News

July 23, 2008

Oxus Gold Lines Up A Reserve Of Two Million Ounces At Amantaytau

By Alastair Ford

John Donald’s back. This might not mean much to anyone who’s been in the resources boom for less than a couple of years, but it means plenty to Minews who once bet John a sizeable sum of money on the outcome of a certain rugby match, lost, and was then delighted to see that John had chosen to go into a quiet and well-earned retirement, presumably never to be in a position to collect on the debt. Old lags and new alike will know that it’s not always fun being English in a sector where Aussies and South Africans punch above their weight. We won’t be phoning any South African cricket fans for a day or two either.

In the case of Oxus, there was always a Welsh connection too, just to rub it in. John originally stepped up onto the Oxus board when Bill Trew orchestrated his revolution back in 2002, joining Oxus to the hip with his contracting company MAED in order to rescue the company’s open pit oxide operation at Amantaytau in Uzbekistan. Onto the board with Bill and John came Johnny Kipps and Richard Shead. Fast forward to 2008, and Johnny Kipps is still firmly in place, Bill’s been gone awhile, while...