Dave:
A very interesting perspective, although a bit tough to follow in spots. Basically, though, I agree that results are what count, not the promotion.
I'm not sure how many custom plants you're going to find in Argentina, or Paraguay, or even Chile, let alone PNG or Indonesia. But this also rings a bit of the Australian approach where it's normal to strictly be looking for cash flow, rather than a major "elephant."
I would also agree that there are many cases where you should have a good idea of what you have within a couple of years. Especially when you are dealing with good-sized outcrop and strong geophysical data and familiar terrain and geological structures.
But what about areas that are large and complex, such as Santa Cruz Vanguardia or Tierra del Fuego? What about areas that don't even have outcrop, such as much of the Northern Porphyry Copper Belt? What about areas where you're dealing with thick jungle and politics, like Indonesia? What about areas where the infrastructure is lacking and you can't get a reliable drill contractor? And what about the possibility that most, if not all of these areas have significant indications that there are probably very good sized ore bodies here but where we are just discovering information at the most basic level? What about areas that have never been touched by modern geological examination methods? Then there is the question about the prudent propsector who never would have found Voisey's Bay.
Obviously, something has to have taken you there in the first place. And you've got to have a theory... which may or may not be true. But then you learn something else that takes you another step forward... such as finding increasing silver values in an area that had not been tested before but where you were looking for gold? (I don't even want to get into the "dessert dirts" issue.)Meanwhile, over the last two years, we have picked up many new properties, dropped many after testing them, made discoveries which we are working to develop, brought in partners, "lost" partners, been praised for our diversity, been attacked for our diversity, been a high flier because we were close to something, been attacked for being close to something, been praised for having so many exploration projects in play and been attacked for spending too much on exploration.
I'm sure there are people out there who see me as a promoter. I take a slight at the characterization but that's me. If I do my job AND our technical people do theirs AND if we have some good luck, then it will all work out. But if any of the three above don't happen (Communication / Effective technical execution / Luck) then, it won't.
I don't think that I have ever promised share price multiplying results. I have promised that we would use our skills, time, effort and shareholders' money to try to find a world class deposit or two. I have told people what we have done, what we have found and what we think. Sometimes, I've been wrong. Sometimes, I've been right.
Having said this, I think that, looking at this company, if we haven't made a significant score within the next two years, senior management should be gone. Myself included.
Greg |
