Field Notes from British Columbia
Three junior mining companies, hundreds of miles of road, countless rocks, enough drill core to last a lifetime and one question: which company would I back with my own money?
Before Pantsgram, or whatever it’s called, starts nitpicking, I may as well get in first and tell you what you already know: yes, AI was used in the writing of this article.
AI writes better headlines than I do. It understands SEO, which I don’t. It is good at proof reading, is not prone to typos and makes fewer spelling mistakes.
But it can’t write jokes. Which is why politicians remain unpopular.
Something a bit different today, as we report back from my tour of the mines of British Columbia, on the final leg of my North American tour.
Lots of pics. Lots of research. Lots to learn.
It’s easy to value mining companies from presentations. Actually visiting a mine site can completely change your perspective. Scale does not come across in a PowerPoint. Taking management’s word for something - such as community relations - is not the same as seeing it with your own eyes. On the ground it doesn’t take long to figure out if someone is competent or not. Scams are easier to spot. Infrastructure matters more than investors think. Grade is only part of the story.
After four, or was it five? days in Las Vegas, during which I quite literally lost track of time, I was glad to be flying into the cooler climate and fresh air of Canada.
I landed in Vancouver, a city I’d somehow never visited before despite spending far too much of my life analysing Canadian mining companies. I’ll be back soon. I loved what little I saw. I got up early on the Sunday and went for a lovely run along the harbour and around Stanley Park. Here’s the proof.
Then I met up with the others and we piled into a van for the three-hour drive to Merritt, a rather depressed logging town about 170 miles inland. (Where once there were five logging operations, now there’s one and it is on its knees, I was told).
On the way we stopped at Hope, where First Blood was filmed. I got my guns out and had a photo next to Sly himself, was also blown away by the beauty of the Fraser River, looked at some disused railway tunnels and onwards to our final destination, the Best Western in Merritt, a hotel for which I developed an entirely unexpected affection.
Over the next 72 hours I visited the properties of three very different companies:
Nicola Mining (TSXV: NIM, market cap C$155 million): an unusual company combining producing assets, a permitted mill and district-scale copper exploration potential.
Kodiak Copper (TSXV: KDK, market cap C$72 million): a copper explorer chasing what could become a district-scale discovery.
Westhaven Gold (TSXV: WHN, market cap C$75 million): a gold developer with a high-grade project which could become the first mine in an entirely new Canadian gold district.
Three very different companies. Three very different stories. All three have, in my opinion, oodles of multibagger potential. They are all a short drive from Merritt with good roads everywhere. In terms of location, they are about as good as it gets.
Today, I ‘m putting aside my normal mid-week commentary to give you a full field report from the trip. I’ll explain what each company does, what I found on the ground, what impressed me, what concerned me. If I could only buy one, which would it be?
And why?
