Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
The well respected father and son team of Morgan and Duane Poliquin together run Almaden Minerals (AMM:TSX).
Almaden used to be a prospect generator but is now focused on the Ixtaca Deposit in Puebla State, Mexico.
The Ixtaca deposit is an exciting new discovery in a previously unknown mining area in Mexico. Almaden has taken the deposit from the first drill hole to a updated PEA stage. The base case scenario has a CAPEX of ~$400 million and an internal rate of return of 28.3%
At the recent AME BC 2015 Roundup conference we talked with Morgan Poliquin, CEO, of Almaden on Ixtaca and the potential he still sees at the project.
Morgan Poliquin, President and CEO, Almaden, AME BC Roundup 2015 transcript:
Almaden’s prospecting team goes out into new areas and looks for new deposits that currently don’t exist.
Developers take on projects that have been defined and the risk removed from them and discovery made and then turn them into mines.
We were lucky enough as prospectors to find one of these projects. We defined it through exploration and resource drilling into infill drilling and to preliminary engineering studies (PEA) and now that project is in a development phase.
Ixtaca is a brand new deposit in an area where there was no known deposits. It is gold and silver and we think it has a lot of potential to grow.
Post 2008 we lost a lot of partners which was our preference at that stage. After 2008 a lot of our partners disappeared because of the markets so we decided to drill our own projects. This is one of 12 that we picked that were ready to drill with permits and targets defined. The first hole was a discovery.
It is a brand new gold-silver deposit where there was no historic mining in Mexico. It is a whole new district and it is wide open. We do not know the limits of mineralization on the project there are lots of targets.
It’s newness and the grade in a brand new area is what is exciting.
