Yanacocha

Yanacocha :: bribery matrimony

Least one may say is that the second largest South American gold mine enriched some people.
The battle for Normandy could have been the battle for Buenaventura hadn't some incompetent politicians filled their pockets. 		US trial still pending.

Never say never, a never ending story?

  Newmont faces lawsuit over Yanacocha controversy - 04/02/02 - Miningnews.net - 2002-02-04.
from a google cached page (sometimes you wonder why sites suddenly disappear).

A FRENCH businessman has filed a lawsuit accusing Denver-based Newmont Mining of paying Peru's former spy chief to help it secure a stake in South America's largest gold mine, Dow Jones reported today.
The lawsuit will re-visit a controversial court decision dating back to 1998, which awarded the massive Yanacocha gold mine to Newmont.
Patrick Maugein alleges Newmont and its minority partner Campania de Minas Buenaventura paid Vladimiro Montesinos millions of dollars to extort and bribe Peruvian judges in the companies' bid to win the large, low-cost Yanococha mine, the wire service reported.
Maugein, an adviser to the French government and Normandy Mining, claims in the lawsuit that Newmont and other defendants falsely implicated him in a bribery and extortion scheme.
Maugein is seeking US$25 million on 12 counts including racketeering and conspiracy to defame, the news agency reported.
The argument over Yanacocha re-surfaced last year after the release of a videotape which shows Montesinos, now behind bars in a maximum-security facility outside Lima, telling a Peruvian Supreme Court judge that a vote in favour of Newmont was needed due to US diplomatic pressure.
The tape was shot in 1998, just before the Supreme Court made its decision on whether Newmont or BRGM was entitled to a 25% stake in Yanacocha or whether it should go to Newmont in joint venture with Peruvian company Buenaventura. Normandy and BRGM settled their outstanding legal argument in October 2000 for a payment of US$80 million in cash and shares.
 

Cited references, not working:

• M. Le Floch-Prigent évoque dans un livre un financement occulte du RPR par Elf - Le Monde - 05/10/01
• L'Etat a-t-il bradé l'Eldorado - Libération - 30/09/98
• Au Pérou, la France est dépossédée de la mine d'or la plus rentable du monde - Le Monde - 11/06/98
• Corruption in Peru - Rocky Mountain News - 06/06/02
• Un homme d'affaires en or dans l'ombre de Chirac - CANARD ENCHAINE - 18/02/98
• Main basse sur l'or de la France. Jean Montaldo. Albin Michel, juin 1998.
• Newmont accused of bribery - Dow Jones - 04/02/02
• Livre : Patrick Maugein. Corrézien au Pérou. Ramsay, mars 2002.

- http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Benavides+de+la+Quintana+BRGM+Yanacocha+&btnG=Google+Search
- http://www.mining-technology.com/projects/minera/
- http://www.caretas.com.pe/1400/yanacocha/yanacocha.html
- http://www.caretas.com.pe/1998/1499/votos/votos.htm
- http://www.ems.org/banks/yanacocha_gestion.pdf
- http://www.globalminingcampaign.org/theminingnews/assets/pdf/yanacocha2.pdf
- http://www.multimania.com/corruptn/05-07.htm
- http://perso.wanadoo.fr/chucky/Images/Perou
- http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=le+canard+Yanacocha+Chirac&btnG=Google+Search
- http://rad24.free.fr/siterad/journal/journal6.html
  Own verified links:

short history (French) A joint venture is set up in 1984 between the French BRGM, Peruvian Buenaventura and Denver based Newmont to exploit Yanacocha (36 mio. oz. gold and 350 mio. oz. of silver reserves).

Spring 1994 BRGM signs an exclusivity deal with Normandy. Buenaventura and Newmont contest the deal. Champion de Crespigny (Normandy) tries to buy-out Buenaventura through the Sudanese La Source ( holding in which both Normandy and BRGM have interests).

2000-10-20  Newmont announces the settlement

Surpise vote of the Peruvian Supreme Courts says Caretas (Spanish) (1998) and Yanacocha: Un cerro de oro, y un juicio de orddago.

2003-08-22 Newmont cleared Colorado mining firm had faced charges of bribery in Peru
By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News
August 22, 2003
Peruvian authorities dismissed charges of bribery against Newmont Mining Corp. last week, which could set a precedent for a similar case pending in Denver federal court.
....
Horowitz said his client believes BRGM's stake was obtained by Newmont and Buenaventura at an "unfair price."

Unfair?
In June 1998, Peru's Supreme Court decided in favor of Newmont and Buenaventura and valued BRGM's stake at $109.3 million. The French company later settled for an additional $80 million payment with the two companies.

$109.3 million + later $ 80 million for a 25% stake in an open-pit cyanide exploitation with 36 million oz. reserves of gold plus 350 million oz. of silver.
In my book, valued at 10% of reserves, BRGM has been paid for either the silver or the gold reserves, Newmont and Buenaventura keeping either the gold or te silver for free. Some managers do know how to run their business.