seattle.dbusinessnews.com
Controversial Kent at the helm of Century Mining
Seattle dBusinessNews
Posted on:
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 04:07 AM
“Controversial”, “determined”, “talented.” These are descriptions that trail in the wake of Peggy Kent, nee Margaret Witte, who in the 1990’s presided over Royal Oak Mines as it crashed into oblivion, along with much of the gold industry at the time.
Now, with gold steadily up-trending once again, Kent is back, this time at the helm of Century Mining, another junior gold exploration and production company. With her trademark no-nonsense approach, Kent has acquired producing mines in Canada and Peru capable of producing more than 5 million ounces within the next 5 years or so.
Kent is fiercely devoted to her shareholders, which in part explains some of the vitriol many involved in the now defunct Giant mine, located near Yellowknife, still feel toward her. Early days at the Giant Mine proved profitable for both Royal Oak and Kent. When gold prices took a nose dive, Kent sought to combat falling revenues with cutbacks and other hard-line measures. An ensuing 18-month strike created a bitter atmosphere in the town, as strikers first vandalized equipment, and then planted a bomb that killed 9 workers.
The memory still haunts Kent, who insists neither she nor any other officer at Royal Oak were culpable. (In fact, a judge who presided over an investigation into the murders divided blame between the bomber, Royal Oak, the mine workers’ union, the mine’s security company and even the territorial government – which sounds a bit like saying “everybody did it”.)
"It was very hard on me personally. These were people involved, not a financial bottom line. I know that, of course. I still stop and think about the loss to the families of those men. How devastating it must still be for them.”
Kent maintains that the decision the company made to lay off employees, and to ask for salary cutbacks, which lead to the strike at Giant, was the only way to save the company from bankruptcy.
When I ask Kent if she would work on Christmas Day – she’s a mother of two – she doesn’t flinch. “Yes, of course. If the work was for a strategic acquisition or in the case of an emergency.” Kent holidays at her second home in Hawaii, where she has an office and continues to work six to eight hour days while there.
Working at Christmastime seems quite likely this year. There is much evidence suggesting that Kent is already at work behind the scenes preparing a sizeable takeover. For one, that strategy is her modus operandi: acquisitions, acquisitions, acquisitions. Tellingly, Kent admits that she most admires Norman Keevil’s approach to business. Keevil, who is Chairman of Teck Cominco, has made himself and Teck famous by taking major risks on long shots that proved to be unlikely but brilliant strategic moves.
Kent has already developed reputation as a little dog with a big appetite. In 1994, Kent shocked the mining world with a $2.4 billion dollar bid to buy Lac Minerals Ltd, which at the time was four times the size of Royal Oak. For weeks, Royal Oak remained a favourite in what became a bidding war against Barrick Gold Corp. Although Kent could not maintain the required financial pressure to take over Lac, she was that year voted Newsmaker of the Year by the Financial Post for her gustiness and gumption.
Her keen business acumen has more recently lead Century Mining toward 100,000 ounces production a year at its Sigma-Lamaque mine in Quebec, which is presently the company’s bread and butter. Add to that the San Juan mine, which the company picked up in 2005, and which Kent has described as the “steal of a lifetime.” Then again, winning this poorly managed but tightly held gem was, according to Kent, “a real mess.”
“San Juan was a very messy deal,” Kent told me. “The biggest problem was buying back debt to get control of situation. The deal took a long time to close. You know, Peru is very Latin – needs lots of clean-up, but it was well worth the effort.”
Peru is at present Century’s best bet for a blue sky mine, or mines. While the company is saying little, there are indications that the ongoing exploration there will lead to significant developments for the company. Of more than 35 mineralized sites on the 18,000 hectare property – which Century now holds a greater than 90% interest in – only two have been mined in the past. The existing mine has a resource of some 1.23 million ounces in the ground grading an average of 8.68 grams per tonne gold. However other sites on the property, such as Santa Clarita and Golden Champune, have assayed from 1 g/t to 4 g/t in geochemical studies performed under the direction of Peru Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Facultad de Ingenieria Geologica, Minera y Metalurgica. Under the debt riddled management of the previous Peruvian owners, these studies hardly saw the light of day. Now Century has begun a rock chip sampling program on Golden Champune that will assess 700 samples presently being collected. Estimates range as high as 20 million ounces for the entire San Juan property.
“This is an exciting time for us,” Kent commented. “It has taken a lifetime to develop this team. Many of these people have been with me for more than 15 years. My major business partner has been here for 21 years. And these four discoveries have the potential to establish a new mining district in the future. The San Juan Mine will definitely be a key component of our future growth in gold production.”
with thanks from production 05 on the SH forum??
tanoose |
