Freeport (FCX) in bed with Indonesian Military-US Goverment Agencies all over Freeport!
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (symbol FCX on the New York Stock Exchange) is being accused by NY Times of paying off Indonesian Military and spying on Environmental Groups. Chief Executive Richard Adkerson has responded to NYT with a letter "too long to publish", and after sending another shorter letter, we are still waiting to hear the Company's official response.
What's new? Indonesia is a country with a very military friendly Government. That FCX and NEM (who have major Gold mining operations in Indonesia) are paying small amounts of money to have secure workplaces in a relatively unsafe country seems to bother NYT. Notwithstanding that FCX alone gave $1B in taxes to the Indonesian Government! You think the Indonesian Goverment spends all that on building highways? A decent part of the Government's budget is spent on the Military ($6.4B was spent on Military in 2004, link here) This is 1.8% of the GDP, but "other military businesses and foundations" contribute more. See link here).
Mining companies overseas operating in tough places always have to spend exorbitant amounts on security. This is to ensure that all goes well at the mine-imagine if they didn't! These guys operate in remote locations in Africa, South America-and needless to say, there is some bending of the rules. And NYT is all over FCX for that. A classic case of News made from Nothing.
Mining companies also have to take the constant complaints of Environmental Groups worldwide. While this is necessary, I think zealous reporters sometimes go too far in publicizing the "damages" part of the story. I personally have seen Barrick do major developments in Argentina, for example, making sure the environmental damages are minimal. These guys are not all crooks! Once in a while a mess up like Exxon-Valdez or Union Carbide in Bhopal will happen, but all in all these guys are humans just like you and me and don't want to risk lives for making a quick buck for the shareholders!
The Gold Index fell 3% today, I think Gold looks overbought at current levels, the stocks have run up 25% in less than 3 months, it will sell-off or consolidate here.
Sanjay John G.
What's new? Indonesia is a country with a very military friendly Government. That FCX and NEM (who have major Gold mining operations in Indonesia) are paying small amounts of money to have secure workplaces in a relatively unsafe country seems to bother NYT. Notwithstanding that FCX alone gave $1B in taxes to the Indonesian Government! You think the Indonesian Goverment spends all that on building highways? A decent part of the Government's budget is spent on the Military ($6.4B was spent on Military in 2004, link here) This is 1.8% of the GDP, but "other military businesses and foundations" contribute more. See link here).
Mining companies overseas operating in tough places always have to spend exorbitant amounts on security. This is to ensure that all goes well at the mine-imagine if they didn't! These guys operate in remote locations in Africa, South America-and needless to say, there is some bending of the rules. And NYT is all over FCX for that. A classic case of News made from Nothing.
Mining companies also have to take the constant complaints of Environmental Groups worldwide. While this is necessary, I think zealous reporters sometimes go too far in publicizing the "damages" part of the story. I personally have seen Barrick do major developments in Argentina, for example, making sure the environmental damages are minimal. These guys are not all crooks! Once in a while a mess up like Exxon-Valdez or Union Carbide in Bhopal will happen, but all in all these guys are humans just like you and me and don't want to risk lives for making a quick buck for the shareholders!
The Gold Index fell 3% today, I think Gold looks overbought at current levels, the stocks have run up 25% in less than 3 months, it will sell-off or consolidate here.
Sanjay John G.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home