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The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam

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It was the biggest gold discovery in history…until it wasn’t

It was the biggest gold discovery in history…until it wasn’t. In 1995, Canadian mining company Bre-X announced to the world it had found a significant amount of gold deep in the jungles of Indonesia. Stock prices soared as investors worldwide fought to stake their claim. But when Bre-X’s chief geologist mysteriously fell from a helicopter over the jungle, the story of the billion dollar discovery began to unravel. Nearly three decades later, no one has ever been held accountable. Now, host Suzanne Wilton takes listeners from the jungles of Indonesia to small town Alberta, Canada, to investigate what really happened and find out more about the man behind the biggest goldmine fraud of all time. Produced for the BBC World Service and CBC by BBC Scotland Productions.

Please note, this series contains references to suicide and has some graphic content.

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The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam: 2. The believers

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31/07/2024 GMT

2. The believers

BBC - The Six Billion Dollar Gold Scam, 2. The believers

It’s gold fever. Investors hear of unimaginable riches deep in the Indonesian jungle

It’s gold fever. Investors hear of unimaginable riches deep in the Indonesian jungle and a small Canadian town is gripped.

It’s gold fever. Estimates put the Bre-X discovery at four times the size of the biggest known gold deposit — and investors are trying to cash in. A small Canadian town is swept up in the gold rush. But others are asking questions, including a hedge fund manager who goes to extraordinary lengths to get inside the Indonesia gold site. 
Since this episode was recorded, John McBeth has sadly passed away. We are very grateful for his contribution to this story.

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