abroad, especially in
Indonesia, are demoralized but we leave it to the Indonesian
authorities to look into the alleged involvement of De Guzman in
the hoax," he added.

The Philippines has approved the applications two large
Australian mining companies -- ARIMCO and Western Mining Corp. --
to explore in the country since the law was passed two years ago.

Some 120 other applications are still pending with the
Environment and Natural Resources Department after processing was
suspended last year pending some amendments to the mining law.