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“ There is a bit of a tendency in our industry

to be most comfortable looking where
there is quite a lot of information and data
which is not necessarily the most exciting or
prospective. We look to see where we can look,
not where we need to look.

Although representing gold exploration only, MinEx Consulting
research for NewGenGold 2019 highlighted the increasing depth
of new gold discoveries acaross the world

their time to do the work, spending a couple subject of industry expertise, urging his to raise money, which is a challenging po-
of years on targeting. fellow geoscientists to adapt to a chang- sition and no amount of discoveries will
“It is that mindset of ‘let’s take a step ing world. change that.”
back and trust our instincts to test targets’. “There’s no doubt our mineral explora- Hronsky has proposed changes to the
It requires a certain faith and strength of tion industry is becoming more demand- exploration funding model and is uncon-
conviction that your targeting is robust, ing of skills as we go through this century,” vinced the current market interest in ex-
based on good fundamental geological he said. “That is a natural direction which ploration will translate into major discov-
targeting and structural geology. we are seeing in petroleum and we need ery.
“On the flipside, in big companies people to get that appropriate training. “It is kind of that boom time thing where
you’re not necessarily allowed to go out “One of the things I am passionate people are focusing more on the sizzle
and do the work because of corporate about in the industry is developing an than the underlying value proposition,”
restrictions but when you are then freed educational framework – lifelong learning he said. “To be honest, I think the energy
up in a smaller company you can do that. and micro-credentialing – where geolo- we are seeing in the junior gold sector
The ability of a junior to do it off the smell gists, from the time they graduate to the has a little bit more of that flavour about
of an oily rag is amazing. A good mix of time they retire, are continually getting it. Hopefully some of these things will go
the two makes a big difference.” upskilled in all the aspects that need to be onto significant outcomes but there is a
Both Gold Road and IGO have worked known to be mineral explorers.” bit of caution for the investor in that.”
hard to get that mix. Bradford wears it as A future of frontier exploration on big IGO has a stable of juniors it is hoping
a badge of honour. land packages, using new technology can help it achieve exploration exception-
“Our geoscience team is the best in and sophisticated interpretation looms alism but Bradford is still cautious.
class,” he said. “In the copper-nickel then, but will future junior explorers be “It is great that we have had a rush of
space, our JV partners recognise the ad- following in the footsteps of the current recent discoveries, whether that is in-
vantages of having IGO as a partner and crop’s exploration success stories? dicative of things changing remains to be
our ability to add value.” “I think the days of hundreds and hun- seen,” he said. “I think what is has shown
Osborne shares a similar sentiment. dreds of companies with early-stage ex- is that if you spend the money and apply
“We have been focused on getting re- ploration plays are behind us,” Dorsch the science, you will make discoveries.
ally good technical people to do the work said. “Companies need to be realistic Perhaps that’s the trend we are seeing;
with us, bringing in people like Kevin Cas- about the scale they need to achieve ex- companies spending the money and ap-
sidy, having that intelligent capacity avail- ploration plays. I remain sceptical about plying the science.”
able is invaluable.” the model of having hundreds of small - Dominic Piper
Hronsky has also been vocal on the companies with small market caps trying

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