BHP TO FLOAT GOLD UNIT WITH ONE-FOR-THREE ISSUE

  The Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd &lt;BRKN.S>
  (BHP) said it plans a renounceable one-for-three issue of
  rights to float a new company, &lt;BHP Gold Mines Ltd> (BHPGM),
  which will hold most of BHP's gold interests.
      In a statement BHP said the 25-cent par rights would be
  priced at 50 cents for 430 mln of the BHPGM shares on offer.
  BHP will subscribe for the remaining 540 mln shares, or 56 pct
  of issued capital, on the same terms.
      BHPGM will pay 440 mln dlrs for BHP's gold interests,
  excluding its stake in Papua New Guinea's &lt;Ok Tedi Mining Ltd>
  and those interests held by BHP's &lt;Utah International Inc>.
      The BHP statement said the issue will be made to
  shareholders registered on March 27. It opens April 4 and
  closes April 29, and is underwritten by &lt;J.B. Were and Son>.
  Rights will be traded on Australian stock exchanges from March
  23 to April 22, and the new shares will be quoted from June 4.
      BHP said the new company will be one of Australia's larger
  gold producers, with annual output exceeding 170,000 ounces. It
  said there are plans to boost production to 300,000 ounces by
  the early 1990s. BHPGM's portfolio will include several
  Australian mines -- 30 pct of Telfer, 100 pct of Ora Banda and
  Browns Creek and 20 pct of the new Boddington development.
      The statement said BHPGM would also hold BHP's 45 pct stake
  in the Coronation Hill Property in the Northern Territory, and
  its 55 pct stake in a new venture near Gympie, Queensland.
      BHPGM chairman-designate John Gough said it was a quality
  gold stock.
      "The diversity and depth of BHP Gold's portfolio ... Give
  the company a sound foundation in current gold production and
  an exciting potential for growth," he said.
  

