takeover and not distracted

Arthur Hodd doesn't rule out a takeover, but now mention of North American or South African majors?

The Australian 5 Oct:

"Dispute ritual costly for Lihir GoldFont Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Andrew Trounson | October 05, 2007
LIHIR Gold is confident it has managed to head off further strike action at its Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea after appointing a committee to assess a range of grievances among a group of maintenance workers.

But it has come at a cost, with the mine's well-regarded expatriate maintenance manager having to temporarily step aside while the committee investigates.

An eight-day strike at the mine last month cost the company about 18,400 ounces in lost production and the company has warned that full-year production will be at the low end of its previous guidance of 800,000 to 830,000 ounces.

Chief executive Arthur Hood said yesterday that production was likely to be "a tad" either side of 800,000 ounces.

Mr Hood blamed the dispute on "change fatigue" among some maintenance workers, after a round of recent roster changes and productivity drives that had boosted the mine's performance.

Relations between local workers and expatriates were another factor, the disgruntled workers seeking pay rates more in line with those of expatriates.

At one stage, the group had demanded that all expatriates leave the site.

Mr Hood said most workers had not wanted to strike, but were effectively stopped from working when the disgruntled group used a sacred ritual on site to formalise the dispute.

Under the so-called Gor Gor ritual, PNG islanders tie a length of twine from a cordyline or ginger plant in a prominent position to signal a dispute, which means the land can not be accessed or used until the dispute is resolved.

"Quite frankly, a majority of the guys would have liked to have gone to work but a traditional mechanism was used to stop people," Mr Hood said.

The various Gor Gor set up around the site were eventually removed by the local landowners association.

Mr Hood said he did not believe the Lihir workforce was becoming more militant and was confident the committee would resolve outstanding issues.

"I don't see any problems happening in the immediate future," he said.

He said work hours at the mine had been cut back recently by 15per cent with no loss in pay, delivering what he said was, in effect, a pay rise to the mine workers on top of recent actual pay increases and bonuses.

He said he had absolute confidence in the maintenance manager, whom he had praised in aspeech to the Melbourne Mining Club.

Earlier, Mr Hood talked up the prospects for continued strength in the gold price.

"The underlying fundamentals for gold are strong," he said.

"Most commentators are talking about $US700 an ounce to $US800 an ounce over the next year or so."

Mr Hood said he was not being distracted by speculation that the company may become a takeover target for North American and South African majors.

"There is no point me worrying about what other people may or may not be doing," he said.