Resource World Magazine

Eurasian Minerals, an exploration multinational prospering in tough times by David Forest Eurasian Minerals Inc. [EMX-TSXV] may have found the perfect solution to today's lull in global mining activity. Go back to basics. With corporate budgets being slashed, many miners are returning to exploration as way to keep growth prospects alive. Greenfields activity is cheap – and has the added benefit of potentially yielding world-class deposits. A welcome aspect for majors who have sifted through many of the world's for-sale ore bodies and found most of them are available because of one or many deficiencies. This is the kind of market in which Eurasian excels. The firm has been a leader in this space for many years. For over a decade, Eurasian has functioned as a kind of R&D lab for the majors by identifying prospective terrains and securing mineral properties in places the big firms were either too preoccupied or too gun-shy to go. The company's recent work in Haiti demonstrates the full-cycle workings of its project generator business model. In 2006, few firms dared set foot in Haiti. But Eurasian's management spotted mineral potential here that made them take a hard look. After all, Haiti is part of the same landmass as the Dominican Republic (Island of Hispaniola) where massive mine developments like Barrick/Goldcorp's 25 million-ounce Pueblo Viejo gold mine have shown world-leading geological upside. It was only natural, then, to think that similar potential for massive finds might exist on the Haitian side of the border. But only Eurasian had the pluck to set boots in the country, in search of specific projects where their theories could be tested.The result was the acquisition of a series of projects across 130 km of strike length, ground with historic showings up to 7.6 grams/tonne gold and 8.4% copper. Suddenly the abstract potential seemed very tangible. It was enough to get big partners interested. In 2008, Newmont Mining Corp. [NMC-TSX; NEM-NYSE] stepped up to joint venture several of Eurasian's Haitian prospects, striking a deal to take 65% in exchange for spending at least $30 million on exploration. While the Haiti venture was recently put on hold pending government reform of local mining laws, Eurasian has been moving full-steam ahead repeating this successful formula in other corners of the globe. Even more remarkable than the company's excellent track record in project generation is the breadth of places from which it has won licenses. Most generative explorers are concentrated on a particular backyard where management has expertise; be it Mexico, Alaska, or the Yukon; the focus rarely strays into other geographies. But Eurasian has operations in many of the planet's exploration hotspots. The company is as active in Turkey as it is in Australia. Management is unafraid to hit up Serbia, and keeps offices in Nevada. If there can be such thing as an exploration multinational, this is it. Management has in fact perfected the exploration business down to an assembly line-type roll-out of projects. Since Eurasian's public listing in 2003, the company has spent nearly $100 million globally on exploration with almost half that total being paid by the jointventure partners Eurasian has diligently cultivated over the past decade, but what about today? Given the turndown in mining activity recently, you might expect that these strategic alliances would be harder to come by. Eurasian's slate of going-concern projects, however, shows exactly the opposite. The company maintains joint ventures with no fewer than five major and mid-tier mining firms over its global portfolio of prospects. "We're seeing some of our partners actually expanding their exploration budgets," says Chris Greenhoot, Eurasian's Manager of Project Marketing – explaining how the company can continue to be so active in today's depressed environment. This perhaps suggests that the current market is not in a downturn at all, in fact, but Eurasian explorers advancing toward discovery, in the trenches at the Akarca gold project, northwest Turkey. Photo courtesy Eurasian Minerals Inc. 42 www.resourceworld.com RW December 2013.indd 42 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014 12/11/2013 6:12 PM

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