Eric Phillips and questions about Aurora gold company

Jun 01, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
I at one time held Eric Phillips in high esteem until I had a discussion with him on the Amerindian Land Settlement legislation. I soon realized that he was not very knowledgeable about a subject in which he should have had some expertise.
He turned out to be the bore whose arguments are issued in colorfully loud language, but are based on invented facts. Once exposed, he threatens.
His opinions on the Gold Fields story is similar- the corporation is heroic; its suppliers are ignorant, inefficient and grasping; the newspapers should be sued. Ad nauseum.
The important issue, which your report attempted to identify, is whether Goldfields engaged in price inflation of their imported capital equipment- the plane(s), tankers, etc. The effect, if correct, is to leak hard currency, inflate capital assets and through the tax exemption regime allow an artificial reduction in current income; the latter having a direct impact on taxable income.
I very much doubt that Goldfields would engage in double dipping. Goldfields has stated that their costs are controllable, their returns are good, and they are committed to operating in Guyana in a socially responsible manner. Who knows?
Their outsourced service providers are claiming, in effect, that Goldfields has a plan to put them out of business. But Goldfields investors might take a negative view of the management’s use of corporate resources if they thought that Goldfields is intent on becoming a transportation company when they should be focused on their core expertise of gold production. But then again, who knows?
Roger Kenyon

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