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Bre-X Minerals Ltd. was a junior Canadian mining company that was once reported to be sitting on an enormous gold deposit at Busang, Indonesia (on Borneo). Bre-X bought the Busang site in March 1993 and in October 1995 announced significant amounts of gold had been discovered, sending its stock price soaring. Originally a penny stock, its stock price reached a peak at $286.50 (Canadian dollars) on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), with a total capitalization of over $6 billion Canadian dollars. Bre-X logo File links The following pages link to this file: Bre-X ...
Bre-X logo File links The following pages link to this file: Bre-X ...
Borneo (including the Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia, and Brunei) is the third largest island in the world. ...
1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...
1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Canadian dollar, CAD or C$, is the unit of currency of Canada. ...
The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is Canadas largest stock exchange, and the division of the TSX Group that holds senior equities. ...
The gold reserves at Busang were alleged to be 200 million ounces (6,200 t), or up to 8% of the entire world's gold. However, it was a massive fraud and there was no gold. The core samples had been faked by salting them with outside gold. An independent lab later claimed that the faking had been poorly done, including the use of shavings from gold jewelry. In 1997, Bre-X collapsed and its shares became worthless, in one of the biggest stock scandals in Canadian history. 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
History David Walsh founded Bre-X Minerals Ltd. in 1989 as a subsidiary of Bresea Resources Ltd. The company did not make a significant profit before 1993, when Walsh followed the advice of prospector John Felderhof and bought a property in the middle of a jungle near Busang River in Borneo, Indonesia. When they hired Filipino geologist Michael de Guzman to evaluate the site, the results were impressive: the first estimate was 17 million ounces of gold, at the time worth $25 billion, which would have made it the richest gold deposit ever. Borneo (including the Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia, and Brunei) is the third largest island in the world. ...
Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, the earth) and λογος (logos, word, reason)) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history, and the processes that shape it. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number Gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11 (IB), 6, d Density, Hardness 19300 kg/m3, 2. ...
The estimate of the site's worth increased over time; in 1995 it was 30 million ounces (900 t); in 1996, 60 million (1,900 t); finally, in 1997, 200 million ounces (6,200 t). The stock price of Bre-X rose to $280 per share by 1997 (split adjusted) and at its peak it had a market capitalization equal to US$4.4 billion. As the estimated size of the deposit grew, so did the stock price and the hysteria. Junior energy and mining stocks usually flounder and are ignored by the financial establishment, but the immensity of this opportunity was too great for the big players to ignore. In a greedy frenzy the Toronto Stock Exchange listed Bre-X in its premium TSE 300 index, and there was real talk about adding it to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Market capitalization, often abbreviated to market cap, is a business term that refers to the overall value of a companys stock. ...
The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is Canadas largest stock exchange, and the division of the TSX Group that holds senior equities. ...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is one of several stock market indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company founder Charles Dow. ...
Some other mineral companies organized failed takeovers, but the Indonesian government of president Suharto also got involved. Believing that a small company like Bre-X could not exploit the site on their own, the Indonesians suggested that Bre-X share the site with American Barrick Resources (today simply called Barrick), in association with Suharto's daughter Siti Rukmana. Bre-X hired Suharto's son Sigit Hardjojudanto to handle their side of the affair. Mohamad Hasan, another Suharto acquaintance, negotiated a deal whereby Bre-X would have a 45% share, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold would run the mine and Hasan would get a cut as well. Bre-X would have the land rights for 30 years. The deal was announced February 17, 1997 and Freeport-McMoRan begun the final evaluation of the site. A takeover in commerce refers to one company (the acquirer) purchasing another (the target). ...
General Soeharto (commonly known as Suharto in the English-speaking world) (born June 8, 1921) was an Indonesian leader and military strongman. ...
Freeport-McMoRan, or Freeport in the colloquial, refers to both the US company and its mine in West Papua, Indonesia. ...
February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Unraveling of the fraud The fraud began to unravel on March 19, 1997 when Filipino Bre-X geologist Michael de Guzman jumped to his death (or was pushed) from a helicopter in Indonesia. His body was found four days later in the jungle, mostly eaten by animals and identified from molars and a thumbprint. March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ...
1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
A molar is the fourth kind of tooth in mammals. ...
This article is about human fingerprints. ...
On March 26 the American firm Freeport-McMoRan, a prospective partner in developing Busang, announced that its own due-diligence core samples showed "insignificant amounts of gold". A frenzied sell-off of shares ensued and Suharto postponed signing the mining deal. March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ...
Freeport-McMoRan, or Freeport in the colloquial, refers to both the US company and its mine in West Papua, Indonesia. ...
Bre-X demanded more reviews and commissioned a review of the test drilling. Results were not favorable to them and on April 1 Bre-X refused to comment. David Walsh blamed the whole affair on web "ghost writers" who had spread rumors on the Internet and damaged the company's reputation. Canadian gold analyst Egizio Bianchini considered the rumors "preposterous". April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ...
A third-party independent company, Strathcona Minerals, was brought in to make its own analysis. They published their results on May 4: the Busang ore samples had been salted with gold dust. The lab's tests even showed that the gold had been shaved off gold jewelry. Trading in Bre-X was soon suspended on the TSX and the Nasdaq and the company filed for bankruptcy protection. May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ...
NASDAQ MarketSite (Times Square, New York City) at night NASDAQ (originally an acronym for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American electronic stock exchange. ...
More details began to emerge; Although Bre-X had claimed that the gold vein was clearly visible, local residents had never seen anything like that. De Guzman had controlled the access to the site and he and his aide Cesar Puspos had handled the original samples during the transfer from the drill site to the assaying lab.
The aftermath By May, Bre-X faced a number of lawsuits and angry investors who had lost billions. Among the major losers were three Canadian public sector organizations: The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board (loss of $45 million) the Quebec Public Sector Pension fund ($70 million) and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan ($100 million). There was fallout in the Canadian financial sector also; the fraud proved a major embarrassment for Peter Munk, the head of Barrick Gold, as well as for the then head of the Toronto Stock Exchange (resulting in his ouster by 1999), and began a tumultuous realignment of the Canadian stock exchanges whose effects are still being felt. Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Canadian people stubs | 1927 births | Canadian businesspeople | Members of the Order of Canada ...
Walsh moved to Bahamas and died there in 1998, still protesting his innocence; Felderhof moved to the Cayman Islands. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...
In 1999 the RCMP (Canadian federal police) announced it was ending its investigation without laying criminal charges against anyone. Critics charged that the RCMP was underfunded and understaffed to handle complex criminal fraud cases, and also charged that Canadian laws in this area were inadequate. However, despite the dropping of criminal charges, civil class action suits continued. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or Mounties; French, Gendarmerie royale du Canada, GRC) is both the federal police force and the national police of Canada. ...
In law, a class action is an equitable procedural device used in litigation for determining the rights of and remedies, if any, for large numbers of people whose cases involve common questions of law and fact. ...
Bre-X finally went bankrupt in 2002 although some of its subsidiaries like Bro-X have continued until 2003. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ...
Felderhof remains in the Cayman Islands, which has no extradition treaty with Canada, although some reports place him in other countries. In 2000 and 2001, the Ontario Securities Commission charged him with insider trading. A trial took place in his absence, but was suspended in April 2001 when the OSC tried to have presiding judge Justice Peter Hryn removed for alleged bias against the prosecution. This was denied, and on December 10, 2003 the appeal was also denied. Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence. ...
2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Ontario Securities Commission administers and enforces securities legislation in the Canadian province of Ontario. ...
There are two kinds of trading that are referred to as insider trading: Trading of a security of a company (, shares or options) based on material nonpublic information. ...
December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The trial resumed on December 6, 2004 and is expected to continue until at least April 2005. December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...
Books - Douglas Goold & Andrew Willis - The Bre-X Fraud
- James Whyte & Vivian Danielson - Bre-X: Gold Today, Gone Tomorrow
- Kerry B. Collison - Indonesian Gold - a fictionalised account
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