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Japan''s stock market falls sharply
9:45p ET Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
GATA is not in the business of apologizing for the mining
industry -- indeed, what wonderful gold and silver prices
we'd have if the mining industry was shut down -- but the
Reuters story below indicates the general arrogance of
the mainstream business press, which the friends of gold
and silver are up against every day.
The New York Times lately has affected to be shocked
that anyone doing business in poor and developing
countries might have to make private or unofficial
arrangements with the local security authorities because
of the ineffectiveness or corruption of the government.
So the Times published long stories alleging that two
big mining companies, Newmont Mining and Freeport
McMoRan Copper & Gold, had damaged the environment and
engaged in corrupt practices at their mines in
Indonesia.
The companies mostly denied the Times' accusations.
While no one who has not been to Indonesia can be
sure of the full story, at least the full story would seem
to include the comments of those being accused. But
as you'll read below, the Times as yet has no room for
that kind of fairness, just as it repeatedly has refused to
allow in its pages any acknowledgement of the gold price
suppression issue.
"All the news that's fit to print" indeed.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
* * *
Second Mining Company Blasts
New York Times over Reports
By Steve James
Reuters
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?
duid=mtfh33544_2006-01-17_22-23-21_n17356884_newsml
NEW YORK -- The chief executive of U.S. mining company Freeport-
McMoRan Copper & Gold accused The New York Times on Tuesday
of "disturbing and provocative misstatements" for criticizing the
company's financial support of the military in Indonesia, where it
operates a huge mine.
Richard Adkerson also acknowledged that as a result of the newspaper
report, the company has received informal inquiries from U.S.
government agencies about its relationship with Indonesian military
authorities and that Freeport was cooperating. The company did not
identify the agencies involved.
During a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss fourth-
quarter earnings, Adkerson said The New York Times declined to
publish a letter he wrote responding to a Dec. 27 article charging
that Freeport paid-off local military and police officers and spied
on environmental activists.
He also disputed a New York Times article that said Freeport
caused "breathtaking" environmental damage around its Grasberg mine
in Indonesia's Papua province.
"The New York Times similarly mischaracterized the support we
provide for Indonesian security forces and ignored the
practicalities of conducting business in a remote area."
The company, Adkerson said, has been open about its policy of
supporting local military and police to assist with infrastructure
and logistics, and has publicly revealed that in U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission filings.
He said company policy adheres to U.S. and British government
principles on human rights and security in an area where armed
groups are active.
There was no immediate response from a New York Times spokeswoman on
Adkerson's comments.
His complaint is the second in a year by a leading U.S. executive
targeting The New York Times for stories critical of a mining
company's activities in Indonesia.
At last year's Reuters Mining Summit, Pierre Lassonde, president of
Newmont Mining, the world's largest gold producer, charged that the
Indonesian government bowed to pressure groups and arrested six
company officials because allegations that Newmont had polluted the
environment appeared in The New York Times.
Both Newmont and Freeport-McMoRan have denied causing environmental
damage though mining operations in Indonesia.
In the Dec. 27 report, the newspaper said an investigation it
conducted "revealed a level of contacts and financial support to the
military not fully disclosed by Freeport despite years of requests
by shareholders concerned about potential violations of American law
and the company's relations with a military whose human rights
record is so blighted that the United States severed ties for a
dozen years until November."
Adkerson told analysts that the December New York Times article and
a follow-up editorial on Jan. 9 "contained disturbing and
provocative misstatements." He said he responded with a two-page
letter, which he said the newspaper declined to publish because it
was too long.
"I wrote a shorter letter on Jan. 12, which has yet to be
published," he said, adding that the original, unpublished letter
has been posted on the company's Web site, www.fcx.com.
"Far from causing 'breathtaking environmental damage,' the area
affected by our mine tailings (waste) can be readily revegetated,"
the letter said, adding that the downstream estuary was
a "functioning, bio-diverse ecosystem" containing abundant fish and
shrimp.
The letter said Freeport pays more than $1 billion to the Jakarta
government in taxes, royalties and dividends, and has also given
more than $200 million since 1996 to a community development fund in
Papua.
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