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.
Retail investors can struggle to make sense of drill results, but some junior mining explorers make things worse with misleading reporting practices that inflate the value of their projects, industry veteran Brent Cook says.
One such practice investors should watch out for is ‘grade smearing.’ That’s when companies stretch high-grade results over larger intervals to create the illusion of more substantial findings, the economic geologist and adviser to the Exploration Insights newsletter explained.
“Most of what we do is try and find the fatal flaw as soon as possible,” Cook said last month during the Rule Symposium in Boca Raton, Fla. “We know most of these companies aren’t going to find anything economic.”
Cook also discusses the worrying trend of traditional mining investors retreating and younger investors turning to tech stocks, leaving the sector underfunded.
Watch the full interview with The Northern Miner’s western editor, Henry Lazenby.
