Sproul's Brass and Gold

A retired two-star general in the National Guard, Archibald ("Arch") Sproul, 56, meets plenty of important military men at home and abroad. For example, General Suharto, President of Indonesia. Two months after Suharto won control of the government in 1966, Sproul organized Virginia International Co. (VICO) and went to Indonesia in search of "business opportunities." He met Suharto in 1967, and now he has more ventures than his company can handle alone. He operates a rubber plant and has a lease on 67,000 acres of land--obtained for about a cent an acre--that he plans to use for cattle grazing. He is now negotiating for timber concessions.

Most important, Sproul in 1968 got one of the largest onshore oil concessions that the Indonesian government has ever granted--4.4 million acres. To finance exploration and development, he recruited some well-fixed partners, including an Allied Chemical subsidiary and Universe Tankships, which is owned by Billionaire Daniel K. Ludwig. Three months ago the group struck its first oil at an exploratory well.

VICO retains only a 5% interest in the oil operation, but will share in any future profits. So far there have been no profits. For the fourth year VICO will report another loss next month, between $500,000 and $700,000 on revenues of roughly $900,000. However, some investors obviously believe that VICO, still a small company, will make money. Its stock, which is traded over the counter, has jumped from $3 a share a year ago to $46 last week.

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