The Bre-X Gold Scandal, History and Resources

Start with the biggest deposit of gold ever reported, in the headwaters of the Busang River in the steaming jungle of Borneo. The Canadian company Bre-X Minerals Ltd. didnt know about that when it bought rights to the site in 1993. But after Bre-X hired a high-living geologist to map the ore body, the deposit, along with the fever dreams that accompany gold, grew to monster size—by March 1997 that geologist was talking about a 200-million-ounce resource. You do the math at, say US$500 per ounce in mid-1990s dollars. Bre-X prepared for big times ahead by building a gold-plated website, where you could generate your own Bre-X stock chart to follow its meteoric rise. It also had a chart showing the equally meteoric rise of the estimated gold resource: together, those two pages could infect anyone with gold fever. The Sharks Arrive Bigger mineral companies took notice. Some made takeover offers. So did the Indonesian government, in the person of president Suharto and his powerful family. Bre-X owned more of this lode than seemed prudent for such a small, inexperienced foreign firm. Suharto suggested that Bre-X share its fortunate surplus with the people of Indonesia and with Barrick, a firm tied to Suhartos ambitious daughter Siti Rukmana. (Barricks advisors, among them George H. W. Bush and ex-prime minister of Canada Brian Mulroney, also favored this scheme.) Bre-X responded by enlisting Suhartos son Sigit Hardjojudanto on its side. An impasse loomed. To end the contretemps, family friend Mohamad Bob Hasan stepped in to offer all sides a deal. The American firm Freeport-McMoRan Copper Gold, led by another old Suharto friend, would run the mine and Indonesian interests would share the wealth. Bre-X would keep 45 percent of the ownership and Hasan for his pains would accept a share possibly worth a billion or so. Asked what he was paying for this stake, Hasan said, There is no payment, no nothing. It is a very clean deal. Trouble Arises The deal was announced on 17 February 1997. Freeport went to Borneo to start its own due-diligence drilling. Suharto was ready to sign a contract after this step, locking in Bre-Xs land rights for 30 years and starting the flood of gold. But just four weeks later, Bre-Xs geologist at Busang, Michael de Guzman, exited his helicopter that was 250 meters in the air at the time—an evident suicide. On March 26 Freeport reported that its due-diligence cores, drilled only a meter and a half from Bre-Xs, showed insignificant amounts of gold. The next day Bre-X stock lost almost all of its value. Freeport brought more rock samples to its American headquarters under armed guard. Bre-X commissioned a review of Freeports drilling; the review recommended more drilling. Another review focusing on the chemical assays caused Bre-X to clam up completely on 1 April, and Suhartos signature was postponed. Bre-X, in a novel strategy for the time, blamed the Web. CEO David Walsh told a fawning Calgary Herald reporter that the meltdown began when scurrilous local rumors in Indonesia were picked up by one of the ghostwriters on the Internet on the chat page or whatever. Further reviews took the rest of April. Meanwhile, disquieting details began to arise. Industry journalists soon found evidence that the Busang ore samples had been salted with gold dust. Salting of the Earth On Friday 11 April, Northern Miner magazine put a news flash on its site laying out three lines of evidence that Bre-X had been duped. First, contrary to company statements, the Busang core samples had been prepared for assay in the jungle, not in the testing lab. A videotape made by a visitor to the field site showed the humble machines common in assay labs—hammer mills, crushers, and sample splitters. Well-labeled sample bags clearly had finely crushed ore in them. Security was lax enough that samples could easily have been spiked with gold.Second, the local inhabitants had begun panning for gold in the Busang River, but in two years they never found any. Yet Bre-X claimed that gold was visible, a sign of unusually rich ore. And de Guzmans technical report, confusingly, called the gold submicroscopic, which is typical of hard-rock gold ore.Third, the assayer that tested the samples said the gold was predominantly in visible-sized grains. Also, the grains showed signs consistent with being typical river-panned gold dust, such as rounded outlines and rims depleted in silver. The assayer dodged the 64-billion- dollar question, saying that there were indeed ways for hard-rock gold grains to acquire rounded edges—but that argument was a fig leaf. The Curtain Falls Meanwhile, a storm of securities lawsuits arose around Bre-X, which vigorously protested that this was just an unfortunate series of misunderstandings. But it was too late. The collapse of Bre-X cast a cloud over the gold mining industry that lasted into the next century. David Walsh decamped to the Bahamas, where he died of an aneurysm in 1998. Bre-Xs chief geologist, John Felderhof, eventually went on trial in Canada but was acquitted of securities fraud in July 2007. Apparently in selling part of his stock holdings for $84 million in the months before the scandal hit he had not been criminal, just too stupid to catch the fraud. And I have been told that Michael de Guzman has been seen in Canada, years after the scandal. The explanation would be that, as was rumored at the time, an anonymous corpse was thrown from the helicopter. You could say the very jungle had been salted as well as the ore bags.

Best Quotes to Pair With Vintage Photos on Social Media

Sharing old photos of people, places, and events on social media is a good way to reminisce and add nostalgia. If youve decided to share your favorite images on social media during a Throwback Thursday, Flashback Friday, or some other tagged event involving sharing, there are some great ways to make your contribution even more special — and good things to know about sharing photos in general: Share one photo a week or less. Dont overwhelm your friends and followers with too many old photos. Just because you found an album of old photos doesnt mean you should bombard your social media followers. Choose one day a week, such as a Throwback Thursday or a Flashback Friday, and maybe even skip a week between postings.Be certain youre sharing only old photos. Dont make the mistake of incorrectly tagging recent photos with something like #tbt (Throwback Thursday), for instance. Stick with the old  pictures you would find in a photo album or a stack of Polaroids. Vintage pictures are hugely popular, so the older, the better.Make sure you choose the best photos — ones that tell a story. For instance, if you were a baseball player, post a picture of the time when you scored your first home run. Post pictures that were taken with your entire family  on vacation. Share a picture of a younger you doing something you still do today.Choose photos that might make people laugh. Unflattering pictures of yourself from the past always make people smile. The goofier you look, the better. That said, if someone else looks unflattering, you might want to get their permission first. After all, this is supposed to be fun.Add other elements that make the sharing more special, such as a special quote from a famous person. The next time you are sharing vintage images online, try pairing them with some of the following vintage quotes from famous poets, novelists, storytellers, and others — these are sure to give an extra appeal. John Banville The past beats inside me like a second heart. Julian Barnes Memories of childhood were the dreams that stayed with you after you woke. Deb Caletti Summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. For those few months, you’re not required to be who everyone thinks you are, and that cut-grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool give you a courage you don’t have the rest of the year. You can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. Summer just opens the door and lets you out. Willa Cather I guess everybody thinks about old times, even the happiest people. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner. Walt Disney All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Albert Einstein Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. Ralph Waldo Emerson â€Å"For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.† William Faulkner How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. Neil Gaiman I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I took joy in the things that made me happy. Kahlil Gibran Yesterday is but todays memory, and tomorrow is todays dream. Arsene Houssaye Always have old memories, and young hopes. Charlotte Davis Kasl A lifelong blessing for children is to fill them with warm memories of times together. Happy memories become treasures in the heart to pull out on the tough days of adulthood. Elizabeth Lawrence There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again. Laurie Lee Bees blew like cake-crumbs through the golden air, white butterflies like sugared wafers, and when it wasnt raining, a diamond dust took over which veiled and yet magnified all things. C.S. Lewis Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. Cesare Pavese We do not remember days; we remember moments. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Marcel Proust There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book. Vladimir Nabokov One is always at home in ones past. Eleanor Roosevelt The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Dr. SunWolf Some things can only be understood when you’re in a tree house. With a pile of warm chocolate chip cookies. And a book. Charles R. Swindoll Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. Oprah Winfrey The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. Lisa Whelchel Theres something about childhood friends that you just cant replace. The Wonder Years Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.

The Primary Cause Of the FAilure Free Essays

1. Do you think the primary cause of the failure of the two companies that led to the bailout was a management failure, a worker failure, a shareholder or customer failure, some other reason, or a combination of the above? Why is that the case? General Motors was founded by William â€Å"Billy† Durant on September 16, 1908 and has several brands under names such as Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick. Chrysler was founded by Walter Chrysler in 1925 and it also has many brands such as Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Fiat. We will write a custom essay sample on The Primary Cause Of the FAilure or any similar topic only for you Order Now These are two of the biggest American carmakers in the United States and their demise was hard to comprehend. I think there are many reasons that collectively led to the failure of both GM and Chrysler. One of the causes for the demise of both companies was management failure. Management is supposed to lead by making the right choices for themselves and their customers. Management failed to set up financial policies that would benefit their companies in the long run. The financial meltdown of Wall Street led to a national crisis, which made GM and Chrysler unable to borrow money to keep them afloat. The financial meltdown trickled down to consumers who were not able to get loans either to purchase or lease cars. The financial meltdown and car sales having been at their lowest point in a decade is the reason that GM and Chrysler had to file for bankruptcy. GM and Chrysler’s management also failed to anticipate the rise of energy prices. Gas prices skyrocketed to almost four dollars a gallon and with the fragile state of the economy, it made people very conservative about their driving. The rise of gas prices was almost like a death sentence to Chrysler and GM. They have relied on the sales of sport utility vehicles or SUVs as their main source of income. The sport utility vehicles carry an already high price tag and when you add the gas prices you get vehicles that nobody wants to purchase. People wanted to get rid of their SUVs because they just cost too much money to operate. Customers switched to smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles because it became more of a necessity than a choice. Unfortunately GM and Chrysler were not ready to meet the new demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. The cars that GM and Chrysler had on the market were not as fuel efficient as their foreign counterparts, which made the financial stability for the American carmakers uncertain at best. GM and Chrysler’s management failed to acknowledge competition and innovation. Carmakers like Toyota have for many years tried to stay innovative and ahead of the competition by taking risks and investing in research and development. Toyota developed one of the best selling cars in American history called the â€Å"Prius†, which is a very fuel-efficient car. On the other hand GM and Chrysler are just starting to develop electric and hybrid cars. Unfortunately foreign carmakers have the market cornered because neither GM nor Chrysler succeeded in forecasting the needs and wants of the American People. GM and Chrysler still have a bad reputation for the quality of their cars. Nowadays when people think of reliable, fuel-efficient and quality cars most people think of foreign carmakers. GM and Chrysler are trying to change the perception of the quality of their cars, but when a company takes this long to try to change it is very hard to win back some of their customers. I would personally hesitate to buy a car from either company because of what friends and family have said about the problems they have encountered with their cars. I believe it is the management of both companies’ fault that led to their financial demise. Like any other company in the world, it is the people at the top who have the control, knowledge, and resources to make the tough choices and right decisions. I just do not see how it could be the fault of workers who just follow orders and have no say about the management of the company. It cannot be the fault of the customers because most people would not buy a product of poor quality or from a bankrupt company. One of the largest shareholders for GM at the time was Jerry York. He begged the board of directors to take drastic measures to save the company and they decided to ignore him. Now, they are doing some of the things Jerry York suggested because the federal government is forcing them. According to my research, most people feel that it was the poor management that led the American carmakers to bankruptcy and the need for the federal government to bail them out. Citations Seven reasons GM is headed to bankruptcy http://www. usatoday. com/money/autos/2009-05-31-gm-mistakes-bankruptcy_N. htm After 101 years, why GM failed http://www. bspcn. com/2009/06/01/after-101-years-why-gm-failed/ GM in Crisis—5 Reasons Why America’s Largest Car Company Teeters on the Edge http://www. popularmechanics. com/cars/news/industry/4292379 How to cite The Primary Cause Of the FAilure, Papers

Sap for Atlam free essay sample

The conversation between Zulkifli and Sani, the Project Manager; Gopal, the User Project Manager; Lim, User Representative; and Kamal, the Functional Analyst has come to the several issues to be considered. Most of the issues arise are from Lim such as SAP is more suitable for manufacturing industry not education industry. Other issue is ATLAM is lack of equipment and facilities. According to Lim, the department does not have enough personal computers and if they have they do not have enough space available for the personal computer in their department. Time constraint also one of the issue arise in the conversation. The management had decided to schedule the phases of proposed SAP on 1st of April 2002. They are now on third week of January. The time needed for implementing the new system usually takes number of months to be implemented. Lim also raises the issue of the resistance of staff to change to the new system. When people are more comfortable with some technology, they are likely to oppose changes. The reason of the resistance of staff perhaps because of fear the unknown and the uncertainty accompanying change such as losing their job and failure. The other issue is costs of implementing the SAP system that can be consider as higher than the accounting package, ACCPAC. It consists of the annual license fee, training costs, customization work and hardware. The cost-benefit analysis has been done to ensure that the benefits of implementing SAP will be higher than ACCPAC. Analysis of the issues Zulkifli had decided to perform a feasibility study or business case which is prepared during the systems analysis. There are five important aspects to be considered during a feasibility study that consist of economic feasibility, echnical feasibility, legal feasibility, scheduling feasibility and operational feasibility. Economic feasibility is defined as the dimension of feasibility concerned with whether the benefits of a proposed system will exceed the costs. This is proved by calculating the after-tax cash flow from Year 1 to Year 6. From the calculation, the benefits of the SAP system exceed the costs to implement it. The net savings from Year 1 to Year 5 is increasing and start to decline in the Year 6 because of the increasing in the saving and costs. Technical feasibility concerned on the development of the proposed system given the available technology. The SAP systems can possibly be implemented in ATLAM because of it is PETRA’s group-wide system and it had in-house support from SBS team of PETRA group. On the other hand, legal feasibility determines if there will be any conflicts between the system under consideration and the organisation’s ability to discharge its legal obligations. The implementation of SAP system in the management of ATLAM complies with the regulation sets by the management and it also supported with the PETRA group system. Scheduling feasibility only concerned on time taken to develop and the implementation of the proposed system in time allotted. There are two techniques for scheduling and monitoring systems development activities which are PERT (program evaluation and review techniques) and Gantt chart. In this case study, Gantt chart is used to determine the time taken to implement the SAP system. Gantt chart is a bar chart with project activities listed on the left-hand side and units of time which is days or weeks across the top. From the analysis done, SAP system cannot be implement in time allotted which on 1st April 2002. The SAP system needs approximately 8 months to be implemented in the ATLAM’s system. The last feasibility study is the operational feasibility which defined as feasibility that concerned with whether a proposed system will be used by the people in an organization and how useful the system will be within the operating environment of the organization. At the first of the discussion about the implementation of SAP system, the user representative seems to be unhappy with that implementation. He raises the issues and problems if the management wants to implement the system. All the various feasibility measures are used to narrow the list of the alternatives. This techniques used in the capital budgeting model that consists of net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and payback period. Net present value (NPV) is the estimation of the future cash flows that are discounted back to the present using a discount rate that reflects the time value of money. The initial outlay costs or capital expenditures are deducted from the discounted cash flows to obtain the NPV. The initial outlay of SAP system consists of cost of training, hardware, initial software license and cost of customization work that approximately to RM5 million and its discount rate is 10%. From the analysis, SAP system has the positive and higher NPV of RM3. 2 million that indicates that the system is economically feasible. Internal rate of return (IRR) is the effective rate that results in an NPV of zero. The calculation of IRR is using trial and error method using two different rates to get the net cash flows. In this case, rate of 24% and 28% is used. The IRR of the SAP system is about 26% and it quite high. The payback period is defined as the number of years required for the net savings to equal the initial cost of the investment. It required approximately 4 years to the initial outlay of the implementation of SAP system to be covered with the net savings. As discussed in the scheduling feasibility, Gantt chart is used to determine timely and successful implementation. There are several tasks involved in the implementation of SAP system such as perform feasibility study, organize implementing team, prepare system support procedures, develop conversion plan and testing plan, prepare program specification, revise system documentation and perform programming tasks. The implementing team can be consists of the several person who has capabilities in the specific department such as finance and account department, IT department and user representative. The team should develop the conversion and testing plan of the SAP system. These tasks take about one month to be completed. After programming task is perform, system are test and system support procedures is install and acceptance test is done. The team should conduct the pilot study of the proposed new system. It is to gather the earlier information about the system so that the weaknesses of the system can be corrected. The user manual can be prepared and training program for the staff can be conducted. The last task of the implementation is the conversion of the system. The conversion includes the data backup. When people are more comfortable with something, they are reluctant to change to the new environment. Individual’s views of change as good or bad will usually depend on how they are personally affected by it. The reason why they resist changing is because of the bad experience with prior changes, a lack of top-management support and communication about the changes. These behavioral problems can be overcome with the several ways. The behavioral problems can be overcome by keep communication lines open. Managers and users should be fully informed of system changes as soon as possible. They should be told what and why changes are being made and they should be shown how the new system will benefit them. This open communication helps prevent damaging and inaccurate rumors and misunderstandings. Other than that, organization also can maintain a safe and open atmosphere to ensure that people who are affected by the system development can have an attitude of trust and cooperation. The organisation also should provide assurances that no major job losses or responsibility shifts will occur. It is lessen the intensity of fear or to calm the employees to not worry about the changes. In addition, the top-management must ensure that users understand the system. If the users are confused or do not understand the system, effective use or support to change the system cannot be obtained. It is also the responsibility of the system developers to describe and emphasize new challenges and opportunities that can be performed with the new system. This may provide job satisfaction among the employees and users. Furthermore, the system should be presented to the users in the proper context to capture the interest of the users. The system also should be properly tested prior to implementation to minimize or avoid the initial bad impressions. Conclusion There is an issue about the finance manager who wants to eliminate or terminate the user representative from the project team. The decision to terminate the user representative, Lim is not the right thing for the finance manager, Zulkifli because from Lim’s arguments, it shows that Lim is an individual who has a lot of experience inside him. All of his arguments are supported with the facts and experiences. Moreover, sometimes people need the criticism to improve oneself. It is because others can see one’s weaknesses than the individual himself. As a user representative, he knows what other users needs and wants. The actions of Lim to make arguments are for the best interest of the company and its employees. Zulkifli should see all the inputs from Lim is beneficial to improve the operation of the company. The analysis done on the implementation of SAP system shows that the main issues can be encounter by performing all the feasibility study and cost-benefits analysis. Most of the main issues are the examples of the staff resistance to change that can be overcome by the several ways discussed before.