Engineering and Ethics

Ethics and engineering profession on the case of the “Bre-X Gold find”

Akshaydhorajiya
4 min readNov 15, 2021

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Engineers are important members of the community. They have, had, and would continue to strive to make society a more civilized society by pragmatically resolving everyday issues. They are trained to take full responsibility for their actions. As a result, we have the opportunity to view engineering wonders such as Google, the Burj Khalifa, and the International Space Station. Nevertheless, people’s greedy desires may occasionally push ethics and honesty aside. We have seen numerous unethical frauds throughout engineering history, and as a result, the engineering society has evolved to combat such fraudulent actions. There are such strict laws for the engineering world, that one can never even thought about committing an unintentional blunder. However, the case of the “Bre-X” ought to be discussed while discussing ethics and the engineering profession. Which have shaken the pillars of the stock exchange of Us as well Canada by malicious ethical practice Hence, this essay will shed some light on the Bre-X gold scandal and will discuss about it’s importance for the engineers as well my attaintment from the Bre-X scandal

The Bre-X gold scam is an excellent case study for addressing the issue of poor moral and ethical standards in the engineering field. David Walsh, an entrepreneur, created Bre-X Minerals Ltd. in 1989 as a subsidiary of Bresea Resources Ltd, which had been listed on the stock exchange since 1985. Following the advice of geologist John Felderhof, Walsh purchased the land near the Bussang River in the heart of the rainforest in Borneo, Indonesia, in 1993. The geology study appeared to be optimistic about the gold, which encouraged Walsh to set up a drilling project. However, Michael de Guzman, the project manager, filed the gold and mixed the flakes in with the crushed core samples. For example, from 1994 to 1996, de Guzman altered the gold-to-rock ratio by salting the locally purchased gold worth $ 61000 in order to mitigate the danger of the operation being shut down. To contradict the independent auditors, this phony promising finding was hidden beneath the “volcanic pool theory.” In 1997, the firm was at its pinnacle, and many miners joined with Bre-X, and the corporation’s rise to prominence piqued the interest of the US company freeport. Freeport reports “minor quantities of gold” in several holes the same year, but not much else. Other independent agencies agreed with the assertion, determining that Bre-X samples ‘s were tempered. As a result, the share price has plummeted. Eventually leading the company to bankruptcy. Felderhof was prosecuted and acquitted, but Walsh and De Guzman were both killed.

why it’s important to the engineers.

Ethics is a cross-disciplinary issue because ethical concepts and behavior are essential to professional activity in any area. Minding the fact engineers can’t escape from the ethics and morals at their job. The term “engineering” refers to the application of our specialist knowledge and abilities to the protection of life, health, economic interests, property economic interests, the public interest, or the environment. Bre-X scandal is a milestone event for the engineers obliging the oath they have taken of serving their nation by not evading any by-laws set by the regulatory body. Bre-X reminds engineers that they are more liable for the tragedy since they have the expertise of any particular subject. accounting for the fact that they cannot overlook any negative occurrences that occur under their oversight. Bre-Xscandal warns engineers each time while taking any decision and forces them to think again about the ethics regarding of public, environment, and organization.

which likey lessons you learned?

Bre- scandal taught me that professional communicators preserve the integrity and dignity of their profession by engaging in honest, open, and timely communication and promoting the free flow of vital information in the public interest. As an engineer, I must not engage in any behavior that undermines the integrity of public communication channels. Being a member of the organization, I can not knowingly spread incorrect or misleading information. Professional engineers refrain from participating in any endeavor that they believe is unethical. What is more, one should not gamble with the public’s economic or environmental health, willingly or unwillingly. furthermore from the organization’s viewpoint, Organizations cannot ignore their social responsibilities, and they must follow all rules and regulations. Communication gaps in an organization should be minimized in order to retain the company’s integrity and ethics. Finally, one should use his expertise for the benefit of the public rather than to satisfy his selfish desires.

Finally, Bre-X is the story of a businessman who rose from rags to riches just to fall back into rags again. Bre-X is de Guzman’s tale on the poor moral practice of geology. Bre-X is a narrative about unprofessional communication behaviors, therefore the Bre- X Controversy is a once-in-a-lifetime scandal that raised questions about the ethics of professional engineers throughout the Western world by deviating from its societal responsibilities. It might be prevented if there were frequent audits by competent engineers and two-way communication between the firm and the public authority. In the last, Bre-X has assisted legislators in raising standards for the ethical conduct of engineering practice, which may result in a reduced level of such illegal activity. However, it depends on individuals rather to follow high standards or not.

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Akshaydhorajiya

Civil Engineer, Investor, Trader, Quoran, Spirituals,bibliophile