[stop-imf] Denver Post: Gold for debt ensnarls Newmont

[robert weissman]

Denver Post
6/06/2005

Gold-for-debt ensnarls Newmont
Coalition hoping to aid Third World asks mining firm to rethink stance

By Kristi Arellano

Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

Denver's Newmont Mining Corp. once again is in a political crossfire - this
time for objecting to a plan to use International Monetary Fund gold
reserves to pay off a portion of Third World debt.

A coalition of 26 religious and humanitarian groups is targeting Newmont for
voicing opposition to a plan floated by British finance minister Gordon
Brown. The proposal calls for the sale of $12 billion in IMF gold reserves
with a market value of about $43 billion.

Newmont is being targeted, the coalition said, because it is the world's
biggest gold producer. However, other mining companies and associations also
oppose the plan, saying it could depress the gold market and lead to job
losses in the United States and abroad. The Bush administration and several
legislators are opponents, too.
"When you're the largest, that's who they're going to target," Newmont
spokesman Doug Hock said. "It comes with the territory."

The plan would "hurt many of the same countries that have a need for the
debt relief," said Carol Raulston, spokeswoman for the National Mining
Association.

The coalition includes the Global AIDS Alliance, the General Board of Church
and Society of the United Methodist Church, and the American Friends Service
Committee. On Monday, it sent a letter to Newmont chief executive Wayne
Murdy asking the company to reconsider its opposition to the proposal. The
company has not responded to earlier requests to discuss the issue, said
David Bryden, a spokesman for the Global AIDS Alliance.

By eliminating their debt-servicing payments, poor nations will be able to
devote more of their resources to health care, education and economic
development, said Debayani Kar, spokeswoman for Jubilee USA Network, among
the groups leading the charge against Newmont.

Advocates of eliminating the debt argue that the gold could be sold over
several years while central banks rein in their own sales to prevent the
price hits feared by the mining companies.
British officials are trying to gain support for their plan before the
summit of the Group of Eight industrial countries next month.

Newmont's Hock said, "We support any effort that will legitimately result in
the alleviation of poverty.
"Sales of IMF gold on the open market will not help and in fact will
exacerbate the problem."

Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or
karellano@denverpost.com.