Financial Times tells of opposition to BIS scheme

October 30, 2000

Mr. Jack E. Thompson
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Homestake Mining
650 California St.
San Francisco, Calif. 94108

Dear Mr. Thompson:

Back in 1947 I wandered into Lead, South Dakota, with,
I think, 8 cents in my pocket and an appetite for
breakfast that impressed even me. There came that
magical moment when somehow I was hired by the
Homestake Mine for the Bull Gang in Mill No. 2.

I made enough that summer to go back to school
(Colgate) that fall. For that reason I have always had
a soft spot in my heart, black as it is, for Homestake.
About 10 years ago I acquired 600 shares that, I hoped,
if they did not increase in value, would not lose their
value either. You know the result.

I gave up banging on rocks -- I am an exploration
geologist -- a few years ago, and at age 77 I spend
most of my time in front of a computer writing bad
novels that no one reads and sometimes prowling the
Internet looking for reasons why the price of gold is
so low. Most of my assets -- minuscule, really -- are
in gold shares and pre-production royalties from a
Montana operation that has been suspended. I am really
concerned that the price of gold is not behaving as one
would expect in a free market.

We are using up the metal faster than we are producing
it. Clearly, the price is artificially low. Something
is radically wrong.

I am sure you have heard of the Gold Anti-Trust Action
Committee, the organization headed by Bill Murphy that
has come up with a serious indictment of Goldman Sachs
and others. GATA claims that they are manipulating the
price of gold. That is illegal and very much to the
detriment of Homestake shareholders. Has Homestake's
management looked into this?

I am not sure I can get to the next shareholders
meeting, but if I do, I will want to bring this matter
to your attention and the attention of those assembled.
The rest of the industry seems to be sitting on its
hands, so this is the chance for Homestake to be THE
leader in the mining world we have always wanted it to
be.

I hope you can put my mind at rest about all this.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson.

Sincerely,

Robert Russell