People: Poles apart, says Kevin

One resources entrepreneur who does not think the mining boom is over is Australian engineer Kevin Foo, former boss of Central Asia and Russia-focused Celtic Resources, who is working to treble the market value of AIM-quoted Victoria Oil & Gas to £400 million in three years on the back of impressive gas prospects in Cameroon, West Africa.  He has set up a separate private company to probe bauxite prospects in the same region and is sanguine about its chances
of success.

Foo, who says he sees the beginnings of a mining rush in Cameroon led by Russian aluminium giant Russal, claims his mining background is invaluable in saving Victoria from what he regards as the extravagance and risky behaviour of most of the oil and gas business. Berating the oil and gas service companies whose experts can cost $2,000 a day, against $400 a day in the mining sector, he recalls how oil and gas consultants said Victoria’s onshore processing plant would cost up to £31 million, but he cut the price to below £4 million using a mining approach.

One ‘redneck’ on a drill rig cost the company £5 million ‘in 30 seconds’ by an ill-judged decision. Foo insists this would have been impossible under mining discipline.

Foo, whose son is a successful day trader on the Mumbai Stock Exchange, does find some time for relaxation. The other day, he watched Philippino boxer Manny Pacquaio beat America’s Sugar Ray Mosley for the WBO welterweight title in Las Vegas, before repairing for a quiet drink in a bar boasting 800 pole dancers.