AME Roundup: Ian Telfer on how not to build a gold miner

The mining sector is notorious for not following proven principles that ensure value creation for shareholders through the ups and downs of the commodity cycles, senior executive Ian Telfer told the audience at a mining conference in Vancouver this week.

The former Goldcorp and Wheaton Precious Metals executive sees acquisition as the only reliable way to grow a company.

“We’ve been talking about exploration, but the fact is you can’t build a major mining company on exploration alone,” he said at AME Roundup on Tuesday. “It never will happen.”

He said mining was an exceptionally technical industry requiring many disciplines to be successful, but added that technical people aren’t always comfortable with the acquisition process.