Sudjana to probe Canadian contracts

Sudjana to probe Canadian contracts

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana said
the government would thoroughly investigate Canadian mining
contractors who have applied for seventh generation contracts of
work (COWs) in order to prevent such scams like the Busang
scandal.

Sudjana said he would also conduct on-site inspections of the
companies during his visit to Canada to attend the Energy
Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation's
(APEC) in Vancouver.

The ministerial meeting will be held during the APEC summit,
which is scheduled for November in Canada.

"We don't want the (Canadian) companies to come here in name
only. We want to ensure that they will bring in big investment,"
Sudjana said after a meeting with President Soeharto.

He added that Canadian companies accounted for 75 percent or
124 of the 164 mining firms which applied for seventh generation
COWs.

Sudjana said he would seek information on the companies from
the Canadian government during his stay in Vancouver.

Aside from Canadian companies, other applicants for the COWs
come from Singapore, Australia, the United States, South Korea
and Panama.

They mostly plan to prospect for gold in Kalimantan, Sumatra,
Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Irian Jaya.

Canada's Yamana Resources Inc. is the largest applicant in
terms of the number of applications, with 12 contracts covering
2.7 million hectares in Kutai and Bulungan district, East
Kalimantan.

Other Canadian companies which have made several applications
include Corsair Exploration Inc., Barrick Gold Corp.,
International Pursuit Corp., Ivanhoe Capital, Minorca Resources
Inc., Teck Mining Ltd., Ingold Holding Indonesia Inc., Indomin
Resources Ltd., Olympic Resources Ltd., Northernera Diamonds and
others.

House members and the public have urged the government to
carefully examine the capability of mining contractors following
the Busang gold field scandal in East Kalimantan which involved
Canadian firm Bre-X Minerals.

Bre-X claimed to have found the world's largest gold resource
in Busang, prompting many giant companies as well as some eminent
Indonesians to vie for claims in the mine.

But an independent study showed the Busang gold deposit to be
insignificant. (jsk)