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NEWS

Alex Dorsch,
Managing Director, Chalice Gold Mines Ltd

It has been a weird and wonderful year for Alex Dorsch and
GMJ was lucky enough to catch a breather with the Chalice
Gold Mines Ltd Managing Director to see how his world has
changed in 2020.

L et me get this straight – in the first half as a natural manager. It wasn’t until I started in
management consulting that I realised having that
of 2020 you had a newborn, a major
technical background provides a solid problem solving
discovery and the pandemic to juggle?
with the ability to effectively communicate and lead.
AD: Indeed, I wouldn’t advise doing all of those tool kit, which is great, but that must be complemented
at once! It has been quite a year so far. I have been After spending 7-8 years on the technical side I came
very blessed on the family front with the arrival of our up with the conclusion that I wanted to go up the chain
second child, we now have a girl and a boy, so my but not via the traditional big corporate ladder. I didn’t
wife and I are very happy. To get a discovery at Julimar like the constraints that you get in big companies. I liked
a couple of weeks after the birth is just completely the entrepreneurialism and unconstrained thinking of
in the spotlight
unbelievable, and took us all by surprise so early smaller companies.
into our exploration campaign. At that time, we were When I joined Chalice, I said we needed to be ambitious
discussing internally our plans to scale back activities and make a world-class discovery. It is such a privilege
given the pandemic. Then our very first drill hole at to be the MD of Chalice, which has delivered on that
Julimar changed everything, which was made even goal. I certainly haven’t looked back.
more unbelievable given we were all largely working
from home. PR: You’ve been recognised now as an emerging
leader in the industry, what do you think of the
It was quite uncanny, but I guess the main learning for
me is that Australia is still poorly explored. If we can find new breed of MDs?
a deposit like that an hour out of Perth in 2020, imagine AD: I think the days of junior explorers being
what else is waiting to be uncovered around Australia. run by a couple of grey-haired geologists out in
The real under cover exploration frontier is upon us and the back shed – with no disrespect to anyone
this is not the end of the story by any means. in particular – are over. The industry is getting
Expect the unexpected is also one of the key things I a new guard, with new thinking, new energy and I
have learned, particularly in the exploration space. You think the exploration industry really needed that. To
need to be ready mentally for the unexpected and can’t get an investor to speculate they need to have trust
be too fixated on rigid planning; you need to be nimble, in management’s abilities on both the technical and
which is one of the best qualities I think we have instilled commercial side. They can’t just deport themselves
at Chalice. The team is always looking for the next into the technical world and become geologists in
opportunity to create value; small investments today can order to understand the value proposition. They need
deliver big returns in the long run. to understand how that exploration play is going to turn
into money.
Being a young MD, I would say having trust in my So, it is good to see a diverse group of young leaders
very capable and experienced team is also key. I have coming through the ranks particularly in small
globally recognised geologists, a very seasoned CFO companies. The safety and security that a big company
and a great team who manage our day to day activities. affords you is great for a young professional, but I am
Trusting them and backing them to deliver has been probably the biggest advocate of taking a leap into a
great to watch.
small company, it’s turned out OK for me anyway!
PR: Was it always your plan to become a But you have to be comfortable taking risks – in a small
Managing Director? company there is no-one else to fall back on. You have
AD: I grew up quite a technical-minded to be constantly aware of risk versus reward and I think
engineering type, I loved the mechanics of if you are comfortable with risk and get the opportunity
how things worked, but I don’t think I started to join a small company – take it.

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