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generate is sufficient to compensate for our lack of knowledge.”
Sandfire is a newcomer into Africa after the acquisition of Mod
Resources for the T3 copper project in Botswana. It has since
extended its exposure in the Kalahari copper belt in Namibia by
acquiring ground from Kopore Metals Ltd.
Sandfire is now one of the largest landholders in the copper-
rich Kalahari cooper belt.
Like Welborn and Quartermaine, Sandfire managing director
Karl Simich has a willingness to consider opportunities on the
continent.
“We are not necessarily constrained by a continent or country.
generating value”. Clearly, there are some parts that we find quite challenging to
go to, but it is a global proposition for us,” Simich said.
Welborn’s counterpart in the West African gold scene, Perseus
managing director Jeff Quartermaine agreed. “That [Mod] transaction took a little while to get there but it was
“Investors in North America, who might see value in North an opportunity to pick up a world-class belt-scale opportunity
America and South America, don’t feel they need to take on in one transaction. We’ve accumulated a lot of ground in the
risks that they are not perhaps familiar with. Then you go to Kalahari copper belt and we have an extraordinary, multi-
Europe and they are quite comfortable with Africa because of decade opportunity. We are not concerned too much about
generations that travelled there and they understand it better,” geological or jurisdiction [risk], we think we will solve those
Quartermaine said. problems. All of us in this room are in the business of problem
“There is no substitute for performance; you produce and
generate cash flow and the rest takes care of itself, it doesn’t
matter where you are. Discounts aren’t an overarching thing;
performance will sort it out.”
Resolute and Perseus are starting to recover some ground
in the share market after severe coronavirus-related bounces
during March.

Karl Simich

solving. It doesn’t really matter; we will find a way to solve a
problem, the biggest concern is finding the right asset.”
Simich’s confidence in the industry being able to deliver at
the coal face of innovation and keep the sector trending
with modern times was admirable and he encouraged more
John Welborn companies to put their stamp on the positive impacts they were
making in society.
The mining sector has come under fire once again for poor
Perseus has received a positive response from investors for its
form after Rio Tinto Ltd destroyed two ancient sacred caves in
recent deal to acquire Exore Resources Ltd via a transaction
Western Australia’s Pilbara to expand its Brockman mine.
worth $60 in shares for the 9.75mt @ 1.9 g/t for 600,000oz
gold Bagoe project, near its Sissingue mine, plus 2,000sq km of Simich was not defending Rio Tinto actions.
highly prospective exploration terrain in Cote d’Ivoire. “I am very proud of what the mining industry, in the sense of
West Africa, specifically Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana [Edikan gold what it is in the modern world. Yes, there are a lot of legacy
mine], are the pivot points for Perseus presently, however, issues from the past but nonetheless it really is an incredibly
Quartermaine said the door was not shut to expanding into progressive industry. We are at the coal face all the time,
other countries, subject to conditions. solving problems all the time,” he said.
“We amalgamate in very different and remote communities to
“The fact of the matter is that you build up capability in some
of these countries. It does take some time to understand how try and solve problems for many, many different people and I
am proud of that. Being proud of what you do and talking about
it works, but we have no aversion to focus outside of where we
are currently located,” Quartermaine said. what you do and interacting is a really important element of the
business we are in.”
“However, it needs to be on a [needs] basis and if the return we

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